|
In times of tragedy, when the life of a loved one is taken by another in a senseless act, one of the last things to be dealt with is the act of forgiveness. For André Smith, a practicing Buddhist, it was the first thing he did.
On December 28th 2007, André's son, Daniel, was fatally stabbed in a night club after accidentally spilling another man's beer. André was woken early the next morning by a Police officer who broke the news to him and his wife. As André says in this interview, "I realised that the young man is just as much a victim as my son. At the moment that he plunged his knife into my son, killing him, he truly began to suffer. “How can I not have compassion for him?” I asked. “He has to live with what he’s done for the rest of his life and lifetimes to come.”
In court, when a verdict of second degree murder was given, André spoke gently to the man and shared his wish that he take responsibility for his act and begin the process of his own forgiveness.
This incredible story was shared at the Happiness and Its Causes Conference in San Francisco on Nov 25th and we thought it was so important to share immediately. Robina Courtin, Executive Director of Liberation Prison Project, organized the event which has been put on in London, Sydney and San Francisco. To learn more, go to www.terrapinn.com/2008/hapusa/
André teaches prisoners as part of the Prison Liberation Project, teaching them the ways of Buddhism and what it means and he had the opportunity to express his grief and understanding of forgiveness with the prisoners in his group meetings with them.
His deepest and sincerest wish is that someday the young man that took his son’s life will be his student and he will be given the opportunity to teach him anger-management based on compassionate thought and compassionate living.
To see the original story of this incident, go to : www.wral.com/news/local/story/2229278/
To visit the Prison Liberation Project, go to: www.liberationprisonproject.org
|
