英国新闻听力 放下偏见 治愈过去的痛苦（在线收听）

How do we move forward when past suffering still affects us? Many people face that question in their personal lives, but there's a collective dimension, too, as we've heard in the call for reparations for slavery that have accompanied David Cameron's visit to Jamaica. Back in Britain we've heard incredulity that issues that seem so long past can feel so present. But the issues persist, and we can't avoid the question of how we deal with grievances that are deeply rooted in history.

The closest connection I have to black slavery is probably watching 12 Years a Slave. But I grew up in a Jewish family where memories of anti-Semitic persecution were fresh. I've lived with Indian Dalits who view Indian society from the perspective of their place at the bottom of the caste system. And I have family connections to Welsh mining villages and Northern Irish Catholics.

For all these groups, history doesn't just belong to the past. There's no end to the suffering people have experienced; and many troubles refuse to fade away with time. Some continue to shape the fortunes of nations and peoples, or they live on in the stories and memories that create a shared sense of identity.

Looking at these seemingly intractable issues as a Buddhist, I reflect, firstly on the importance of self-scrutiny. Buddhism stresses that we tend to see the world in a way that confirms our assumptions and biases. What's more, belief systems and ideologies can objectify and justify those assumptions, presenting them as the objective truth and creating fixed, dogmatic views of ourselves and the world.

That's why Buddhism stresses holding our views lightly and listening, openly and with compassion, to those we might otherwise dismiss. But it also warns that the past can be a trap. We can't change history, and dwelling on grievances can in fact reinforce them.

The Buddha famously said, 'Hatred is not overcome by hatred, but only by love.' That challenges all parties in a conflict to look beyond their differences; and friends who work in conflict resolution tell me that the way ingrained and seemingly intractable conflicts are sometimes resolved is often not what we would anticipate. Change comes when the parties are able to see things from each other's perspective and sense the fundamental human needs they are expressing. Conflict, however intense it may be in the present and however deeply rooted in the past, is a challenge to our empathy and imagination.

当过去的遭遇仍然影响我们时，我们应该如何继续前行呢？许多人在个人生活中面临这个问题，但是在集体维度中也有这个问题，就像卡梅伦首相访问牙买加期间我们听到的赔偿奴隶的要求。在英国，我们听到了一些怀疑，认为这些问题已经过去了那么长时间，为何现在仍然有着影响。但是这个问题确实仍然存在，我们不能回避：如何处理深深地根植于历史中的悲痛？

我与黑人奴隶最深的联系可能是观看影片《为奴十二载》。但是我在一个犹太家庭长大，反犹太迫害的记忆仍然历历在目。我曾经和印度贱民生活在一起，他们只能从金字塔的底端仰望整个印度社会。我与威尔士矿工村庄和北爱尔兰天主教徒也有关系。

对于所有这些群体来说，历史并不仅仅属于过去。人们曾经遭遇过的痛苦还没有结束，随着时间的过去，许多麻烦仍然存在。许多问题仍然决定着民族和人民的命运，或者他们生活在为他们创造了认同感的故事和记忆中。

作为一名佛教徒，查看这些似乎棘手的问题时，我首先想到的是自我反省。佛教强调说，我们倾向于以确认自己的假设和偏见的方式看待世界。此外，信仰体系和意识形态能够使这些假设客观化，正当化，将这些视为客观的事实，形成对我们自己和世界固定的，教条的观点。

这就是为何佛教强调不要固执己见，对我们或许排斥的人认真倾听，从善如流，充满同情。但是佛教还警告称，过去或许会是一个陷阱。我们不能改变历史，沉溺于悲伤只会让这种情绪更加严重。

但是佛祖曾经说过：“冤冤相报何时了，得饶人处且饶人”。这句话要求冲突的各方都能抛开分歧。为互相冲突的方案工作的朋友们告诉我，看似根深蒂固，非常棘手的问题有时会以我们没有预料到的方式解决。当冲突的各方愿意从对方的角度看待问题时，改变就会发生，这是他们所表达的人类的基本需求。无论冲突现在多么严重，在过去多么根深蒂固，所考验的知识我们的同情心和想象力。