Is Buddha wrong in Dhammapada?
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In Dhammapada, verse 129, Buddha states:
> All tremble at violence; all fear death.
Putting oneself in the place of another,
one should not kill nor cause another to kill.
Taking this at face value, obviously however, not everyone fears death. People who had their amygdala removed or atrophied due to a disease do not have fear of death. Likewise, psychopaths seem to have no such fear. Many people do not tremble at violence at all, like psychopaths and military personnel. Then Buddha says that to not kill or cause another to kill, one should put themselves into another's shoes. But many people are incapable of this, like people with autism spectrum disorder.
Taking all this into account and given that what Buddha says here seems to be wrong, how are we to understand this? (I believe this question would only apply to the Theravada Buddhists since AFAIK Mahayana does not acknowledge the Pali Cannon and therefore the Dhammapada, though of course, everyone is free to answer).
Asked by setszu
(324 rep)
Apr 20, 2024, 03:11 AM
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Last activity: Jun 7, 2024, 02:01 PM