Preface

Extract: Everyone is a victim – at some point, in some way, suffering is inevitable. As Buddha declared in The First Noble Truth: “there is suffering.” It is a descriptive truth of the way that the world is. Some people are victims in a small way – and we are likely to hear about their victimhood in conversation as people share what happened to them and how they have suffered at the hands of others, or due to natural circumstances. Others are victims on a much grander scale – and we hear about their victimhood in the media, in newspapers, in books. Being victimized is not something that the individual chooses. But it happens and so the question of how to address it is important. Victimization is inevitable so what can we do about that? While victimization is inevitable, victimhood is not. Indeed, the world admires those who have suffered difficult circumstances and yet succeeded in rising beyond their victim status as pointed out in the cases given earlier. Their example gives us hope and inspiration. Becoming a victim may be bad luck, but to rise above victimhood is something that depends on the desire, the will, and the power of the individual. Victimization is inevitable, victimhood is a choice.