Everyone thinks he or she can do no wrong. This is the problem: If we don’t own up our mistakes, then how will we correct them, asks Sant Rajinder Singh
There is a saying in the West, “Making someone a scapegoat.” It refers to a person or a group of people picking on someone who is weak and defenceless. Often, they use this person to put the blame of the mistakes they have committed. There are, however, times when an entire society uses another group — cultural, socio-economic, or gender — as a scapegoat. This results in a person or a group getting targeted or abused endlessly and for no fault. This is a form of violence that needs to be weeded out. We need to be firm in our principles, even if sometimes we may be alone in not persecuting someone.
Interestingly, the term ‘scapegoat’ comes from the Bible. In the Old Testament, the Book of leviticus describes a sacred custom called “the escaped goat”. According to this tradition, when problems would become too overwhelming for people, they would find a healthy male goat and bring it to the main temple. The high priest would then place his hand on the head of the goat and read out the list of problems faced by most people. Through this ceremony, it was believed, all the problems, pain and anguish of the people would be transferred to the goat. Then, they would set the goat free. They believed that when the goat wandered off, it also took away their problems, freeing them from their sorrow and despair. They came to call this the “escaped goat”. Today, the term has been shortened to “scapegoat.”
While the tradition of putting a host of problems onto a goat no longer exists, the concept of scapegoat is very much alive and kicking. There are many subtle ways in which we make others a scapegoat. This often starts during childhood when the elder brother/sister breaks something in the house. When parents discover the broken jar or glass, the elder sibling shifts the blame on the younger, helpless brother/sister.
In a society it can be a whole cultural group that makes another cultural group the scapegoat. And when one group is blamed, there is prejudice and bigotry directed against that particular group. This has happened throughout history across the world. What no one realises is the pain and trauma it inflicts on a person, society. Just think what it would be like to have people criticise you, and blamed for everything that goes wrong. One feels isolated when a whole community turns against you just because you are considered weak.
We need to introspect to see that we do not make anyone a scapegoat. We need to analyse how we treat others in our families, workplace, and society as a whole. We also need to ensure that if someone is made a scapegoat, then we should not participate in this act of persecution. Instead, we must go out of our way to ensure that the person feels loved. We need to be the helping hand to ensure the victim feels that he/she is a cherished member of the society.
Everyone thinks he or she is perfect and can do no wrong. Isn’t that ironicalIJ let us not put the blame of our mistakes on someone else. let us be responsible for our problems/mistakes and try our best to correct them. In this way, we will be developing non-violence in thought, word and deed.
The Bodhisattva Vow
In all religions, saints, mystics and religious founders have sacrificed themselves to help us come out of our sufferings and to turn our attention to God. We find in Buddhism the bodhisattva vow. A bodhisattva vows to devote himself to liberate all beings and accept their sufferings as his own. In this prayer, he is offered salvation. He is offered a chance to be free from the pain and suffering of the world and to achieve liberation, but he refuses. He says, “I am not afraid of the burden of suffering. I will not run away from it. I will pay any price to save all beings. I want to rescue all beings from the pain of old age, sickness, disease, and death.”
When asked about freeing himself from his own suffering, the bodhisattva says, “With the help of the boat of all-knowledge, I will rescue all living beings from the turbulent stream of illusion and maya. I will grapple with the suffering of all humanity. No matter how long it takes, I will help all beings to freedom.” Again, he is asked why he wants to do that. The bodhisattva replies, “It is better that I alone should be in pain than that all these beings should suffer. I must give myself away as a pawn through which the whole world is redeemed from the terrors of hells, of animal birth, of death. I will give myself as ransom, for I do not seek enlightenment for my own sake, but for the sake of freeing others.”
It is hard to imagine the depth of love for humanity that would cause an enlightened being to come down to this world and suffer for our sake so that we can be free from pain and suffering. This world will be a great place to live if we inculcate this thinking.
The writer is a spiritual master