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 Mason's
Meditations
If
you're looking for something to chew over, some thoughtful seeds
for mental cultivation, bookmark this page for Jeff Mason's monthly
meditations. To think in or take away...
Number
Sixteen: Pain and Grief
The
one thing that human beings cannot stand is to suffer without knowing
the reason why. If they suffer, a reason will be found, no matter
what. However, there is no redress for those who are killed unjustly.
Nothing that is done subsequently can make the slightest difference
to the dead, or to those who crave for justice and retaliation.
Anger and hate feed upon themselves, leading to destruction and
death.
If
this is so, then why can't we stop killing each other? Is the cycle
never ending? Hate breeds hate, and the thought of those who have
injured us rankles ever deeper in our souls. In the end there is
nothing else to life but the fear of the hunted, and the anxiety
of the hunters. To hurt others is to ask to be hurt oneself. We
have known this for so long, but it makes little difference. Willingness
to die is an invincible armor. The
cause appears great.
Instead
of retaliating instinctively, we should stop and ask the underlying
reason that could lead to such hateful action. While there is never
an excuse for hurting innocents, could we have contributed to the
hate that caused it? Did the perpetrators resort to violence in
order to get our attention? If so, we need to find a way to right
our errors and extend a loving gesture, not a hateful one. Otherwise,
the cycle of hate will never end. We must break with an unjust past.
Only forgiveness can accept that past, and move on without bitterness
and a desire for revenge. Sadly, all too many of those who have
experienced injury and loss at the hands of others want to get even.
It is hard to give up hate, even when pain and grief accompany hateful
thoughts. The natural thing is to want revenge and the death of
our enemies. This is why, instead of forgiveness, we want a reason
to confirm us in our old beliefs and perpetuate the thinking that
leads to fresh disasters.
We
can conceive of a world that has put revenge behind it, as well
as the reasons for revenge, but it is an ideal for which we must
strive. There is nothing that prevents us from living in peace except
our own attitudes and practices. We can hope that peace is possible,
and strive to make it real. The alternatives are too horrible to
contemplate for long, and too defeatist to accept.
Mason's
Meditations will next be updated mid-November 2001
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Previous
Meditations
15. (15th September 2001)
14.
(1st August 2001)
13.
(1st July 2001)
12. (1st
June 2001)
11.
(1st May 2001)
10.
(1st April 2001)
9. (16th March 2001)
8. (1st
March 2001)
7.
(15th February 2001)
6.
(1st February 2001)
5. (15th
January 2001)
4. (1st
January 2001)
3.
(15th December 2000)
2.
(1st December 2000)
1. (15th November
2000)
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