Most of us would like to live in a peaceful environment for ourselves and the people whom we love. We would like the society to be free from crime, violence, unjust, hatred, prejudice and discrimination. We want to be free from insecurity, fear and worry.
When discrimination happens to us, we would like other people to stop being discriminative towards us, as being discriminated is really not a nice experience and it contributes restlessness in us. We will feel disturbed and are not peaceful.
We want to be treated equally and respectfully by everyone. But, are we also treating everyone in the world (with different types of beliefs, behaviors, characteristics and personalities) equally and respectfully?
We will be angry with some people whom are being discriminative and prejudice towards us, but think again, most probably we are not aware that sometimes we are doing the same thing towards some other beings as well.
We need to reflect towards our own actions, reactions, thinking, speech and behavior to see if we are also being discriminative and prejudice towards other beings without us being aware of it.
Being discriminative and prejudice towards other people based on race, skin colour,
religion, political views, belief, nationality, disability,
education level, family background, inheritance, ranking, social status, job, income, lifestyle, gender,
sexual orientation, age, physical condition and appearance, past and present behavior, or anything that we can think of,
is something that we all need to empty out from ourselves, before we 'expect' the world to be free from discrimination, prejudice and hatred.
When we start to react towards other people's what we ourselves believe as wrongful and inappropriate behavior by criticizing or condemning their behavior as bad and evil doings, and judging them as bad and evil beings, we are starting to behave just like these people whom we criticize and condemn. As those who really live in the truth, they won't criticize or condemn anyone, not even the most evil being in the world. As there is no need to do so. As by criticize and condemn, it won't make these people to change their behaviors to become what we think how it should be. It will only intensify repulsion and hatred in people's mind.
When we criticize or condemn other people for what we believe as wrongful and inappropriate behavior, because we think we are better human beings than them, not to say, when we are also behaving the same unwittingly, then we are not any different from those whom we criticize or condemn.
Sometimes we have discrimination among ourselves within the same race, not to say, being racist towards other race that are different from us. Discrimination also exists within the same family, in the same gender or in the same religion, not to say, discrimination exists among the names and forms that are distinctively different from each other.
There is no doubt that discrimination, prejudice and hatred promotes unrest, insecurity and fear in people's mind. But if we realize unconditional peace and love in us, all these unrest, insecurity and fear will not arise in us even though discrimination, prejudice and hatred exist in our society.
Discrimination, prejudice and hatred derived from craving and aversion of the egoistic mind towards what our ego likes and dislikes, agrees and disagrees with, based on our own particular thinking, belief, values and practice. Out of ignorance, we have attachment and identification towards the qualities of names and forms. We will have judgment and comparison towards the different qualities of names and forms, that we perceive in ourselves and in others. Fear and insecurity arise due to attachment and identification towards these qualities of names and forms. We have great frustration, dissatisfaction and disappointment when our desire of craving and aversion, or our expectation are not being gratified.
Because of fear and insecurity, we want to think and feel that we are more strong and superior than other people, and we don't want to think and feel that we are more weak and inferior than other people.
When we are free from egoism and ignorance, when we realize the truth of names and forms, we don't need to be stronger or superior than anyone or don't want to be weaker or inferior than anyone. Beyond all the different qualities of names and forms, beyond all the different types of thinking, beliefs, values and behavior, we all are the same selfless momentary existence of names and forms, when we see the truth in everything. There is neither superiority nor inferiority. There is neither good nor evil. And thus there is no fear towards "evil" beings or "evil" doings.
Being discriminative towards other people's racist behavior and speech is not any different from being a "racist" ourselves. We need to learn to accept and respect everyone as they are, even if some people are being racist, prejudiced and discriminative towards us or other people.
Being undisturbed or undetermined by the existence of discrimination in the world and without criticizing or condemn discrimination in the world, it doesn't mean that we are agreeing with or supporting discrimination in the world. It also doesn't mean that we don't or wouldn't perform any selfless actions that would help to reduce discrimination in the world, or to bring more peace and harmony into the world of diversity.
Everyone has the freedom to say or do whatever they want to say or do. We want to fight for freedom of speech and be free to have our own particular cultural, social, political, spiritual or religious beliefs, but how come we discriminate and criticize other people who say and do things that we disagree with and don't like, who have different cultural, social, political, spiritual or religious beliefs that are different from ours?
If we really practice Dhamma, we will stop discrimination, prejudice and hatred from ourselves towards other people who think and behave the way that we don't agree with.
