Kshanti
Encyclopedia
Kshanti or khanti (Pāli
) is patience, forbearance and forgiveness. It is one of the practices of perfection
(Skt./Pali: pāramitā) of both Theravāda
and Mahāyāna
Buddhism
.
It is the practice of exercising patience toward behavior or situations that might not necessarily deserve it and is seen as a conscious choice to actively give patience as if a gift, rather than being in a state of oppression in which one feels obligated to act in such a way.
identify using forbearance in response to others' anger, cuckolding, torture and even fatal assaults.
Exhortation Verse"), also found in the Dhammapada
, verse 184:
Elsewhere in the Dhammapada khanti is found in verse 399:
, the Buddha tells of an ancient battle between devas
and asuras
during which the devas were victorious and the asura king Vepacitti was captured and imprisoned. When the deva lord, Sakka visited Vepacitti in prison, Vepacitti "abused and reviled him with rude, harsh words," to which Sakka did not respond in kind. Afterwards, Sakka's charioteer questioned Sakka about this, expressing concern that some would see Sakka's response as indicative of fear or weakness. Sakka replied:
The Buddha then commended to his followers Sakka's praise for "patience and gentleness" (khantisoraccassa).
Shamed by the king's awareness of their deeds, the courtier and his servant henceforth ceased their betrayals.
has a classic parable of Buddhist forbearance, the Buddha's Simile of the Saw:
Similarly, in the Jātaka Tale, Patience Teacher Birth Story (Khantivādī Jātaka: J 313), a jealous king repeatedly asked an ascetic what the ascetic taught, to which the ascetic replied, "Patience," which the ascetic further defined as "not to get angry when injured, criticized or struck." To test the ascetic's patience, the king had the ascetic struck two thousand times with a whip of thorns, had the ascetic's hands and feet axed off, cut off the ascetic's nose and ears, and then kicked the ascetic in the heart. After the king left, the ascetic wished the king a long life and said, "Those like myself do not feel wrath." The ascetic died later that day.
Páli
- External links :* *...
) is patience, forbearance and forgiveness. It is one of the practices of perfection
Paramita
Pāramitā or pāramī is "perfection" or "completeness." In Buddhism, the pāramitās refer to the perfection or culmination of certain virtues...
(Skt./Pali: pāramitā) of both Theravāda
Theravada
Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
and Mahāyāna
Mahayana
Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
.
It is the practice of exercising patience toward behavior or situations that might not necessarily deserve it and is seen as a conscious choice to actively give patience as if a gift, rather than being in a state of oppression in which one feels obligated to act in such a way.
Canonical sources
Examples in the Pāli canonPāli Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...
identify using forbearance in response to others' anger, cuckolding, torture and even fatal assaults.
Dhammapada verses
Khanti is the first word of the Ovada-Patimokkha Gatha (Pāli for "PatimokkhaPatimokkha
In Buddhism, the Patimokkha is the basic Theravada code of monastic discipline, consisting of 227 rules for fully ordained monks and 311 for nuns . It is contained in the Suttavibhanga, a division of the Vinaya Pitaka.- Parajika :...
Exhortation Verse"), also found in the Dhammapada
Dhammapada
The Dhammapada is a versified Buddhist scripture traditionally ascribed to the Buddha himself. It is one of the best-known texts from the Theravada canon....
, verse 184:
Patient endurance:
Unbinding:
He who injures another
He who mistreats another,
|
|
Elsewhere in the Dhammapada khanti is found in verse 399:
- He endures — unangered —
- insult, assault, & imprisonment.
- His army is strength;
- his strength, forbearance:
- he's what I call
- a brahman.
Lord Sakka's restraint
In the Samyutta NikayaSamyutta Nikaya
The Samyutta Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas is...
, the Buddha tells of an ancient battle between devas
Deva (Buddhism)
A deva in Buddhism is one of many different types of non-human beings who share the characteristics of being more powerful, longer-lived, and, in general, living more contentedly than the average human being....
and asuras
Asura (Buddhism)
Asura in Buddhism is the name of the lowest ranks of the deities or demigods of the Kāmadhātu.-Origins and etymology:...
during which the devas were victorious and the asura king Vepacitti was captured and imprisoned. When the deva lord, Sakka visited Vepacitti in prison, Vepacitti "abused and reviled him with rude, harsh words," to which Sakka did not respond in kind. Afterwards, Sakka's charioteer questioned Sakka about this, expressing concern that some would see Sakka's response as indicative of fear or weakness. Sakka replied:
- It is neither through fear nor weakness
- That I am patient with Vepacitti.
- How can a wise person like me
- Engage in combat with a fool?
- ... Of goals that culminate in one's own good
- None is found better than patience.
