Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. "
"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." (Matthew 18:21-35)
*************
This may seem as if God is torturous if we don’t do his will, but if you understand the true nature of the Ultimate to be clear, pure, unobstructed, beyond notions (Tathagatagarbha, or in Christian terms: “Union with God”) and ideas of a “self” (skt. Atman) that exists unchanging in Samara/The World, then this parable will become more clear.
As human beings, whether we like it or not, we are in a situation where we face suffering. The first noble truth as described by Siddhartha is that “Life is difficult”. It is this way due to our ignorance of the true nature of things we suffer.
Whether Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Atheist, or Hindu this is truth.
The suffering is not required, it is not permanent. We can see this is we observe our suffering. If it is real and solid, then how could it change? How could we forget about it even for a moment?
Master Sheng Yen states in his commentary on the Heart Sutra: “If your mind is filled with fear and doubt, then you will suffer no matter what you have or do. It isn't the environment; it's your state of mind. For some, New York City is paradise, for others it's hell. Yes, it depends on your karma whether you'll be in good conditions or not, but it's your mind that chooses to suffer.”
Only because of our poor knowledge of how things exist do we suffer.
When you see that this suffering is due to ignorance, you will have no but choice to forgive your brother. You will have no choice but to love your neighbor. When you see your neighbor suffers needlessly as you once did, you will wish him to be well of his troubles. You will have mercy.
If you hold the stone of unforgiveness, the stone of anger, in your heart, you will feel it in your body. It will be a plague. It will fill your thoughts. You don’t have to be stricken with disease to know that feeling. You torture yourself you’re your concepts; it is not God who tortures you. You may even spread your misery to others.
If you remove your concepts, your false views of “self”, your false views of the way the Universe works. If you flow with the Tao, If you flow with the “Truth, the Way, and the Life” your problems will be reduced, your heart will be softened, you will love and be loved. God’s love will flow pour forth from your very being.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment