(Half bell)
(Bell)
Dear Thay,
Here in the States, we have something known as capital punishment,
which is death penalty.
Would it be wrong to take someone's life,
if they have taken the life of another person, in your opinion?
If someone committed a crime,
even before that person commits a crime, that person was not lucky.
Parents, teachers, friends have not helped him or her.
He or she did not know the way of understanding and compassion
and pushed by emotional feeling of anger, hatred, despair
and has committed a crime.
So, he or she is somehow a victim of society.
So we should feel that we are co-responsible for that crime.
In that way, when we look at him or her, we don't hate him/her, we don't get angry.
And we said that if he or she has had a chance to be helped
he would not have done such a thing.
So with that in mind, we know that killing him, does not help.
Because our society continues to produce people like him.
After you have killed one person, another person will come out.
And we continue to kill.
That is not the solution.
So we have to meditate, to look deeply, to see the root.
And don't wait until a person, get to the point of iniquitous to ask the question,
as whether we should kill him, punish him or not.
There must be a way to help change a person.
To change a criminal into a non-criminal.
And the Dharma will help a criminal.
By practicing the Dharma, it can become a savior,
like Angulimala.
Angulimala was a disciple of the Buddha, he was a monk.
But before he was ordained as a monk, he was a serial killer.
He had killed almost one hundred people.
And King Bradhrasanajit tried to use the army to get him
but they couldn't get him.
That day, he was about to kill the Buddha.
But with his compassion and intelligence, the Buddha was able to transform him.
You know the story.
The Buddha is walking slowly, mindfully, holding his bowl.
And Angulimala tried to ran after the Buddha, he wanted to kill the Buddha.
He is full of hatred.
And he called out to the Buddha: "Stop, monk! Stop!"
And the Buddha continues to walk slowly.
A few seconds after that, he catches up with the Buddha
and he was walking side by side.
And walking like that, he said: "Monk, I asked you to stop. Why didn't you stop?"
And the Buddha said: "Angulimala, I myself have stopped long time ago."
"It is you who have not stopped."
(Crowd laughs)
The Buddha wasn't afraid of Angulimala.
I think when the Buddha was young, he learnt martial arts.
He was very confident.
The Buddha was young at that time.
So he spoke with Angulimala walking side by side with him.
"It is you who have not stopped."
And that makes Angulimala surprised.
"What did you mean? You are walking and you said that you have stopped."
"On the path of killing, destruction, I have stopped long long time ago."
"It is you who have not stopped."
And the Buddha gives him a mini Dharma talk.
And Angulimala was full of hatred and anger.
"Angulimala, why do you like to kill people?"
"Because I hate them. Mankind is very cruel. I want to kill them all."
The Buddha said,"You are misled.There are many kind people you have not seen."
"Look at the monks."
"They never try to harm anyone."
"Even small insects. Don't you see that?"
"If a person is full of hatred, anger and violence, the person cannot be happy."
"Angulimala, you can change. You can be a happy person."
"You don't need to carry your despair and your violence,"
"your hatred, your anger like that."
"It is a pity that you don't know how wonderful life is."
And that helps open the mind of Angulimala.
He said,"Gautama, it's too late."
"Even if I want to change my life now, it is not possible."
"People won't give me a chance."
Buddha said: "Well, I can help you, if you really want to change."
"And then I will accept you in the rank of my disciples."
"You become a monk, a bikkhu. And you are protected by the Dharma."
And Angulimala throws away his sword, kneels down.
At the time, other disciples of Buddha were very worried about the Buddha.
(Crowd laughs)
And they arrived, they saw that the Buddha was safe
and Angulimala was kneeling in front of him, they were so happy.
So the Buddha said: "Dear friends, let us organize a precept transmission"
"right here on the street and ordain this gentleman into the order of bhikkhu."
And they formed a circle.
And the Buddha gave ordination together with other monks.
And they shaved the head of Angulimala, the criminal, the serial killer,
and gave him a monk robe.
And Sariputra instructed him as how to walk, how to breathe,
how to sit, how to hold the bowl of a monk.
And Angulimala learnt with all his heart.
And in no time at all, in few weeks,
he became very gentle, very non-violent, very pleasant monk.
Transformation took place very quickly.
And one criminal become one very compassionate person.
And that is the miracle of the Dharma.
And he received a new name 'Ahimsaka Thera'.
'The monk of Non-violent action'.
And I think a few weeks after that,
the King was still trying to use the army to look for Angulimala.
And one day, the Buddha saw the King with his army.
He said: "Is there anything happening? Why do you have to arrange an army?"
"No, the border is safe. The only thing is we haven't found Angulimala."
"Because until we find & kill Angulimala, there will be no peace in the kingdom."
The Buddha pointed to a monk behind him and said: "This is Angulimala."
And all the hair on the head of the King stood up.
The Buddha said: "Your Majesty, you don't have to be afraid."
"Angulimala has become someone very gentle, non-violent."
"You can have confidence in me."
Then after a few minutes of breathing in and out, the King recovered his calmness.
And he turned to Angulimala and he asked about his origin
and offered his help to offer food, shelter.
Angulimala thanked him and said that he does not need anything
because everything is being given to him by the Sangha.
And that is the story of a transformation.
And if politician and the justice system know the practice of the Dharma,
they may be able to apply that to prisons and other places
and help prisoners to transform.
There is a Dharma teacher in our base, Cheri Maples.
She had served as a police officer for a long time.
She has practiced the Dharma for a long time.
She has became a Dharma teacher.
She has helped a lot of people, including police officers.
And you may like to talk to her
about how to help to bring the Dharma into the system.
And help transform the people who has not have the chance.
Punishment is not the best way.
(Half bell)
(Bell)
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