When Ajahn Sumedho was a young American monk under the tutelage of Ajahn Chah he was upset with one rude and unreasonable monk in the monastery whom many had found difficult to live with. He thought the monk should be reproached by some senior monk. At one monastery meeting while Ajahn Chah was away, he raised his viewpoint in the monk's presence and his concern was noted. The monk left the monastery a few days later. When Ajahn Chah returned he called Ajahn Sumedho and told him:
"You are Right in facts but Wrong in dharma"
Apparently Ajahn Chah is aware of the monk's behaviour but let him remained in the monastery because the monk had been kicked out of other monasteries and had no where else to practice. Though his behaviour was undesirable he remained good at heart.
Ajahn Amaro (disciple of Ajahn Sumedho) who related this incident then explained that when we act we have to investigate the underlying attitude and intention of our action. We should also adopt a compassionate attitude.
I find Ajahn Chah's remark very useful as a guide to address our resentment of people whom we dislike. It may be perfectly true that a person may be difficult or a challenge to engage with but we should also investigate the reason why we are so put off. Does the person infringe our personal rights to space, to quiet, to time or to material objects (all which we may be overly attached)? Could we even be projecting resentment onto the person of some flaws within ourselves which we repress, refuse to acknowledge and hate? Could we be also be attached to a view which we uphold tightly which proudly show cases our identity? Or perhaps we are just loading a lot of unrealistic expectations on someone.
Hence to be right in dharma we have to be aware of the reality within us and at large.
"Buddha also said that the Dharma, like a bird, needs two wings to fly, and that the wing that balances Wisdom is Compassion."- Sylvia Boorstein
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