Provocation vs Forgiveness

Provocation vs Forgiveness



1) I gave relief teaching in a neighbourhood secondary school some years back.

In one of the classes I was teaching, one boy was deliberately disturbing another.

So boy 2 responded by 'fighting' back.

That's when I said to him,

"Never argue with a fool; people may not know the difference."

After I past their tables, both called each other 'fool'.

I just smiled and shook my head.



2) My sister tutors a pair of siblings.

One day, she bought a packet of crackers to be shared between them.

The brother got to eat first as the sister was still in school.

When the sister got back from school, she took her share and hid it to prevent her brother from taking while she took her bath.

Her brother found the crackers, hid it elsewhere just to provoke and irritate her.

When she couldn't find her share, the little girl called her mother to complain.

In the end,

Everyone - brother, sister, mother, and my sister, suffers.



3) In the previous season of 'American Idol',

Simon made a remark about Mandisa - "We need a bigger chair this year"

Later in the competition, Mandisa told Simon,

"You hurt me ... but I forgive you."

This should be the way.

Forgiveness.

This is what it's all about.

This is what peace-loving means.


Ignore the wrong-doer.

Forgive them without fighting back or being nasty.

That way, we'll all have peace and no suffering.



"Forgiveness is the highest and most beautiful form of Love.

Forgive others not for them but for ourselves.

To give others a chance, is to give ourselves a chance."



3 remedies


When someone hurt us very badly, try the following :


1) Take it as you're eradicating your past misdeeds.


2) Forgive them for they know not what they're doing -

They hurt us cos' they're hurting, too.

And, they hurt us due to their ignorance (lack of wisdom)


3) Have compassion and loving-kindness towards them :


i ) We've been through the hurt and pain, and suffered.

Knowing that when the time comes, they'll have to go through and experience all that we've been through, and suffer for it, how can we not feel compassion and loving-kindness towards them?


ii) People who abused us - treat them as 'crazy'

How can we get angry with someone who's crazy?

It's sad enough that they're crazy.

Shouldn't we have compassion and loving-kindness towards them?

Or, at least ignore them.

I was eating at a food court one night when this man came in shouting abuses, ranting and raving away.

Everyone, including the stall owners, kept quiet and ignored him.

After a while, he left.

The stall owners knew he was crazy.

After dinner, I was walking to the next building.

That's when I heard a commotion.

People were arguing loudly.

As I walked past, I saw the same man embroiled in a heated argument with a lady and another man.

Both the lady and man were obviously upset about what the crazy man had said.

The friends of the couple tried to pull them away, but they refused.

They were having 'fun' it seems.

All 3 were shouting away, mindlessly, crazily.

If only the couple knew the man was crazy.



"Never argue with a 'fool', people may not know the difference."