Should somebody seek legal justice for the wrongdoing of another person to him/her?

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

22 November 2024

Question:  Should somebody seek legal justice for the wrongdoing of another person to him/her?

Than Ajahn:  Well, ideally not if you want to have compassion and goodwill towards that person. Then you just forgive that person who did wrong to you. This will end all problems as there will be no retaliation. If you take legal action, then you might instigate more retaliation from your enemy. So the ideal way is to forgive and forget and move on. It’s already gone anyway, right? What had been done was already done. So it’s better to leave it alone and forget about it. Because if you take legal action, it can also cause you stress. And if you lose, you’ll have more stress and sorrow, and you will lose a lot of money at the same time. So, why do it in the first place, right? 

Let it go. 

This is what radiating compassion or goodwill (mettā) means. Radiating mettā is not by doing chanting, but by actual action of doing it, by forgiving others. A lot of Buddhists think that radiating mettā means doing chanting. But by just doing chanting, they don’t do anything. 

Chanting is just teaching you how to do it.

Question:  Would this stop future harm to other people? 

Than Ajahn:  Well, if that person wants to harm other people, who can stop him or her from doing it? 

Unless you kill that person. And then that person will go and take another birth and do it again anyway. So let things be naturally. You just do things on your part to protect yourself. 

But as far as other people are concerned, who knows? Maybe by you forgiving that person, it might change that person’s character from being a bad person to become a good person. 

Because there is compassion in this world, there is goodwill in this world. 

The Buddha said that you don’t end hatred by hatred; you end hatred by loving kindness. 

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Question:  As the mind is not enlightened, even though I exercise compassion towards others, I find that after a year, there is still baggage of resentment. 

Than Ajahn:  The reason is because you don’t see that you are the one who benefit from your action. By forgiving others, you are actually the one who benefit from this action. 

Because your mind will have no hatred. You have no bad feeling. If you still want to take revenge, then your mind will still be stressful and angry. 

So actually, when you forgive others, it doesn’t benefit the person whom you forgive. It benefit you yourself. If you can see this, then you will forgive others. 

You need to have equanimity before you can see the effect of forgiveness. 

If you don’t have equanimity, if your mind is not neutral, then your mind will be constantly craving for things and you won’t be able to see the benefit of forgiving others.  But when your mind has equanimity, then you can see that when you want to take revenge, it hurts the mind right away.  

Question:  I didn’t take any revenge, I take it as it’s my own kamma. But after a year, I still talk about it. Are there tips to overcome this?

Than Ajahn:  Well, every time when you think about something bad, you should stop it by using a mantra. Just keep reciting, ‘Budho, Budho, Budho’. 

If you can do this, then your bad thought will not arise. Because as soon as it arises, you use ‘Budho’ to stop it right away. 

“Dhamma in English, Dec 21, 2021.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g