Revenge

Behind this pattern, there is one thing in common, namely revenge. Revenge is a feeling of disrespect because people feel they are being treated unfairly. Revenge becomes the basis for retaliation, namely violence. Here the same law applies, violence will continue to give birth to violence and suffering until violence is terminated.

We have to find another way. We need to realize that revenge never produces anything good. The Buddhist adage that follows is true, that "one who holds a grudge is like one who carries coals in his hands, and wants to throw it at others." The person who holds a grudge gets hurt first, even before he hurts others. Therefore, we must educate the resentment that is within us. We need to understand the embers that we hold in our own hands. The goal is so that we can break the chain of violence and suffering that has occurred. Only then will peace be possible.

How to educate revenge? We must understand the root of revenge itself. With this understanding, we will realize what grudge means. This understanding also helps us break the chains of violence that are the fruit of resentment.

Roots of Revenge

Revenge has two legs, namely anger and fear. Anger arises because our desires are not in line with what happened. Fear arises, because of the uncertainty of life itself. When these two things meet, resentment then appears as a reaction to things that are not desirable.

If observed, anger and fear are empty. Neither of them has an essence in itself. Both were born from thinking mistakes. If the mistake of thinking is corrected, then both will naturally disappear. What kinds of thinking mistakes are there? The first is, that reality must always be by our wishes. This will never be possible.

In German philosophy, this is called the tension between what is (das Sein) and what is supposed to happen (das Sollen) which produces "the pain of the world" (Weltschmerz). This tension produces a lot of bad emotions in humans, one of which is anger. When we let go of our desires, we can then accept reality as it is. We are no longer imposing so that the world runs according to our wishes. We let go of dreams and the second is about the uncertainty of life that makes us feel afraid. If you think about it, life itself is uncertain. Anytime, anything can happen to us.

In the next second, we can die from electric shocks, or get a million-dollar lottery prize. Who knows? When we can accept this uncertainty as a part of our life, then fear will disappear by itself.

The Emptiness of Revenge

Revenge is born from anger and fear. However, anger and fear are empty. So, revenge is also empty. It has no essence in itself. In the Eastern tradition, the reality is understood as emptiness. Nagar Juna, the Indian philosopher, even asserted that emptiness (Sunyata) is the basis of everything. From nothing, everything comes and goes. Emptiness is an infinite number of possibilities.

In Zen philosophy, everything happens, because it is the things that make it possible (dependent origination). The water becomes hot because there is a fire that burns it. The fire came into being because there was strong friction between two hard objects. Two hard objects can rub together because there is energy moving them, and so on.

Nothing stands alone. Everything is a part of everything. This interconnectedness between all things is life itself. Nothing has a universal essence and can stand alone in the web of life.

In the book Wissenschaft der Logik, Hegel, the German philosopher, calls this the law of necessity. The inevitability becomes possible, because of the potential to meet with conditions. One is sure to become president when his leadership talents are combined with the support of our empty hopes for life. At this point, we find real peace. of many people. When the potential or condition is not present, it is not there is also an inevitability.

Revenge also has a similar pattern. It is not something absolute. He was born from the things that made it possible. When these things change, and that is sure to change, then the grudge also disappears by itself.