Stories about justice
4 Buddhist wisdom stories about justice from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- The magistrate who spent weeks in jailStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: As someone told Ajahn Brahm (details half-remembered), an Australian magistrate spent three or four weeks in jail — possibly innocent — and said it was the best thing for her…
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there was one magistrate in Australia who went to jail for only for about 3 or 4 weeks. I forget what the crime was. I think she was innocent, but you know, she went to jail anyway. And she said that was the best thing that ever happened to her in her role as a magistrate because once she had experience firsthand of going in those cells with those iron doors closing and being in prison to actually feel it and experience it as a real person in prison, then that totally changed her attitude to her sentencing cuz she knew what she was doing when she sent someone into prison. whether it was for know 4 months or 40 years she knew what it was like
- The man sentenced for having a coldStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Ajahn Brahm recalls Samuel Butler's satire Erewhon, read as a student: a society where what we call crime is treated as sickness needing therapy, while illness is punished as…
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there's a wonderful book written written over a hundred years ago it's called "Erewhon," by Samuel Butler. And apparently, that really influenced the great British playwright George Bernard Shaw. It changed the way he looked at some of these social problems and the reason why it was a very effective argument against the way we treat "criminals," or people who've done harm, with punishment, was that it used the satire. It envisaged a society in which, what we call crime today, is looked upon as being a sickness and therapy, therapy, therapy is the only response to crime. If somebody steals, they go and see a doctor. If somebody rapes, that's looked upon as being a sickness. Punishment is not really looked at at all. But somehow, a rehabilitation of trying to work out and remedy that glitch in human nature. But, when it came to health matters, if you were sick and ill, that was because you were careless and you were punished. Part of that book, a chapter which I will always remember, was of a court scene in which there was a poor man who had a cold. And when he had a cold (there's many colds going around right now [directed at audience], there's a cough already, you'd be in trouble in this society), because he had a cold he was in the dock, charged with being sick. And because he was sniffling, he had no defense and so the judge pronounced him guilty of having a cold and he, before he gave judgment, uh, sentence sorry, the punishment, he said, "This is not the first time you appeared before me, you were here last week or three weeks ago with a cold. I warned you then, if you don't eat better, take better care of your health, let go of your stress, it's your responsibility to be healthy and you have been negligent, and your cold is causing a danger to other people! You're being heedless, you're not caring for others, you're spreading your germs to other people, that's not appropriate, you should be punished: three years in jail for having a cold, being a repeat offender!
- The premier who opened the jailStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Visiting Canning Vale prison, Ajahn Brahm saw the plaque at the entrance: the prison had been opened by a former Premier of Western Australia. And during his visit that same…
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Oh, that time when I went into the jail in Canning Vale and it was the Canning Vale jail at the time. It was really interesting because it was open. I forget the prime minister of honor the premier of Australia which opened that jail but you know had his plaque on the entrance way open by uh premier whatever. But then actually while I was visiting he was actually in the jail at the time was an inmate. Now first of all I thought that was really fascinating. It doesn't matter what position in society you are in Australia. Now if you're even the premier you build a jail you open the jail. It doesn't mean you can never actually go and and get a taste of the thing which you built because you broke the rules. So that was actually quite reassuring.
- The widow who hugged her husband's killerStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where those who truthfully confessed their crimes were granted amnesty, a white police officer, shaking, recounts in front…
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That the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa just after aparte was dismantled and Nelson Mandela was made the president of that country and uh instead of seeking Revenge instead of punishing all those people who punished him he with Desmond Tutu establish the Truth and Reconciliation Commission brilliant way of dealing with the past at this commission anybody who had done what would be a crime was able to go to this commission and in front of everybody else to confess honestly what they done and as long as they truthfully said the horendous thing which they did they would be given amnesty you're just being honest admitting and they would be forgiven that's exactly just what I learned in Buddhism so many years ago which these days now so people can remember these things I've called the AFR code you know which you many of you know they acknowledge forgive and learn a forgive and learn from it that's all one needs to do that's basic Buddhist teachings call it AFL because you know that's the Australian football league people can remember those words AFL acknowledge forgive learn that's exactly what they were doing this because uh Reconciliation Commission acknowledging what they done in public amnesty with forgiveness everyone could learn from them and uh one of the most moving events it was most moving but typical of many things happened in that Truth and Reconciliation Commission was when one of the South African policemen was recounting how he tortured and killed a black African activist an activist from the ANC in front of the man's Widow can you imagine this scene there was a woman whose husband had disappeared probably in the middle of the night and she suspected what might have happened but never knew the true story and now she was facing the man who is confessing in detail how he tortured and killed the husband of this woman the father of her children the one she loved and apparently if I remember accurately this police officer this white police officer was shaking trembling as they recounted the details of what happened facing the wife of the man he' murdered at the end of his testimony shaking the wife Rose from her seat and went for him the guards were supposed to stop her but they froze she went for him the murder of her husband and put her big black arms around him hugged him and said I forgive you not just those two people but apparently the whole room wet