The Interpretation of ‘Khanti’ and its Effects on Social Behavior

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to study how the interpretation of the word ‘Khanti’ can vastly and different affects on social behavior. Many people generally interpret ‘Khanti’ as ‘patience.’ However, according to relevant Buddhist scriptures and documents, the true meaning of the word ‘Khanti’ goes beyond the general definitions of the word ‘patience’, which is the capacity to tolerate suffering. ‘Khanti’ in Pali also means the capacity to persevere in the process of obtaining true wisdom.  In the case where people use the original Pali definition of the word ‘Khanti’ to form social values, the reflected social behaviors show the perseverance against kilesa, which are internal mental states that cloud the mind and manifest in unwholesome actions, in order to obtain true wisdom. Once the true wisdom, or paññā, is obtained, the external physical behaviors are then demonstrated by externalizing the concepts of anicca (“impermanence”), dukkha (“suffering”) and anattā (“non-self”). On the other hand, in the case where people interpret the word ‘Khanti’ as ‘patience’ and apply this definition to forming social values accordingly, the reflected social behaviors show that the tolerance for suffering is only limited to tangible things such as cold weather, hunger, and physical suffering. By focusing on the tangible aspects and believing that the self exists, the social behaviors and rules are then created in such a way that makes it challenging to obtain true wisdom. As a result, the different interpretations of the word ‘Khanti’ help explain the different social behaviors.