“This is life. C’est la vie.”

“This is life. C’est la vie.”

Question:  "If somebody insults us, what should we do, or if somebody insults you, how will you react?"

Than Ajahn:  "You just let him or her insult you. If you don’t expect anything from him or her, you will not get angry. The reason you get angry is because you want him/her to be nice to you, to talk nicely to you. When he or she doesn’t talk nicely to you, or is insulting you, you get angry.

So, it’s up to you whether you have the desire for him/her to talk nicely to you or not. If you don’t have any desire for it, then you won’t get angry. Let him/her talk in any way he/she wants to talk. Besides talking, if he or she wants to hit you or kill you, you will still not be hurt if you don’t expect anything from him/her."

Male:  "So, we don’t have to react."

Than Ajahn:  "Right. The Buddha said that if somebody says bad things to you, just think that it is better than if the person hits you. If the person hits you then the Buddha said that you are still lucky because the person didn’t kill you. And if the person kills you, The Buddha said, ‘so what? This is life.’ C’est la vie. Once you are born, you’re going to die anyway."

From “Dhamma in English to layperson from France, Mar 5-8, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

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