Non violence.
When I was a very young man I had an apartment in Cardiff, capital city of Wales. I lived quietly, learning meditation and Dhamma. My pleasure on Sunday evenings was to go to bed early and read for an hour before sleeping. However, Sunday evening, after the bars had closed, was the time when a young couple would arrive in the alley next to my apartment and begin their courting. It was always the same situation. Low, hushed romantic voices, then silence and more hushed romantic voices. This lasted for some time until the voices became louder and more aggressive.
Then CRACK!
The man hit the woman and she cried.
After a pause the man, speaking loudly now over the tears of the young woman, would always say the same thing, ‘It’s not my fault that I hit you, you made me do it, I had no choice!’
Even at the very beginning of my Dhamma life I knew that this could not be the truth. In every moment there is a choice and for whatever reason we choose what we choose and then act upon it. We are always responsible for our words and actions and however clever and manipulative we may be, we cannot escape the consequence of what we do.
Violence and aggression has never brought anything of value to the world, either in personal or global relationships and yet it continues everywhere all the time. Perhaps now we feel more comfortable with the ideas of war and killing as our cinematic heroes are exactly the same as the villians they want to destroy, except of course, they work on the side of ‘good,’ and they won’t hurt children !
Dhamma is not and never can be like this.
Rationalising and justifying violence is a face of Dhamma that does not exist.
The basis of Dhamma is love and the basis of love is acceptance.
We accept the reality of the situation and then respond and we are always responsible for that response, whether we realise it or not. It is always our choice whether we continue to empower the delusion that it’s acceptable to hurt, humiliate and kill other beings, or offer something that has value.
Perhaps we stand alone against many political and religious arguments, but we must remember that the fighting won’t stop until we stop fighting.
When we think about fighting we may think about the conflict in Iraq or Afghanistan, somewhere far away and separate from us, but we also have to look at our own life, our relationships with our parents, our children, our colleagues. What is it that we bring to these people ? Love, compassion acceptance or just more disputes ?
Beings are the way they are, that is their choice, you are the way you are, that is your choice. How do you choose to be ?
In every moment we are making our decisions of how to express our life, and in every moment, we have the choice to act from love or fear.
In reality there is never a true victim who can say, ‘I had no choice,’ there is only someone rationalising their behaviour. Life is about choice and when we choose it is wise to choose the best.
The best choice is love. The best choice is compassion. The best choice is harmony with life.
This way you will be happy and share that happiness with all beings.
Then CRACK!
The man hit the woman and she cried.
After a pause the man, speaking loudly now over the tears of the young woman, would always say the same thing, ‘It’s not my fault that I hit you, you made me do it, I had no choice!’
Even at the very beginning of my Dhamma life I knew that this could not be the truth. In every moment there is a choice and for whatever reason we choose what we choose and then act upon it. We are always responsible for our words and actions and however clever and manipulative we may be, we cannot escape the consequence of what we do.
Violence and aggression has never brought anything of value to the world, either in personal or global relationships and yet it continues everywhere all the time. Perhaps now we feel more comfortable with the ideas of war and killing as our cinematic heroes are exactly the same as the villians they want to destroy, except of course, they work on the side of ‘good,’ and they won’t hurt children !
Dhamma is not and never can be like this.
Rationalising and justifying violence is a face of Dhamma that does not exist.
The basis of Dhamma is love and the basis of love is acceptance.
We accept the reality of the situation and then respond and we are always responsible for that response, whether we realise it or not. It is always our choice whether we continue to empower the delusion that it’s acceptable to hurt, humiliate and kill other beings, or offer something that has value.
Perhaps we stand alone against many political and religious arguments, but we must remember that the fighting won’t stop until we stop fighting.
When we think about fighting we may think about the conflict in Iraq or Afghanistan, somewhere far away and separate from us, but we also have to look at our own life, our relationships with our parents, our children, our colleagues. What is it that we bring to these people ? Love, compassion acceptance or just more disputes ?
Beings are the way they are, that is their choice, you are the way you are, that is your choice. How do you choose to be ?
In every moment we are making our decisions of how to express our life, and in every moment, we have the choice to act from love or fear.
In reality there is never a true victim who can say, ‘I had no choice,’ there is only someone rationalising their behaviour. Life is about choice and when we choose it is wise to choose the best.
The best choice is love. The best choice is compassion. The best choice is harmony with life.
This way you will be happy and share that happiness with all beings.
May all beings be happy
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