- ...One who repays an angry man with anger
- Thereby makes things worse for himself.
- Not repaying an angry man with anger,
- One wins a battle hard to win.
- He practices for the welfare of both,
- His own and the other's,
- When, knowing that his foe is angry,
- He mindfully maintains his peace.
- When he achieves the cure of both —
- His own and the other's —
- The people who consider him a fool
- Are unskilled in the Dhamma.
The Buddha then commended to his followers Sakka's praise for "patience and gentleness" (khantisoraccassa).
A cuckold's forbearance
In a Jātaka tale, Exposition on Patience Birth Story (: J 225), the Buddha tells of a former life when he was Brahmadatta, a king of Benares. At the time, a courtier of the king "fell into an intrigue in the king's harem." This same courtier was being similarly betrayed by one of his own servants and complained to the king about that servant. In response, the king disclosed his knowledge of the courtier's betrayal and stated:- "Good men, I trow, are rare enow: so patience is my rede."
Shamed by the king's awareness of their deeds, the courtier and his servant henceforth ceased their betrayals.
Parables of torture
The Majjhima NikayaMajjhima Nikaya
The Majjhima Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
has a classic parable of Buddhist forbearance, the Buddha's Simile of the Saw:
- Monks, even if bandits were to carve you up savagely, limb by limb, with a two-handled saw, he among you who let his heart get angered even at that would not be doing my bidding. Even then you should train yourselves: "Our minds will be unaffected and we will say no evil words. We will remain sympathetic, with a mind of good will, and with no inner hate. We will keep pervading these people with an awareness imbued with good will and, beginning with them, we will keep pervading the all-encompassing world with an awareness imbued with good will — abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free from hostility, free from ill will." That's how you should train yourselves.
Similarly, in the Jātaka Tale, Patience Teacher Birth Story (Khantivādī Jātaka: J 313), a jealous king repeatedly asked an ascetic what the ascetic taught, to which the ascetic replied, "Patience," which the ascetic further defined as "not to get angry when injured, criticized or struck." To test the ascetic's patience, the king had the ascetic struck two thousand times with a whip of thorns, had the ascetic's hands and feet axed off, cut off the ascetic's nose and ears, and then kicked the ascetic in the heart. After the king left, the ascetic wished the king a long life and said, "Those like myself do not feel wrath." The ascetic died later that day.
Sources
- Bodhi, BhikkhuBhikkhu BodhiBhikkhu Bodhi , born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk, ordained in Sri Lanka and currently teaching in the New York/New Jersey area...
(trans.) (2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the . Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.
- Dhammayut Order in the United States of America (1994). A Chanting Guide. Retrieved 3 Jul 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/dhammayut/chanting.html.
- Nandisena, Bhikkhu (2000). Khantivadi Jataka (J 313). Retrieved 8 Jul 2007 from "El Centro Mexicano del Buddhismo Theravada" at http://www.cmbt.org/fdd/khantivadijataka.htm.
- Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). The Pali Text Society’s Pali–English Dictionary. Chipstead: Pali Text SocietyPali Text SocietyThe Pali Text Society was founded in 1881 by T.W. Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pali texts".Pali is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism is preserved...
. A general on-line search engine for this dictionary is available at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/.
- Rouse, W.H.D. (trans.) and E.B. Cowell (ed.) (1895, 2006). The Jātaka or Stories of the Buddha's Former Births (Vol. II). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 4 Jul 2007 from "The Internet Sacred Text Archive" at http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/j2/index.htm.
- Thanissaro BhikkhuThanissaro BhikkhuṬhānissaro Bhikkhu, also known as Ajaan Geoff, is an American Buddhist monk of the Dhammayut Order , Thai forest kammatthana tradition. He is currently the abbot of Metta Forest Monastery in San Diego County. Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu is a notably skilled and prolific translator of the Pāli Canon...
(trans.) (1997a). Brahmanavagga: Brahmans (DhpDhammapadaThe Dhammapada is a versified Buddhist scripture traditionally ascribed to the Buddha himself. It is one of the best-known texts from the Theravada canon....
XXVI). Retrieved 3 Jul 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.26.than.html.
- Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997b). Buddhavagga: Awakened (DhpDhammapadaThe Dhammapada is a versified Buddhist scripture traditionally ascribed to the Buddha himself. It is one of the best-known texts from the Theravada canon....
XIV). Retrieved 3 Jul 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.14.than.html.
- Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997c). Kakacupama Sutta: The Simile of the Saw (excerpt) (MNMajjhima NikayaThe Majjhima Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
21). Retrieved 3 Jul 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.021x.than.html.
External links
- "The Antidote to Snakebite: Talk one of six on patience or kshanti" (transcribed talk), by FWBO's Ratnaghosa