Gandhari cursed Krishna for what she perceived to be his inaction in saving her sons during the Kurukshetra War. He willingly accepted the curse though he did/didn't do what was required for dharma. Gandhari accused him of "throwing the first punch".
Do we have a right to curse someone for what we perceive to be a wrong done to us, or to curse a person we feel "threw the first punch"? That is, doing something that by all accounts is unjust, even according to third party persons and the law.
I'll try to be brief (ha! as if!
) ... my landlord sent a nebulous email a couple of months ago asking my husband and me to vacate the condo unit we are renting from her. The notice-to-quit had no reason in it though NJ law requires a good cause reason: non-payment of rent, illegal activities, and a few other reasons.
NJ is very tenant-friendly; it is difficult to evict someone in NJ. None of those reasons apply to us. Rent is current, for example; landlord even wrote, when I asked if we did something wrong: "Oh no, you're great tenants". Now, I have the legal right to tell her nope, we're not moving.
Needless to say, she got nasty bordering on abusive and accusatory. She admitted in writing that she didn't follow legal procedures but would do so now. When I pressed her for a reason she said she and her ex-husband were going to sell the unit. But even that has restrictions on eviction. So she filed suit in court for an eviction. In the court papers she changed her reason and said she wants her 20something son and daughter to move in. That is a gross violation of the NJ law. After an eviction only the owner can move in, not family members. I think she is very naive and is being given bad advice by her attorney. We have legal representation and have gotten hopeful advice. In a nutshell we don't think she will win; we hope she won't. At the least we'll be given a fairly long time to remain in order to save for moving expenses, possibly up to a year.
Anyway, while on the face of it this isn't directly related to Hinduism itself or dharma (well, maybe dharma) it goes to my question about cursing a person or even this unit once we leave) because of what I consider adharmic treatment by my landlord. I don't like playing with dark forces or energies but I'm simply thinking of telling her "Here are the keys. I curse you that you and your family, whom you say you are looking out for, will never have a moment's peace or happiness in this apartment, or with any money you get if you sell it. You will have nothing but problems with the property. You unjustly claimed that my actions affected your health; your own actions in this matter will adversely affect your health even more".
So the question is, should I even bother or just let karma work its magic, that is, let nature take its course?
Do we have a right to curse someone for what we perceive to be a wrong done to us, or to curse a person we feel "threw the first punch"? That is, doing something that by all accounts is unjust, even according to third party persons and the law.
I'll try to be brief (ha! as if!
NJ is very tenant-friendly; it is difficult to evict someone in NJ. None of those reasons apply to us. Rent is current, for example; landlord even wrote, when I asked if we did something wrong: "Oh no, you're great tenants". Now, I have the legal right to tell her nope, we're not moving.
Needless to say, she got nasty bordering on abusive and accusatory. She admitted in writing that she didn't follow legal procedures but would do so now. When I pressed her for a reason she said she and her ex-husband were going to sell the unit. But even that has restrictions on eviction. So she filed suit in court for an eviction. In the court papers she changed her reason and said she wants her 20something son and daughter to move in. That is a gross violation of the NJ law. After an eviction only the owner can move in, not family members. I think she is very naive and is being given bad advice by her attorney. We have legal representation and have gotten hopeful advice. In a nutshell we don't think she will win; we hope she won't. At the least we'll be given a fairly long time to remain in order to save for moving expenses, possibly up to a year.
Anyway, while on the face of it this isn't directly related to Hinduism itself or dharma (well, maybe dharma) it goes to my question about cursing a person or even this unit once we leave) because of what I consider adharmic treatment by my landlord. I don't like playing with dark forces or energies but I'm simply thinking of telling her "Here are the keys. I curse you that you and your family, whom you say you are looking out for, will never have a moment's peace or happiness in this apartment, or with any money you get if you sell it. You will have nothing but problems with the property. You unjustly claimed that my actions affected your health; your own actions in this matter will adversely affect your health even more".
So the question is, should I even bother or just let karma work its magic, that is, let nature take its course?