August 10, 2026

Let It End There

He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me — in those who harbor such thoughts hatred is not appeased. He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me — in those who do not harbor such thoughts hatred is appeased.

These paired verses open the second chapter of the Dhammapada, the oldest surviving collection of the Buddha's sayings, compiled as short verses for monks and lay students to carry into daily life. The lines describe two people who suffer the exact same wrong — being struck, overpowered, robbed — yet only one of them keeps rehearsing the injury in the mind. This is the same lesson the Buddha gave more directly elsewhere in the parable of the two arrows: the first arrow is the blow itself, unavoidable and quick; the second arrow is the story of anger we fire at ourselves afterward. In the Eastern wisdom traditions, this becomes a daily practice — mindfulness is used not to deny the pain of the first arrow but to notice the moment before the mind reaches for the second one. The aim is not indifference to being wronged, but freedom from carrying old wrongs like fresh wounds.

A principle of Eastern Wisdom: The Second Arrow →