203 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
203 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
TURN THE OTHER CHEEK
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World Scripture
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TURN THE OTHER CHEEK
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The pacifist ethic to bear insults without complaint and to turn the other
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cheek is related to the ethic to love one's enemy. Here the emphasis is as
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much on the individual's internal attitude as it is upon the other's welfare.
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If a person responds to evil in anger or self-defense, he becomes attached to
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the evil and it can dominate him. The anger and hatred of his attacker is
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transmuted into his own anger and resentment at being a victim, and he loses
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his balance and spiritual strength. But by bearing and accepting insults and
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abuse without diminution of his own goodwill and mental concentration, he can
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stay above the hatred and preserve a foundation of spiritual independence and
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self-possession. Ultimately, it is only by preserving his spiritual
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subjectivity in the midst of the insults that a person can have the strength to
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love his enemy and win him over. We include several striking examples: from
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the Lotus Sutra of a monk who is victorious through never disparaging his
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abusers, and the prophet Isaiah's servant of the Lord.
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The concluding passages also deal with the justice of turning the other cheek.
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They assume an inexorable principle of Divine Justice, pp. 183-91, which will
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set things right and even vindicate the victim's passivity. Paul argues that
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worldly retribution would mitigate the punishment of God, hence, by not acting,
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the believer will heap burning coals upon the head of his adversary. The Sutra
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of Forty-two Sections likewise speaks to the demerit which will come to the
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evildoer when his insult is accepted without responding. The victim, on the
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other hand, gains merit through enduring persecution and building the virtue of
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patience.
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Let there be no injury and no requital.
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1.Islam. Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 32
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One should choose to be among the persecuted, rather than the persecutors.
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2.Judaism. Talmud, Baba Kamma 93a
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Victory breeds hatred, for the defeated live in pain. Happily live the
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peaceful, giving up victory and defeat.
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3.Buddhism. Dhammapada 201
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For behold, they had rather sacrifice their lives than even to take the life of
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their enemy; and they have buried their weapons of war deep in the earth,
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because of their love towards their brethren.
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4.Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Book of Mormon, Alma 26.32
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In wars to gain land, the dead fill the plains; in wars to gain cities, the
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dead fill the cities. This is known as showing the land the way to devour
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human flesh. Death is too light a punishment for such men who wage war. Hence
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those skilled in war should suffer the most severe punishments.
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5.Confucianism. Mencius IV.A.14
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Those who beat you with fists,
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Do not pay them in the same coin,
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But go to their house and kiss their feet.
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6.Sikhism. Adi Granth, Shalok, Farid, p. 1378
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You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."
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But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on
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the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one would sue you and
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take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; and if any one forces you to
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go one mile, go with him two miles.
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7.Christianity. Matthew 5.38-41
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Those who are insulted but do not insult others in revenge, who hear themselves
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reproached without replying, who perform good work out of the love of the Lord
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and rejoice in their sufferings... are "as the sun when he goeth forth in his
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might."
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8.Judaism. Talmud, Yoma 23a
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Chi K'ang-tzu asked Confucius about government, saying, "Suppose I were to slay
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those who have not the Way in order to help those who have the Way, what would
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you think of it?" Confucius replied saying, "You are there to rule, not to
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slay. If you desire what is good, the people will at once be good."
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9.Confucianism. Analects 12.19
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 32: On Muhammad's long-suffering and generosity, see
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Hadith, p. 569. Baba Kamma 93a: Cf. Pesahim 25b, p. 415. Dhammapada 201: Cf.
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Yogacara Bhumi Sutra 4, p. 482. Mencius IV.A.14: Cf. Tao Te Ching 31, p. 889.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Then they came up and laid hands upon Jesus and seized him. And behold, one of
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those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and
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struck the slave of the high priest, and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to
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him, "Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will
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perish by the sword."
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10.Christianity. Matthew 26.51-52
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Brethren, if outsiders should speak against me, or against the Doctrine, or
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against the Order, you should not on that account either bear malice, or suffer
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resentment, or feel ill will. If you, on that account, should feel angry and
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hurt, that would stand in the way of your own self- conquest.
