12-26-2017, 04:05 PM
I think "understanding" in LOO has two meanings:
1. understanding as compassion
2. understanding as wisdom
Ignacio Larrañaga wrote about understanding as one of the paths of forgiveness:
1. understanding as compassion
2. understanding as wisdom
Ignacio Larrañaga wrote about understanding as one of the paths of forgiveness:
Quote:If we could understand, we could not fail to forgive. Think of your "enemy". When your attention is focused on him or her, make the following reflections. Except for extraordinary cases, no one in this world acts with evil intentions, no one is evil. If others offend me, who knows what is happening with them? What seems to be pride may really be shyness. Their attitude toward me appears to be subbornness, but it may be something else: the need of self-affirmation. Their behavior appears aggressive to me; in reality they shout empty threats in order to assure themselves.
If I suffer because of their behavior, they suffer even more. They would like to be at peace with the whole world, and yet they are always in conflict with it. They did not choose this way of life.
After all this, can our "enemy" be that much to blame? Does it make sense to be irritated by behavior they did not choose? They do not deserve rejection but, rather, understanding.