\u201cHe is said to be a Buddhist<\/a>. I don\u2019t think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. My message to Tiger would be, \u2018Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Quickly the Buddhist blog world was abuzz.<\/span> There were calls for an apology or his being fired, calls to just ignore it as so much Fox News nonsense, and plenty in between.<\/p>\n I\u2019m obviously a bit late in chiming in my two cents, but here they are: Thank you, Brit Hume<\/span>.<\/p>\n Thank you first for raising a very interesting theological point regarding Tiger Woods\u2019 religion, Buddhism: does Buddhism offer the kind of forgiveness that Tiger Woods \u2013 or anyone who has made grave mistakes in his or her life \u2013 needs?<\/span> I think we need more conversations like this. Unfortunately most discussion didn\u2019t seek to answer this question.<\/p>\n The simple answer, one that I could have given you as a child, is yes. All religions teach a path of forgiveness<\/span>. Buddhism sets out a very clear set of guidelines for followers, the five precepts. These differ in some traditions or are replaced altogether, but the message and intention remains the same. Tiger Woods egregiously violated the 3rd precept, the one dealing with misconduct in sexuality or sensuality.<\/p>\n Buddhism also teaches karma, the notion that there \u2018is fruit and ripening of deeds well and ill done.\u2019<\/p>\n Actions have consequences. <\/span>And Mr. Woods is finding that out now. But we are always reminded that the extent of the deeds and consequences is beyond our knowledge. Perhaps he will inspire \u201ccopy-cat adulterers,\u201d perhaps some of the women he is accused of committing adultery with harmed others in their <\/span>actions, perhaps he and his wife can reconcile, perhaps each will find new love in the future. The future is complex, which is why we must resist the urge to reduce karma to a sort of utilitarian calculus. <\/span> His actions are wrong not because of the bad results, but rather his actions have bad results because they were wrong<\/span>.<\/p>\n But along with the ability to cause harm in the world, each of us is endowed with the ability to right it, and to help alleviate suffering in ourselves and others. When we do this we create stores of good karmic fruits, even as our negative ones remain or ripen. This will be Tiger Woods\u2019 task now, if he wishes to practice the Buddhist path.<\/p>\n And thank you, Brit Hume, secondly for reminding me why I don\u2019t have a television <\/span>and reinforcing these wise words, written over forty years ago but brought again to my attention tonight: <\/p>\n There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence, and that is activism and overwork. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of this innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone and everything, is to succumb to violence. The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace. It destroys our own inner capacity for peace because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful. <\/p>\n \u2013 Thomas Merton in Confessions of Guilty Bystander<\/em>: <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Mr. Hume, your words seem to indicate your own \u201cmultitude of conflicting concerns.\u201d And we, the public, indicate ours by instantly pouncing on your misstep (myself included, even though I\u2019m only now writing about it). This isn\u2019t even mentioning those who, in their own ignorance, failed to see your mistake completely. Getting to the heart of that matter is Br. Anthony Thomas<\/a>, who commented at Rev. Danny Fisher\u2019s blog<\/a> recently:<\/p>\n \u2026Brit Hume\u2019s comments are nothing new. It is simply another manifestation of neurotic attachment to one set of metaphors that are assumed to have exclusive claim to truth. The ignorance and arrogance should be called out as just that. Forget the apology. It\u2019s not Hume that matters. It\u2019s the millions that think in the same way about their own traditions and create thereby a framework for hatred, antipathy, violence, and inhumanites of so many kinds.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Hear hear.<\/p>\n\n
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