Letting Hate Be

I've received a couple of pieces of hate mail recently. Ouch! That hurts!

The mind wants to get going on a story and all sorts of rebuttals about the other person's point of view. I hate to be blamed. Yet blame is inevitable. Someone will not see things the way i see them. Someone will lash out. This is life. I much prefer praise, but you can't have one (praise) without the other (blame).

So where do i find happiness despite the outer conditions of ugly letters? I've been practicing forgiveness, toward myself, first of all. I forgive myself for not understanding this situation before i got into it.

I seek refuge in the Dharma--in patience and kindness, toward myself first of all.

And i notice the pain of remembering the letters. Can i just sink into that pain and watch it release?

The sender of the hate mail is living in a mental hell realm. By creating their own false story and then sticking to it, i can practically see the narrowed mind, the mind closed to relationship and to additional facts.

Oh, well. My job is to let the story go. Let it be as it is. To sink into the truth of silence. And feel compassionate toward all the political people who are receiving much worse hate mail from more people.

Here's a verse from the Dhammapada:

Those who are contentious 

have forgotten that we all die;

for the wise, who reflect on this fact,

there are no quarrels.