The TRUTH Crusader!

The TRUTH Crusader

You see them all the time
on web forums
Or in the media

Although they rarely appear in real life they sometimes do.

Who are they?

I refer to these beings as TRUTH crusaders.
What is a TRUTH crusader?

A TRUTH crusader targets you, either out of boredom
Or some twisted, delusional sense of self righteousness, and attacks you

The TRUTH crusader scours the web, in an attempt
to learn all they can about you.
and the more scandalous information they can find
the better.

Even if the information they obtain is benign
the TRUTH crusader distorts the information, turning it into something ugly.

Christ once said, “you’ll know them by their fruits.”
and the TRUTH crusader’s fruit is rotten.
So are the blossoms.
So is the tree.

A TRUTH crusader is NOT the knight in shining armor that he or she thinks they are.

TRUTH crusader is a malignant Don Quixote, tipping windmills of slander, rumor, innuendo, and outright lies,
for no other reason than to shame and humiliate their opponent.


The question is, how do we deal with a TRUTH crusader?
Is there a remedy for the poisons they exude?

Should we too scour the internet and find slanderous things about them?
Should we put up a hateful website exposing them for what they really are?

Sounds tempting doesn’t it?
Especially if you’ve fallen victim to one of these beings.

It’s better that you don’t.

As weird as it sounds to Western ears;
those of us who were raised under the
concept of an eye for an eye

(which would leave us all blinded if we followed that advice)

It is better instead to consider the TRUTH crusader as your teacher.
No one can teach you more about patience, kindness and compassion than a person who
Lacks all of those qualities.

It is better still, if you should find you have been ‘investigated’ by a TRUTH crusader,
to use all the rage, frustration, sorrow and humiliation you experience
and use it to power your practice.

On the eve of Buddha’s enlightenment
when all of Mara’s minions attacked him.
Did Buddha retaliate? Did he turn and run away?

No
He stayed, faced them with calm resolution. And with the power of his practice, he turned demonic spears and arrows into flowers.

You can do exactly the same thing simply by following your teacher’s instructions.

Or by uttering this simple prayer:

ESSENCE OF THE MANIPAS HEART

IN-breath
May everyone, especially all who touch, hear, see or remember me
and all who say my name with devotion, distain or indifference,
be healthy, wealthy and happy,
practice skillfully and joyfully,

IN-breath: Om Ma-ni Pad-me Hum
accomplish Chen-re-zig in THIS life
and then help many others do likewise;
for truly that is the meaning of life:
Om Ma-ni Pad-me Hum!

Until next week
Om mani padme hum