Ignorance

She came into my room like a terror.

Took my books from my bookshelf and threw it onto the floor.

Opened my cupboards and grabbed anything that she wanted.

Torn my book voucher.

Finally, Walked away like nothing had happened.

A behaviour of a Terror.

That's my little niece.

.

.

.

I am not angry with her at all.

In fact, I would be upset with myself if she gotten hurt in my room.

.

Anyway,

How can anybody be angry with someone who is innocent and ignorant?

My little niece. =)

.

.

.

Sometime we might be upset by remarks made by others.

They might be ignorant too - not understanding what they meant.

So how can we be upset with their ignorance?

.

.

.

Similarly, sometimes we are also ignorant without realising it.

Let's face it. Humans are ignorant.

We also need forgiveness from others.

Be mindful that we are imperfect.

.

.

.

This reminded of a story around 15 years ago.

Studying in a missionary school, most of my friends are either Catholic or Christian.

I followed my friends to their church youth group.

Upon realising that I am buddhist (technically, I wasn't), they started to "attack".

One guy said "Buddha is a selfish person, because he abandoned his wife and child to seek enlightenment."

I was very upset by his remarks, yet, I could not defend Buddha, as I was a so-called Buddhist (like alot Singaporean Chinese) who do not understand the beauty & profoundness of Dharma -

http://www.kmspks.org/download/ebook/Lamp08.pdf

.

I have forgiven his ignorance.

Buddha would not need to forgive him, as Buddha would never be upset by it. Buddha would wish that this person would be free from suffering and ignorance, and hope he find happiness in his life.

.

In fact, I should thank him for "attacking" me.

It exposed my ignorance and my lack of understanding of Buddhism.

I started to question my identity as a Buddhist.

That experience raised a lot of questions on various religions etc...

I read more about other religions and attended more services.

And found the teaching that resonated with me.

.

I am glad to say that I am less ignorant than 15 years ago.

However, I am still ignorant.

=)