Anonymous

This article was first published in this Journal in Winter 2001, just three months after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre. Published here with thanks to the anonymous author.

With the recent terrorist attacks in the U.S., all of us have had an opportunity to view first-hand symptoms of hate. Hate can be expressed in a broad, all-encompassing fashion such as these attacks, or it can be experienced on a more personal one-on-one level.

I have the personal misfortune of currently being on the receiving end of hate. A colleague at work holds a remarkably strong feeling of hatred toward me. I am baffled at the cause of it. Nevertheless, it is quite real and all-too-frequently felt. If he is successful, this colleague will cause me to lose my job. I have speculated on the reasons for this hate, and although this speculation is often fascinating, it is certainly not productive.

Hate seems to be a step beyond anger. Anger we can all easily understand. I can become angry at people, at things, at a series of events beyond my control and at myself. For example, the tool I bought doesn’t work: I’m angry at the tool; I’m angry at the salesperson who sold it to me; I’m angry at myself for not knowing how to use it properly, etc.

Hate, however, goes further; I believe it is not just anger enlarged. I think I can understand hate in the abstract; however, at the risk of sounding naive or disingenuous, I don’t believe I myself have ever fully given myself over to hate. I admit to experiencing anger, perhaps even too frequently. Anger seems to me to be a reaction to some turn of events. Hatred is a feeling of malevolence toward a person or people which smoulders over a period of time and has a life of its own. Hate is not just a reaction; it seems to be a developed state of mind.

If a person has not personally experienced hate, it is difficult to understand how another person can harbor such an intense feeling. Many European Jews may have thought: how can Hitler have anything against me? I’ve never met the man and he doesn’t know me. Survivors of the World Trade Center attack may think: I’m just a regular working person. I’m good at my job, I pay my bills, I support my family. I’m an asset to the community.

The sad but true fact is that the hater will probably not go away; his/her hate will probably not dissipate. How do we deal with it? For starters, we can turn to the life of Shakyamuni Buddha.

The Buddha was also plagued by a person who hated him. It was his cousin, Devadatta. We can speculate on the reason for this hatred, but again such speculation is not very helpful.

When Shakyamuni was about seventy years of age, he was understandably not as robust as he once had been. His mind was still sharp but the physical body was failing. It is said he sometimes suffered from low back pain.¹ How many of us can identify with that! Frequently, the Buddha allowed one of his disciples to present the afternoon Dharma talk while he rested. Devadatta took advantage of this situation to urge the Sangha to follow him because the Buddha had grown too old.

Lord [said Devadatta to Shakyamuni], you are now old, worn-out, an aged man, you have lived your allotted span and are at the end of your existence. May you be content to live in this world henceforth unburdened. Hand over the Order to me…I will lead the Sangha.²

For most of us who are forty or more, we can immediately identify with this situation. The body just can’t do what it used to do; the memory just isn’t quite as sharp as it used to be, etc. Above all, we must remember that Shakyamuni was human. He must have suffered some anxious moments of self-examination. He must have asked himself: do I still have my wits about me sufficiently to lead the Sangha? Shakyamuni declined Devadatta’s ‘invitation.’ Devadatta was not so easily placated.

Devadatta hired assassins to kill Shakyamuni, but they botched their murder attempt. He drugged an elephant and got it to charge the Buddha, but that failed too. He caused a boulder to roll downhill onto Shakyamuni, but it missed. Imagine how stressful life must have been for the Buddha during this period of time! When I think of my personal hate-filled enemy, I cannot conceive of him attempting bodily harm. So far, he has confined his tactics to character attacks and political machinations. That has been stressful enough! Devadatta was sufficiently successful that he caused a schism in the ranks of the Sangha. Some accounts have it that the Devadatta sect lasted for almost ten centuries.³

So what can we find in the Buddha’s actions to follow as an example? For starters, let’s look at what he did not do.

He did not give up in the face of adversity and surrender the Sangha to someone who was not fit to lead it. He did not react with equal hatred and plan counter-attacks on Devadatta. He did not walk away from the Sangha, move off to a new part of his world and attempt to start up again. This would be simply changing the external ‘conditions’ with no guarantee that they would be any easier. Apparently, he did not engage in verbal attacks on Devadatta. He simply continued to lead his life as best he could: he meditated, he taught, he led the Sangha.

I pray that when I am faced with travails at the hands of a hating person, I am able to take refuge in the life of the Buddha; I pray that I might recognize how relatively small my troubles are (it’s only a job) in comparison to those faced by the Buddha; I will try to remember to show gratitude to the Sangha for helping me with meditation and the Dharma.

 Hatreds never cease through hatred in this world;

through love alone they cease.

This is an eternal law.⁴

Notes

1. H. W. Schumann, The Historical Buddha (London: Penguin Books,1989), p. 239.

2. The Historical Buddha p.234.

3. The Historical Buddha p. See also Jean Boisselier, The Wisdom a/the Buddha (New York: Harry Abrams Publishers, 1994), p. 97.

4. Narada Thera, The Dhammapada (B.M.S. Publication, 1978), p. 8.