"God forbid that you ever have to walk a mile in his shoes, then you might really know what it's like to sing the blues..."
From a Buddhist Monk:
Would you get upset at a small tree in the forest for not being tall and straight like some of the other? This is silly. Don’t judge other people.
Matthew 7:1-5
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ...
[PureInsight.org] In Sakyamuni’s time, there was a disciple of Sakyamuni whose appearance was ugly. Even though he cultivated really well, he was looked down upon by the other monks due to his not so good looking appearance. One day this ugly looking monk went to Sakyamuni’s lecturing place to listen to Sakyamuni teaching Fa.
When many monks saw him coming from far away, some disciples who were already at the lecturing place started to feel contempt and even aversion towards him. The Buddha quickly sensed these disciples’ feelings. Sakyamuni then told his disciples: “You all saw that monk who came here and his appearance is very ugly. No one wanted to look at him. His ugly face made you feel like looking down on him. Is this true?” The disciples all answered to their master: “Yes.”
Sakyamuni then told his disiples: “You should not have thoughts of contempt towards that monk. Why? Because he has already eliminated all kinds of attachments, with nothing left.... All of his heart is kind and his mind is free of pursuit. You can’t carelessly guess about others. Only a Tathagata is capable of inferring others.” Then Sakyamuni continued to tell his disciples: “Don’t just look at one’s appearance and then dislike that person.”
After reading this story, I thought that we really should not judge a person by his/her looks. In the mean time, I personally have the following thoughts: we have good feelings towards people who are handsome, and we want to look at them several times; whereas, for those who are not pretty, we do not like to look at them that many times. Isn’t it that we are short of compassion and can’t treat all sentient beings the same? In addition, using appearance to judge a person suggests that we only evaluate a person from the surface and don’t care about the person’s morality or heart. Isn’t it that the desire of lust is hidden somewhere?
Originally published on June 13, 2009
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2009/6/13/60053.html