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11.Buddhism. Digha Nikaya i.3
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Kuan Chung... could seize the fief of P'ien with its three hundred villages
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from its owner, the head of the Po family; yet Po, though he lived on coarse
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food to the end of his days, never uttered a single word of resentment. The
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Master said, "To be poor and not resent it is far harder than to be rich, yet
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not presumptuous."
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12.Confucianism. Analects 14.11
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Monks, even as low-down thieves might be carving you limb from limb with a
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two-handled saw, even then whoever sets his mind at enmity is not a doer of my
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teaching. Monks, you should train yourselves thus, "Our minds shall not be
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perverted, we will not utter evil words, we shall abide cherishing thoughts of
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good, with minds full of goodwill and with no hatred in our heart. Beginning
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with that thief, we shall abide suffusing the whole world with thoughts of
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goodwill that are extensive, exalted, and immeasurable, without hostility and
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malevolence."
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If you, monks, were to attend repeatedly to this exhortation on the parable of
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the saw, would you see any form of ridicule, subtle or gross, that you could
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not endure?
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13.Buddhism. Majjhima Nikaya i.129
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Matthew 26.51-52: But see also Matthew 10.34, p. 886, and John 2.13-16, p. 891.
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Digha Nikaya i.3: Cf. Vachana 248, p. 793. Analects 14.11: Kuan Chung had such
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prestige that no one called him 'presumptuous' when he injured others; it was
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much harder for the head of the Po family to avoid resentment than it was for
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Kuan Chung to keep up the air of probity. Cf. Nahjul Balagha, Saying 201, p.
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850; I Ching 40, p. 849.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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For what reason was he named Never Despise? Because he paid respect to and
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commended everybody he saw, monks, nuns, men and women disciples; speaking
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thus, "I deeply revere you. Wherefore? Because you are walking in the
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bodhisattva way and are to become Buddhas." That monk did not devote himself
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to reading and reciting the sutras, but only to paying respect, so that when he
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saw afar off a member of the four classes of disciples he would specially go
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and pay respect to them, saying, "I dare not slight you, because you are all to
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become Buddhas." Amongst the four classes, there were those who, irritated and
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angry and low-minded, reviled and abused him, saying, "Where does this ignorant
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monk come from, who takes it on himself to say, 'I do not slight you,' and who
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predicts us as destined to become Buddhas? We need no such false predictions."
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Thus he passed many years, constantly reviled but never irritated or angry,
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always saying, "You are to become Buddhas." Whenever he spoke thus, they beat
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him with clubs, sticks, potsherds, or stones. But, while escaping to a
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distance, he stilled cried aloud, "I dare not slight you. You are all to
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become Buddhas." And because he always spoke thus, the haughty monks, nuns,
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and their disciples dubbed him Never Despise.
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14.Buddhism. Lotus Sutra 20
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The Lord God has given me
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the tongue of a disciple,
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that I may know how to sustain with a word
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him that is weary.
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Morning by morning he wakens,
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he wakens my ear to hear as a disciple.
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The Lord God has opened my ear,
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and I was not rebellious,
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I turned not backward.
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I gave my back to the smiters,
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and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
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I hid not my face
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from shame and spitting.
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For the Lord God helps me;
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therefore I have not been confounded;
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therefore I have set my face like a flint,
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and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
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he who vindicates me is near.
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15.Judaism and Christianity. Isaiah 50.4-8
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If an evil man, on hearing of what is good, comes and creates a disturbance,
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you should hold your peace. You must not angrily upbraid him; then he who has
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come to curse you will merely harm himself.
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16.Buddhism. Sutra of Forty-two Sections 7
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Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is
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written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." No, "if your enemy
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is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by doing so you will
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heap burning coals upon his head."
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17.Christianity. Romans 12.19-20
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Lotus Sutra 20: This is recognizably a story about a preacher of Mahayana
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doctrine being abused and beaten by Hinayana monks, but it could apply to any
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of the many sectarian struggles in the history of Buddhism. The sutra goes on
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to say that by thus exercising forbearance upon being beaten and reviled, his
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accumulated sins are washed away and he ultimately attains the highest goal.
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Romans 12.19-20: In Qur'an 5.27-32, p. 417, Abel refused to strike back when
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Cain sought to kill him for fear of God and divine punishment; and he
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recognized that Cain would ultimately be the loser for killing him.
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