Buddhism As Education

What happens when we are hurt by another's behaviour? Let's take the first occasion of an insult. The word arrives at the ear. "You idiot!" We perceive with the ear not just the sound of the word but also the tone of anger. We perceive with the eye the signs of anger on the face and in the body language. We can also sense at the heart level the emotion. For instance, we can sense the tension in a room where there has just been an argument. All this is the point of contact. after this the process is internal, dependent on our inner dispositions. It is recognized and is then labelled as unlikable. This is the point of feeling which is determined by our past experience of insults and how we are reacted to them. Some people will be slightly hurt, others incensed. When this happens, the heart has reacted upon the hearing. It feels hurt. Immediately there rises the craving to be rid of the hurt and the normal desire is be rid of the person who hurts us and respond to ...

Almost 500 years ago in China, a father sat down to write to his son. He wanted his son to know what had transpired in his life. Many years before, when he was very young, he went to a temple and met a very distinguished person. He naturally paid his respects to this man who in turn asked him: "You are supposed to pass the imperial examination next year, why are you not studying?" Mr Liao Fan, then asked the man for his name, where he was from and how he was able to know what Mr Liao Fan was supposed to do. The man introduced himself as Mr Kong and he told Liao Fan that he knew how to predict what was going to happen and that he was supposed to teach this art to him. Liao Fan went home and told his mother everything what happened earlier. His mother then told him to invite Mr Kong to their house to test him to be certain that what Mr Kong is telling is the truth. They then invited Mr Kong to their home and then asked him to predict for the immediate future and everythin...