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| (Even If You Are My Enemy) Graffiti on a wall in Prague CC0 Public Domain — Photo by Haanala 76 on publicdomainpictures.net |
Overview
As we have been talking about becoming a Spiritual Warrior, we have defined it as a person who has the strength to know who they are, what they stand for, where they are called, and how they are going to get there.
Kerr Cuhulain, author of the book Wiccan Warrior, quotes Tibetan Buddhist meditation master Chogyam Trungpa’s description of a Spiritual Warrior:
“Warriorship…does not refer to making war on others. Here the word “warrior” comes from the Tibetan Pawo, which literally means ‘one who is brave.’ Warriorship…the tradition of human bravery or the tradition of fearlessness.”
You may recall that at the beginning of this series, I talked about putting on what Paul called an “Armor of Light,” or power and strength in order to live spiritually in the world. I also shared that the Nordic god Thor “girded” himself in protective clothing.
Interestingly, Thor used this not only to protect himself and the spiritual world, but also to protect the physical world. This idea that he protected the physical world, or Midgard in the ancient Nordic tradition, brings to mind for me the concept that we are talking about here; that is, Mercy.
We have been using Jesus’ list of the blessed from his Sermon on the Mount as recorded by Matthew to guide us to becoming Spiritual Warriors. In the last installment, we looked at “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
We decided that to be righteous meant that one would consider the options in a given situation and choose to do the right thing, to behave in a way that respects others. To hunger to live an ethical, moral life and to thirst for opportunities to act against injustice in some way, great or small is part of the path to becoming a Spiritual Warrior.
This week, we ponder the beatitude “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”
The Lotus Sutra on Mercy
The Lotus Sutra is a Buddhist text which contains instruction on the means of achieving enlightenment, or Buddhahood, mostly in the form of parables. One of the key concepts of the Sutra is that the Buddha achieved enlightenment eons ago, but remains in the world to help others.
It goes on to explain that the Buddha has been incarnated innumerable times, and these individuals become Bodhisattvas. A Bodhisattva is a person who has attained enlightenment who could move on into Nirvana after death, but chooses not to.
These enlightened ones have such great compassion toward all sentient beings that they remain near the world of the living in order to help others attain enlightenment.
The following excerpts from the Lotus Sutra illustrate the importance of mercy in the achievement of enlightenment — or spiritual growth.
· Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas, observing rightly like this, should raise the mind of compassion, display the great mercy desiring to relieve others of suffering, and once again penetrate deeply into all laws.
· The mercy which Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas display after stabilizing themselves in such a real aspect is real, and not vain. They excellently relieve living beings from sufferings. Having given relieve from suffering they preach the law again, and let all living beings obtain pleasure.
· They will spread favor extensively, grant mercy to all suffering living beings, and lead them to the Buddha way. Thereupon these persons (Good sons and daughters) will accomplish Perfect Enlightenment before long.
· You are persons who abolish sufferings and remove calamities thoroughly with great mercy and great compassion.
· May the Buddha be pleased to pity and protect me by his great mercy.
Jesus On Mercy
In Matthew 18:20, Jesus is recorded as saying, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.
It has been said that one might consider Jesus to be a Bodhisattva.
Jesus had a lot to say about mercy as well:
· Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. — Matthew 7:1–2
· In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets. — Matthew 12
· Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. — Matthew 23:23
· …for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ — Matthew 25:35–40
The Tax Collector’s Prayer
Do you remember parable of Jesus that we looked at last time?
Recall that it was the story of two men. One, a respected leader in one of the Jewish sects within the community; the other, a hated tax collector. The Pharisee prayed “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.”
The tax-collector prayed, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
The tax collector is asking for mercy.
Jesus told his listeners that this man, the tax collector, left his prayer time closer to God than the Pharisee because of his humility. Yet you’ll note that the very next point in Jesus’ teaching is about mercy.
As the tax collector in his story asks for mercy, Jesus tells his listeners how to receive mercy.
If we are merciful, we will receive mercy.
Some Questions to Ponder
- Thinking upon your own life, is there a particular time you can think of when you could have been merciful, but were not?
- If you were to experience that moment again, what would you change?
- Going forward into a new life as a Spiritual Warrior, how will you seek to be a more merciful person?
- Let us go into our lives with a new, empowered sense of compassion.
© 2022 Suzy Jacobson Cherry
