Dear Steve,
We are not pretending to be spiritual, life is spiritual. I think reputation matters little to Spirit. We are discussing conflicts that effect us today. If you are not interested, please do not watch my contributions or feel the need to reply. The header of this forum says "Social and Spiritual Fellowship, Freedom to Express " It's just you and I. Still, we leave our trail for guest or future members and if anyone is ever interested they are free to reply with whatever thoughts they wish. I love that about your forum. It is possible to look at conflict as an effort to understand and create peace. If you noticed the title of my thread, it's about overcoming tyranny together. Nothing here is spam or suggesting violent action. I think we both agree it's best to respond from Love to the best of our ability.
I stumbled across the perfect page from a book I just happened to pick up tonight to share with you. You may remember this person, Tich Nhat Hanh. This book is called Being Peace.
The situation of the world is like this. People completely identify with one side, one ideology. To understand the suffering and the fear of a citizen of the Soviet Union, we have to become one with him or her. To do so is dangerous- we will be suspected by both sides. But if we don't do it, if we align ourselves with one side or the other, we will lose our chance to work for peace. Reconciliation is to understand both sides, to go to one side and describe the suffering being endured by the other side, and then to go to the other side and describe the suffering being endured by the first side. Doing only that will be a great help for peace.
During a retreat at the Providence Zen Center, I asked someone to express himself as a swimmer in a river, and then after 15 minutes of breathing, to express himself as the river. He had to become the river to be able to express himself in the language and feelings of the river. After that a woman who had been in the Soviet Union was asked to express herself as an American, and after some breathing and meditation, as a Soviet citizen, with all her fears and her hope for peace. She did it wonderfully. These are exercises of meditation related to non-duality.
The young Buddhist workers in Vietnam tried to do this kind of meditation. Many of them died during service. I wrote a poem for my young brothers and sister on how to die nonviolently, without hatred. It's called Recommendation:
Promise me,
promise me this day
while the sun is just overhead
even as they strike you down
with a mountain of hate and violence,
remember, brother,
man is not our enemy.
Just your pity,
just your hate
invincible, limitless,
hatred will never let you face
the beast in man.
And one day, when you face this
beast alone, your courage intact,
you eyes kind,
out of your smile
will bloom a flower
and those who love you
will behold you
across 10,000 worlds of birth and dying.
Alone again
I'll go on with bent head
but knowing the immortality of love.
And on the long, rough road
both sun and moon will shine,
lighting my way.
To practice meditation is to be is to be aware of the existence of suffering. The first Dharma Talk that the Buddha gave was about suffering, and the way out of suffering. In South Africa, the black people suffer enormously, but the white people also suffer. If we take one side, we cannot fulfill our task of reconciliation in order to bring about peace.
Are there people who can be in touch with both the black community and the white community in South Africa? If there are not many of them, the situation is bad. There must be people who can get in touch with both sides, understanding the suffering of each, and telling each side about the other. Are there people doing that kind of understanding and meditation and reconciliation between the two major political blocs on the earth? Can you be more than Americans? Can you be people who understand deeply the suffering of both sides? Can you bring the message of reconciliation?
....we have a large responsibility as citizens. We think that the government is free to make policy, but that freedom depends on our daily life. If we make it possible for them to change policies, they will do it. Now it is not possible yet. Maybe you think that if you get into government and obtain power, you can do anything you want, but that is not true. If you become President, you will be confronted by this hard fact. You will probably do just the same thing, a little better or a little worse.
Therefore we have to see the real truth, the real situation."
from Being Peace by Tich Nhat Hanh 1987
I hope this helps. I just saw your add-on about the 14th amendment at the bottom of your post. Thanks for all the good info! Good night Bro!
