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Old 06-30-2009, 08:49 AM   #141 (permalink)
Acting Like Godot
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Now that Kanzeon is gone, let us discuss the topic of hatred / anger.

Buddhism explains that anger is an afflictive emotion. This means that those who experience anger are actually suffering. We should have compassion for those who are suffering. So we should have compassion for Kanzeon.

But what is the cause of Kanzeon's anger? The answer lies in the centre of the Buddhist wheel of life. This is a famous Buddhist painting, which explains many things, but for now we are concerned merely with the central part of the picture.



The centre of the picture shows a rooster, a snake and a pig, all of them biting / holding on to each other's tails.

The rooster symbolises ignorance of the nature of reality. The snake symbolises hatred and anger. The pig symbolises greed. Although these animals are portrayed as a vicious cycle (they bite and hold onto each other in a circle), the starting point is really the rooster.

Kanzeon is ignorant of the nature of reality. In Buddhism, this means that he falls prey to the usual illusions. For example, he would see himself as a separate self with inherent existence, and he would see other people as "others", separate and distinct from himself.

(Of course, we know from the LOA, Buddhism etc etc that we are all interconnectedness, there is no true separation, we don't really exist as separate selves etc. But Kanzeon doesn't, you see).

Therefore Kanzeon can be angry & hostile. He can be angry with other people, because he sees himself as a limited, separate self and "other" people can threaten or hurt him. He can also be greedy, because the ignorance causes him to misapprehend the nature of reality; he thinks that objects have an inherent existence and therefore attaches to them - that is how greed arises.

The ignorance (the rooster) therefore gives rise to the snake (anger / hatred) and the pig (greed). And from this trio, the rest of the wheel spins .... trapping Kanzeon in a never-ending cycle of samsara.

And that, in brief, is how all the suffering in the world arises.
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