One morning, after cleaning the temple and before services started, some of us were talking in the lobby. At one point we were speaking of the anger of a young man towards a group that was causing harm to his people.
Someone asked what caused people to be so cruel. Somewhere in the conversation another person said all of us, all people, are born as an empty canvas, a blank sheet of paper. The speaker continued by saying our parents, our family, and friends, our society, our history, and our thoughts add things to this empty paper.
The speaker then said Buddhism gives us the tools to clean that canvas, that paper. To return it to its original purity.
The abbot of the temple stood silent. He smiled.
“Buddhism helps us realize there is no canvas.” he slowly said.
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