The Tragedy of Revenge

When I was young, I could spend hours with my head in a book, engrossed in many tales of far away lands where the desperate heroes or heroines had to overcome great adversity to realise their dreams. And in every story, there's always a wicked villain. There's always some bad nasty who did their utmost to thwart the would-be prince or princess. Yet despite their wickedness, the heroes would always prevail and live happily ever after. After all, it was only fair and that was justice.

In the 21st Century, I've come to realise that despite the iPods, Google, Facebook & Twitter, most of us still feed that child-like desire for Justice. When we hear that a thief has been caught, we say "Hah! Gotchya!" or if we're too polite to say it outloud, we smugly think, "Good riddance, another social miscreat taken care of!" 

Frankly, if I had a dollar for everytime someone wished ill of a speeding driver, or a bad-mannered patient, or a loud-mouthed dinner.... well, the list is practically endless and I'd make Bill Gates look like a pauper.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm certainly no Bodhisattva (though I desperately wish otherwise!). Too many times to count, I've caught myself thinking the very same thing you have. God, I wish so-and-so would just disappear off the face of the earth and just stop making ME miserable! You might wonder what's so bad about that. After all, if somebody's annoying us, shouldn't we have the right to tell them to damn-well bugger off?

The problem with "Justice" however, is that it's our sense of justice. When you reflect honestly, truthfully and with every bit of your open-mindnesses, it doesn't take long to realise that Justice always revolves around what I want and what I don't want. That's a lot of relativitiy happening... and given that the current population of the earth has already exceeded 7 Billion, how do we all agree on what "Justice" means exactly?

A week ago, I watched Niels Arden Oplev's 2009 "Girl with a Dragon Tattoo". One of the main characters, Lisbeth Salander, is a young withdrawn woman, who has already seen her fair share of suffering & hardships. In the movie, she is a victim of sexual assault but soon works out a way to get one better on her attacker. In short, she executes what we all dream of: "An eye for an eye."

As a Buddhist however, I didn't find much to celebrate in her seeming victory. I sincerely believe there is a far older force at work in the universe and this is what many Buddhists recognise as Karma. The Law of Karma is very much a law of Cause & Effect. It's even summed up in one of the teachings that Jesus Christ gave quite neatly which is, "Do to others what you would wish done onto you."

See the tragedy of revenge, is that every action we do that is motivated by anger, ill-will, malice, jealousy or any one of the host of negative emotions, means that the outcome of that very action is also going to be negative. In the short term, if might appear that we got our dues and conquered our Enemy, but our action will soon generate another Enemy to take its place. We can bear arms again and try to fight the next Enemy with more anger & hatred but even if we win, another will simply manifest. It is inevitable that the day will come when we lose and during this whole process, we suffer unbearable heartache.

The Law of Karma is an intricate & complex teaching. I can't even begin to comprehend its mundane aspects, let alone the finer workings hidden to the ordinary human mind. But the rule of thumb is, any action that is motivated by ill-will or selfishness, never produces good. It only creates bad results and unless we change our ways, we will experience these results over and over again, life after life after life...

This means that the responsibility lands squarely on your shoulders. You have the powere right this very moment to decide what happens in the next chapter of your life. When shit hits the fan, I'm always reminded that there is in fact a choice. I can charge into the madness all-guns-blazing and begin yet another long, endless battle. Or I can just pause, take a deep breath and really try to examine the situation. Why has this happened to me? Why do I feel so victimised? What part do I have to play in this situation? What can I do to defuse the situation without blowing up everyone around me?

I've learnt over the years that it's easy to fight back with harsh words, mindless actions & cruel intent. But being kind, compassionate, wise & mindful in the face of adversity.... well that takes the greatest kind of courage. During our lifetime, we are fortunate enough to have a living example of that courage. His Holiness the Dalai Lama never ceases to remind me of what the mind is capable of, especially when I'm most tempted to give in to my old Samsaric ways and just make the situation worse.

I'm not suggesting that we all roll over and be blindly intolerant to wrong doing in the world. If you have the resources & capability to prevent wrong doing, then do so but always, ALWAYS, pause to examine your intentions first. Why do you really to act out? Is it because we're protecting those weaker than ourselves or are we just protecting our Ego? These are important questions to ask, least we become prey to strange preverted ideas of Justice. Think Hitler here. Above all else, always be on guard against your own brand of self-serving logic.

So here's a challenge for you. If you're curious about Karma, now is the moment to do some investigating and find out more about it. If you're not curious about Karma, then I challenge you to give up the role of the Avenger and become a Peace-Maker instead. We all know the world would be a far better place if there were more people working on making peace with their families, friends and co-workers instead of plotting how to stab them in the back!

As for myself, I will continue to challenge myself to abide as sincerely and completely as possible by the Laws of Karma. May I do no harm onto others, even to the smallest Ant, the smallest fly, the smallest Sentient Being. And when they do harm onto me, may I have the strength to refrain from striking back. It's my choice after all and I choose not to become the vehicle that delivers your karmic debt. May I have the courage and ability, to one day take on all the karmic debts of all Sentient Beings. Now wouldn't that be something to blog about!