On-Retaliation as a Spiritual Practice
We do not have to get back at those who hate us or hurt our
feelings. We have alternative spiritual practices that free us from
that primitive reaction.
Revenge, at first though sweet,
Bitter ere long back on itself recoils.
-John Milton: Paradise Lost, Book 9
-----------------
Quotations from various traditions about letting go of
the urge to retaliate:
One act of retaliation burns to the ground a whole forest of
merit.
–Buddhist Teachings: Dhammapada
Requite evil with what is best. Then truly he between whom
and you there was enmity, will become your dearest friend.
-Koran: 41:34
Do not say: “I’ll do to them as they have done to me;
I’ll pay them back for what they did.”
-Hebrew Bible: Proverbs 24:29
Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him.
- Hebrew Bible: Lamentations 3:30
He was insulted and did not retaliate with insult; he was
tortured and made no threat.
–Christian New Testament: First Letter of St. Peter 2:23
A view of God as punitive and retributive nullifies any in-
depth spiritual journey: Why would you love or trust or desire to
be with such a God?
-Richard Rohr, Franciscan teacher
I saw the fires of hell and people were not burning there. All
that was burning was what they had refused to let go of on earth.
And the flames were not punishing; they were liberating… The
only thing that burns in hell is the part of you that won’t let go of
your life: your memories, your attachments. The [flames] burn
them all away, but they’re not punishing you, they’re freeing your
soul.
-Meister Eckhart, 14 th Century mystic
We avoid retaliating….
Alcoholics Anonymous: page 67
-----------------------------
Retaliation in relationships:
It is a quarrel most unnatural
To be revenged on him that loveth you.
-Shakespeare: Richard II
----------------------------
Retaliation helps us avoid the grief that is behind it:
Hope of revenge shall hide our inward woe.
—Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida
---------------------------
Spiritual Practices to free ourselves from the choice to
retaliate:
Treat others the way you want them to treat you.
-Golden Rule
Loving one’s oppressors—we Cambodians loving the
Khmer Rouge—may be the most difficult attitude to achieve. But
it is the law of the universe that retaliation, hatred, and revenge
only continue the cycle and never stop it. Reconciliation does not
mean that we surrender rights. It means that we see ourselves in
the opponent. For what is the opponent but a being in ignorance,
as we are so often. Therefore, only loving-kindness and right
mindfulness can free us.
–Venerable Ghosananda, Buddhist Patriarch of Cambodia
Love means more than moving toward individuals. It means
loving the world so we take a stand against the normalcy of
violence and the values of the world so it can be a better place
[finding] a method which rejects revenge, aggression and
retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his acceptance speech for the
1964 Nobel Peace Prize
Do good to him who has injured you.
–Tao Te Ching 63
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless
those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
-Luke: 6:27-28
"Love your enemy" doesn't mean love the person you hate.
You can't do that. Love those who hate you.
-B. Alan Wallace
When you begin to see the suffering in the other person,
compassion is born, and you no longer consider that person as
your enemy. The moment you realize that your so-called enemy
suffers and you want him to stop suffering, he ceases to be your
enemy.
–Thich Nhat Hanh
When they go low, we go high.
-Michelle Obama
