All Mother Sentient Beings...
A monk friend of mine shared the following argument with me. I loved it so much, I thought it deserved a cogent restatement in this blog:
A common argument in Tibetan Buddhism for treating all sentient beings with compassion may be summarized thusly:
Argument A:
1. All sentient beings are reborn countless times. (Premises: Rebirth and infinite time).
2. Thus, all sentient beings were, in some life or another, your mother. (Conclusion implied from 1).
3. If they were your mother, they performed countless kindnesses and beneficial deeds for you. (Premise: Mothers selflessly benefit their offspring, who are often unable to repay them). (Follows conditional on 2.)
4. Therefor, you ought to repay their kindness by showing them compassion in this lifetime. (Conclusion).
With the exact same premises and logic, however, we can easily reach the opposite conclusion with a simple substitution in terms—by substituting "enemy" for "mother."
Argument B:
1. All sentient beings are reborn countless times. (Premises: Rebirth and infinite time).
2. Thus, all sentient beings were, in some life or another, your enemy. (Conclusion implied from 1).
3. If they were your enemy, they committed countless evils and harmful deeds against you. (Premise: Enemies often persecute their enemies, who are often unable to repay them). (Follows conditional on 2.)
4. Therefor, you ought to repay their harms by showing them malevolence in this lifetime. (Conclusion).
If the logic of the argument is sound, and the premises correct, the conclusion (drawing from Arguments A and B) is that we ought to be BOTH kind and malevolent to every sentient being. Which is absurd...
A common argument in Tibetan Buddhism for treating all sentient beings with compassion may be summarized thusly:
Argument A:
1. All sentient beings are reborn countless times. (Premises: Rebirth and infinite time).
2. Thus, all sentient beings were, in some life or another, your mother. (Conclusion implied from 1).
3. If they were your mother, they performed countless kindnesses and beneficial deeds for you. (Premise: Mothers selflessly benefit their offspring, who are often unable to repay them). (Follows conditional on 2.)
4. Therefor, you ought to repay their kindness by showing them compassion in this lifetime. (Conclusion).
With the exact same premises and logic, however, we can easily reach the opposite conclusion with a simple substitution in terms—by substituting "enemy" for "mother."
Argument B:
1. All sentient beings are reborn countless times. (Premises: Rebirth and infinite time).
2. Thus, all sentient beings were, in some life or another, your enemy. (Conclusion implied from 1).
3. If they were your enemy, they committed countless evils and harmful deeds against you. (Premise: Enemies often persecute their enemies, who are often unable to repay them). (Follows conditional on 2.)
4. Therefor, you ought to repay their harms by showing them malevolence in this lifetime. (Conclusion).
If the logic of the argument is sound, and the premises correct, the conclusion (drawing from Arguments A and B) is that we ought to be BOTH kind and malevolent to every sentient being. Which is absurd...
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