The spiritual value of enemies

[Sky Dancer]

Jesus said love your enemies. Buddhists say be grateful to your enemies, they teach us patience. Buddhists aspire to treat friends, strangers and enemies with equal kind regard.

What do you think of these as spiritual practices? Make sense? Why or why not?

 

[Big Black Dog]

Keep your friends close. Your enemies closer...

 

[KittenKoder]

My religion teaches:

If the enemy is a threat, destroy them first. If the enemy is just pissed, try to make peace, if that fails then destroy them first. If the enemy is just on a soapbox ranting, just watch them really close .... they may be your next best friend.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Machiavelli is a politician, black dog, not a spiritual adherent.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Jesus said love your enemies. Buddhists say be grateful to your enemies, they teach us patience. Buddhists aspire to treat friends, strangers and enemies with equal kind regard.

What do you think of these as spiritual practices? Make sense? Why or why not?

I have a friend who is fond of saying, "Control is an illusion. The only thing in the universe you actually control is your own reactions and whether or not you see something as positive or negative." I agree with him, so yeah, I'd say both religions have a point. You cannot control other people, and you cannot control how they feel about you or act toward you. All you can control is whether or not they become grit in your gears, or grit used to polish you into a shinier, more beautiful gem.