Two important lessons

I got this link in an email from the university Buddhist Society. It's a comic about a monk who gets sent to Hell for a bit.

The Devil & the Monk - Theory of Everything Comics

For me, there were two important lessons in this comic -

1. No matter what life throws at me, I can face it...all I need is a pure mind
2. No matter what we've done and where we are in life, it's never too late to embrace the Dhamma and escape samsāra.

I hope you enjoy the comic!

Sabbe sattā bhavantu sukhitattā!

Open your eyes

Why is it so difficult for people to see all the sides of a story? We're so quick to take sides, based on our preconceived notions about the parties involved. I'm not saying we need to justify each party's actions, but at least attempt to understand their logic? View the bigger picture? Consider all points of view? But no, the majority of people are content to see the world through blinkers, and use their personal preference (chanda) to cultivate ill-will (dvesha) towards the perceived perpetrator. All because of their ignorance (moha) of the true nature of things.

Why? Why not make the effort to see things in a different light? You might revert to your original stance, which is fine...but at least you've considered alternative ideas. Didn't Lord Buddha tell us to examine the Dhamma before accepting it? Surely the same goes for everything else?

I don't get it.

(Chanda, dvesha and moha are three of the four defilements as detailed in the Agati Sutta [AN 4.19]; the fourth being bhaya - fear.)

Sabbe sattā bhavantu sukhitattā!