Hi all, please share after reading. _()_
Killing is never skillful. Stealing, lying, and everything else in the
first list are never skillful. When asked if there was anything whose
killing he approved of, the Buddha answered that there was only one
thing: anger. In no recorded instance did he approve of killing any
living being at all. When one of his monks went to an executioner and
told the man to kill his victims compassionately, with one blow, rather
than torturing them, the Buddha expelled the monk from the Sangha, on
the grounds that even the recommendation to kill compassionately is
still a recommendation to kill — something he would never condone. If a
monk was physically attacked, the Buddha allowed him to strike back in
self-defense, but never with the intention to kill. As he told the
monks,
Kakacupama Sutta: The Parable of the Saw (Majjhima Nikaya 21)
"Monks, even if bandits were to carve you up savagely, limb by limb,
with a two-handled saw, he among you who let his heart get angered even
at that would not be doing my bidding. Even then you should train
yourselves: 'Our minds will be unaffected and we will say no evil words.
We will remain sympathetic, with a mind of good will, and with no inner
hate. We will keep pervading these people with an awareness imbued with
good will and, beginning with them, we will keep pervading the
all-encompassing world with an awareness imbued with good will —
abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free from hostility, free from ill
will.' That's how you should train yourselves."
notice that the first para and last paragraph like convey differently. one is allowed self-defence and the other is try not to self-defence.
it is good for below 10 bhumis, as this might be otherwise from Shurangama Sutra already, which talk about a tyrant king mahasattva, but i think that one is for 10 bhumis above from Mahayana pov.
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