Chapter 12 ﹝8﹞: No resentment when being humiliated is difficult.

(Chapter 12 ﹝8﹞ ) A Brief Talk about The Scripture of Forty-Two Chapters Said by Buddha

Co-translators in the time of Eastern Han Dynasty, China(A.D. 25 - 200) : Kasyapa Matanga and Zhu Falan (Who translated the said Scripture from Sanskrit into Chinese. )

Translator in modern time (A.D.2018: Tao Qing Hsu (Who translated the said Scripture from Chinese into English.)

Teacher and writer for explaining the said Scripture: Tao Qing Hsu 

Chapter 12: List the difficulties and exhort to practice 

The Buddha said,” There are twenty difficulties for people. Giving something to others is difficult when people are in poor. Learning the Dao is difficult when people are in the huge wealth and are the nobility. It is hard to the people when they must die because their lives have to be abandoned. Being able to see the scripture of Buddha is difficult. Being born in the time of Buddha is difficult. Enduring the erotic and desire is difficult. Seeing the self-interest and not to pursue it is difficult. No resentment when being humiliated is difficult. When having the authority and not to draw near to ordinary people  is difficult. When contact with things and no heart  is difficult. Learning widely and researching extensively are difficult. Removing the ego-arrogance is difficult. Not to despise the un-learner is difficult. Practicing the equality in heart is difficult. Not saying its right or wrong is difficult. Meeting the good-knowledge person is difficult. Seeing the Nature and learning the Dao are difficult. According to conditions to reform people so as to save them is difficult. Seeing the circumstance and unmoved in heart are difficult. Good at understanding the convenience is difficult.

Chapter 12 ﹝8﹞: No resentment when being humiliated is difficult.

No resentment when being humiliated is difficult. It is the eighth difficulty in the twenty difficulties said by Buddha Shakyamuni in this Chapter.

When we are insult and injury, it is easy to have the feeling of resentment, and then to arise the hatred to the people. That is because we have the strong self-ego and self-esteem, and we strongly attach to the self-ego in our inside. Secondly, we attach to and follow to the sound, words, meanings performed by the people, and to what happened in the situation of our outside. 

In other words, we are roving for our inside self-ego, and are turned around by those sound, words, meanings and situation. That is, we are tangled with these things. Then, our heart would be like turbid water. How would it be possible for us to be clear and peaceful in this moment? That is why no resentment when being humiliated is difficult.

The Buddha Shakyamuni had taught us that all things are illusion, because all of that is combined with causes and conditions. They are changing at each moment. It is impermanent. Because it is impermanent, we should not attach to it, and not to follow it.  

Furthermore, the self-ego should be abandoned. In the situation of nothings, nothing could be harmed. That is why we have learned from the chapter 8:

The Buddha said,” The vicious person harms the virtuous person, such as spitting the saliva toward the sky, the saliva doesn’t reach the sky, but falls to oneself; to scatter the dust in inversing wind, the dust doesn’t reach the other place, but being brought back to oneself. The virtue doesn’t be destroyed. The disaster absolutely ruins oneself.”

So, when we are nothing in our inside and outside, what would be insulted or harmed? How could it be possible to insult or harm the nothing? When we realize this, we have known that everyone also has nothing in their inside and outside. No matter we humiliate others, or other people to humiliate us, we know that it is all illusion. Therefore, a wise person would not insult or harm others.

All is illusion. And the illusion is hold by most people who regard all illusion as real. Meanwhile, they attach to the illusion and therefore arise any feelings, such as anger, annoyance, or dislike.

Having understood above, a wise person would not allow themselves to be controlled by any illusion, or any impermanent things. For them, without resentment when they are humiliated is not difficult.

In the Buddhist Scripture of Wondrous-Law & Lotus, the Buddha Shakyamuni had told a story about Bodhisattva Often-No-Despising (In Sanskrit, it is called as Bodhisattva Sadāparibhūta). There is a Bodhisattva. He is called as Often-No-Despising. By what the causes and conditions this Bodhisattva is called as Often-No-Despising?

There is a Bhikkhu. When he sees the Bhikkhu, Bhikkhuni, Buddhist in male, and Buddhist in female, he bows and praises to them. And he says,” I deeply respect all of you. I am not daring to despise you. Why? Because all of you go into the path of Bodhisattva, you would absolutely be a Buddha. ”

Meanwhile, this Bhikkhu doesn’t specially read and chant the Buddhist Scripture, but bows, even to have seen the four congregates in the far, he goes forward again to bow and praise to them, and says, ” I am not daring to despise you. All of you would absolutely be a Buddha.”

In the four congregates, some of them arise the heart of resentment and of impure, and rebuke him from their vicious mouth,” Where this unwise Bhikkhu comes from? He says that he would not despise us, and grants us to absolutely be a Buddha. We don’t need to have such false guaranteeing.”

Like this, it has been many years, the Bhikkhu is often rebuked and no resentment is occurred. He often says the words: ” You would absolutely be a Buddha.”

When he has said the words, people might use the stick or the tile to hit him or to throw those toward him. He avoids those things, goes far away, and still loudly says, ”I am not daring to despise you. You would absolutely be a Buddha.”

Due to that he often says these words, the arrogance-increasing Bhikkhu, Bhikkhuni, Buddhist in male, and Buddhist in female, call him as Often-no-despising.

When the Bhikkhu meets the ending of his life, he has heard the sound of Buddha Awesome-Sound-King in the emptiness of universe, who speaks of the Scripture of Wondrous Law & Lotus. The Bhikkhu accepts and practices it after hearing, and then he obtains the clear and pure in his Six-Roots of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind.

This story tells us how to be a Bodhisattva. First, we must not despise others, because they would absolutely be a Buddha someday. Secondly, we have to be humble, because everyone has the Buddha-nature and they would be a Buddha someday. Third, we should have no resentment when we are rebuked or humiliated.

Supplementary note: Dao is transliterated from Chinese, meaning way and method, deeper meaning as a system of learning or religion. Dao is Tao, which is transliterated from Chinese. The original meaning of Dao is the way and path, and it is extended to be the truth of life that we can learn and practice in our lives.