Forgiveness (khanti) in Buddhism

Amber Larson, Seth Auberon, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Nyanatiloka (Anton Gueth)

Hope he doesn't come over when my husband's there, hope he remembers low fat... (N)

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Change your mind, change your life

There was this car, this reckless driver, that cut me off. I slammed on my brakes, burned with fury, and followed her. She pulled over. I cocked my fists in full ROAD RAGE mode, went to undo my seat belt, then realized I wasn't even wearing one! Which made me angrier, because I realized I really could have died due to this #$%@*&'s thoughtless driving -- I mean I was riding pretty fast. And this careless, careless jerk wasn't paying attention: "Hey" I screamed, "why don't you watch where I'm going?!"

Ride like a meditator. Drive like a rishi (seer).

She laughed, "That's funny. Sorry 'bout that!" 

Funny? Oh, because she should obviously be watching where I'm going? She needs to be responsible for me, or just what kind of society are we living in?! There are road rules...and, apparently, only I can break them! Everybody -- that means all y'all -- should be considerate of me, my body, my feelings, and my perspective in every situation, or I am gonna be p*ssed! Maybe she doesn't like speeding bikes in her way? Maybe you don't?

Look at the things I get mad at! I was cut off and inconvenienced. It's not like I was being cheated on. That would really need patience and a level head. Oh to have khanti! Sweet Dharma, wherefore art thou?

 

Khanti: "forbearance," "patience," "forgiveness"  is one of the Ten Perfections (pāramī) in Buddhism. 

 

Nice magnet! Wife home? - No she's on the road

More than simple forgiveness after the fact -- which is something we must do anew every time we recall an upsetting incident of being (or even perceiving that we have been) violated, trespassed, molested, bothered, or otherwise inconvenienced -- khanti means pre-forgiveness.
 
We must have forbearance, which the Buddha called "the highest virtue," the ability to tolerate, endure, and remain equanimous when things do not go to our liking.

Very be careful or end up on another "bike."

If we pre-forgive there will be nothing to forgive later -- and that will make our lives so much easier that we can hardly comprehend its value.

Who would we be if we did not throw away our energy getting mad in the first place then getting madder when we recollect someone else's wrongdoing?

Learning from the Buddha (NEPLOHO/flickr)

Our karma is our karma (the bad mental karma of dredging up the past, the Wrong Path, recollection full of resentment, that re-upsets us). Their karma is their karma, reckless causing accidents out of ignorance, selfishness, or animosity (aka greed, hatred, delusion). It is not our job to fix them, but it is our job to fix ourselves. It is not their job to fix us, but it is their job to work on themselves. We can all help one another, but we cannot do each other's work for one another. "Everyone is heir to one's own karma," teaches the Buddha (AN 5.57). And whatever we are heir to, it will arrive, it will arrive. Let's make it something welcome and joyful.

It's called a "bike." - No, friend, I meant are those Shimano brakes? They're not going to cut it. Look at this guy, trying to use cut-rate brakes in the Last Himalayan Buddhist Kingdom!

Native American Walkabout 2014 (March 22)

Xochitl, Pat Macpherson, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; ArroyoSeco.org (Facebook)

If the Buddha -- a wanderer -- went on a walkabout, what would he be doing? "May peace and balance be restored to Mother Earth and all who walk upon her" (Eco_Bela/flickr.com)

Buddha Mind, Buddha Body: Walking Toward Enlightenment (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Tim Martinez led hikers to Hahamongna (JPL/Devil's Gate Dam), where they learned about its rich Native American heritage and how to protect it. Comments on the Devil's Gate sediment removal draft EIR were due on Jan. 21, 2014. (See here for more information).

View of flood control basin as it fills from atop Devils Gate Dam with JPL in distance

 

Old Los Angeles (tongvapeople.org)

What better way to celebrate the equinox and welcome spring than to set off on an aboriginal walkabout?

The original inhabitants of Los Angeles were the Tongva, who considered the Hahamongna watershed "sacred" land. The rain that falls in the forest rushes down the mountains and percolates through springs rising before flooding down into the Los Angeles Basin into the Pacific Ocean.

The Foundation

One of the most spectacular accomplishments of the Arroyo Seco Foundation (ASF) is reestablishing the Arroyo chub, a native fish in this major tributary of the Los Angeles River.

 

The ASF mission is to preserve and enhance the Arroyo Seco (dry gulch) from the San Gabriel Mountains down to the Los Angeles River, reforest the region, and promote environmental and cultural (Tongva/Gabrielino and Chumash) awareness of one of Southern California’s greatest natural resources. More

• The Original People of Los Angeles
• A Brief History of the Tongva People
• Our Rain Dance (Wisdom Quarterly)

Hahamongna Watershed Park, next to dam and its usually dry basin (PasadenaWeekly.com)

Skydiving vs. Biking to the Pyramid (video)

Seth Auberon,  Pat Macpherson, Ashley Wells,  Wisdom Quarterly; E4U, NBC News; SL

Goal: Southern California's pyramid, Cal State University, Long Beach campus (R.Hollister)

LOS ANGELES - Wouldn't it be something to ride bikes from the base of the mountains to the lip of the sea that foams as it surges towards the foothills? The wilds of the Angeles Forest wilderness (part of the Sierra Madre mountain range) give way down the concrete expanse.

WARNING: Hip hop, rap, and dizzying POV bike ride

The bike path narrows, expands, consumes the sprawl from crumbling Angel's crest to Saint Monica's Bay. Below its miniature lanes, there's a river, the San Gabriel arm of the L.A. Ganges. It runs the Way of the winding arroyo-Tao.

The massive glass pyramid campus centerpiece, CSULB, Cal State Long Beach (wiki)

 

We would sweat and we would tire; we would breathe and we would smile. We would widen the Tao of bound shilagit sheets under our feet, oozing from our cruising. We exercise as we glide and glide -- Astro' to astral, Hyperion to a Satyr, all the way down to the plant by the bay. Toward the sand, fumbling, standing on seats, sitting on bars, belly laughing, golden gleaming, feet warming, foreheads steaming.

Walter Pyramid (longbeachstate.com)

We can walk the idle wilds in view of the skyscrapers, the fresh fragrance sky blue, cool, aerodynamic, washing over our skin.

Concrete banks glimmer like an ancient Roman pantheon, honoring an entire corps of engineers. Bradbury could bury us in hardening sand, like so many skipping stones. We would wash out along the Long sand, soft again, by the pyramid on the campus of Cal State Long Beach with its glimmering glass monument.

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