Respect everyone as they are, even if they are being discriminative, prejudice and hating towards some others. It doesn't mean that we have to agree with them or support them for their behavior, or allowing ourselves to be harassed and insulted by abusive speech or behavior. But we don't have to be affected, or disturbed, or influenced, or determined by other people's abusive and insulting speech and behavior due to ignorance and egoism. We also don't have to behave exactly the same like them.
When somebody makes a statement or judgment, it is only his or her own point of views, it is not the truth of what things are. Why bother being determined and getting upset by somebody's subjective opinion and judgment? There is no need of justification as well. How other people want to think and express is their freedom, but we don't have to be determined by other people's thinking and expression, even if it appears to be something very unpleasant.
Let everyone take responsibility for the consequences of their own thinking, speech, actions or behavior. We don't have to react towards other people inappropriate thinking, speech, actions or behavior. It doesn't mean that we don't care for what is happening in the world. We can act wisely, out of compassion, without attachment towards our actions and the fruit of our actions, without being affected or influenced by other people's wrongful or inappropriate behavior.
Just like keeping the house clean everyday. No matter how many times we try to clean the house everyday, dust and dirt keeps coming back. If we want to live in the house, we have to keep cleaning it without getting frustrated, or disappointed, or exhausted. Until the house, or the dust and dirt stop existing, then there is no need of cleaning anymore, but that is something unlikely to happen.
We cannot expect everyone to act and react the same way that we act and react, as everyone has very different types of beliefs, thinking, behavior, personalities and values or meanings of life. We cannot expect other people to be endowed with perfect self-control and ethical values, without any defilement or unrighteous behavior.
We ourselves are not perfectly pure or completely be free from defilement yet, how can we judge and criticize, or discriminate those whom we think they are bad and evil?
If we really want to improve our society or the world that we are living in, we must change ourselves and purify ourselves, remove ignorance, impurities and egoism in us. We need to realize what is unconditional peace and compassion, be able to be kind and compassionate towards all beings without discrimination, prejudice or hatred, including those who are generating discrimination, prejudice or hatred in the society.
It doesn't matter how unfair or insulting is other people treating us, we can still be kind towards everyone without being disturbed, or affected, or influenced, or determined by their respective behavior.
It is certainly not about, "You are nice to me, and I will be nice to you...", or "If you are not supporting me, I will not be nice to you...", or "You disagree with me, and so you are not my friend...", or "I am nice to you, so you have to be nice to me...", or "You are not nice to me, so why do I have to be nice to you...", or "You hate me, I hate you too..."
It has to start with ourselves. Fill ourselves with peace, love, compassion and wisdom, or correct understanding. Radiate peace, love, compassion and wisdom into the surroundings. Smile and be friendly to everyone without any selfish intentions or desires, without discrimination, prejudice or hatred, without expectation towards other people's reactions and behavior. Respect all beings as they are.
Develop magnanimity, kind wishes, forgiveness, courage, loving kindness, calmness, generosity, nobility, patience, tolerance, adjustment, adaptation, accommodation and acceptance, which will help to eliminate egoism and ignorance. Let go of petty-mindedness, ill will, discrimination, prejudice, selfish intentions or desires, expectation, anger, hatred, fear, jealousy, greed, disappointment, and all sorts of impurities that feed and fueled by ignorance and egoism simultaneously.
We wish the world, "May all beings be happy, be free." including those beings whom we think they are bad and evil. As they are the ones who needed to be free from ignorance, to be free from suffering, and then there will be less beings in the world that generate harmful actions and consequences into the world.
We cannot change or control other people to think and behave the way that we think they should think and behave, but we can change ourselves, and develop the noble qualities that might or might not bring awareness to other people to reflect upon themselves or their behavior, so that other people can also develop the awareness of seeing the ignorance in themselves, and out of their own free will, whether they want to change themselves, to let go of egoism, to remove ignorance, and to have self-control over their own thoughts, speech and actions, or not.
It is not through anger, hatred, discrimination, violence, oppression or control, to change the society, or to make the world to be a better place. But it is through peace, love, compassion and wisdom in ourselves, that can help to bring awareness and reflection in other people, to allow them to see themselves, to be aware of their own ignorance and ignorant behaviors, and to change themselves out of their own free will. This is how the world will change, when everyone starts to change themselves.
It takes great amount of love, peace, patience, forbearance, perseverance, determination, will power and courage to help the world to evolve, to eliminate evilness, and to promote goodness. Most importantly, it starts with ourselves. We shine as an embodiment of unconditional love and peace, if we wish the best for the world.
Om shanti.
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