Dalai Lama in Israel: "Uproot terrorism"..."through the heart"

[McCamy Taylor]

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=1,2350,0,0,1,0

I. In February of this year, the Dalai Lama visited Israel, where he spoke of the struggle of Tibet to free itself from Chinese oppression. He had this to say in response to a question about terrorism.

'"Can you uproot terrorism? I do not think so. Physical elimination is not the answer. There is only one way to uproot terrorism; it must be done through the heart," replied the Dalai Lama.'

The audience of Israelis later asked him about Hitler. The article paraphrased his reply. "He was asked how Hitler affected him and replied by mentioning that affection is the basis of compassion, and we must oppose the wrong doings and help that person. Anyone who feels happy killing people is not normal. So hatred must be dissolved to let forgiveness prevail. Tibetans give the Chinese compassion."

II. His words are reminiscent of those of Martin Luther King Jr in his Noble Prize Acceptance Speech

http://members.aol.com/klove01/nobel.htm

"I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsom and jetsom in the river of life unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality."

III. In his book "St. Francis, A Model for Human Liberation", Leonardo Boff wrote "to live humanly means to feel the warmth of someone who says to us, in spite of our physical and moral misery 'It is good that you exist, Brother. You are welcome.'" A running theme in the book is the way in which Francis embraced and overcame his fears---fears of leprosy, poverty, violence, suffocation under the yoke of the Church---until finally on his deathbed he was able to embrace every aspect of life, pleasant and unpleasant, with the words "Welcome, Sister Death".

IV.William Blake says it most clearly and simply of all:

"God appears and God is Light/To those poor souls who dwell in Night

But does a Human form display/To those who dwell in realms of Day"


What can I say to people who think that we are being persecuted by a devil spawned from darkness whose only purpose is genocide? The devil exists only in our own imaginations, born from our own fear. The world is not dualistic. We perceive it that way. People who act like devils do so for many reasons but very often it is because they are afraid just as WE are afraid. Both of us lash out in blind terror that looks just like rage. And since violence and hatred are not natural or comfortable human emotions, both of us project these back on the objects that we fear, so that we are only re-acting in self defense which is a much more comfortable moral burden.

Israel fears that the Nazis will rise again, so it works to create a "Position of strength". Hamas fears that its children will live in government sanctioned poverty forever so it fights the government. Lebanon fears that Israel will occupy its country again leading to another ten years of civil war so it supports Hezbollah, which used to battle the Israeli occupiers. The three boogie men are false; the three techniques for fighting the three devils lead to more violence, fear and suffering.

The solution? In modern times, there is only one method that has proven effective in these types of conflicts. It involves cease fires, diplomacy, compromise, social justice, and a willingness for each side to sit down to talk and LISTEN to the others. In the worst situations, dramatic sacrifices like those made by Gandhi or MLK Jr or by Buddhist nuns and monks in Viet Nam during the 1960s and 70s may be required to get the attention of others.

But what do you do when you are making the ultimate sacrifice like Lebanon, and no one is doing anything in response except pointing fingers and calling this side or that side a "devil"? How much death does it take before the world's heart gets touched enough to reach out to all those caught up in this horrible battle with compassion? That is what it is going to take. Anyone who tries to start peace talks with the attitude that Israel is a devil but Lebanon must be saved will fail. Same goes for Hezzbollah is a devil but Lebanon must be saved.

Peace talks will begin when someone says "Everyone here is suffering, Israeli, Lebanese, Palestinians, and we need to do something to alleviate everyone's suffering now."

[Avalux]

1. A voice of reason. Wise words.

I agree with everything he says; no blame placed - recognize everyone is afraid and suffering and work towards trying to alleviate it. Compassion is sorely lacking in our world. :(

[JackNewtown]

2. The Dalai Lama obviously has a bias regarding occupations

;)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. They are all correct

Hatred answering hatred doesn't eradicate hatred. Forgiveness and understanding are the key.

[Pale Blue Dot]

4. Yes.

We need the equivelant of a Martin Luther King or a Ghandhi or a Dalai Lama in the Middle East. So does the Middle East.

[McCamy Taylor]

5. Another thread cites this essay The last paragraph is tragic. It shows

how violence can wound the psyche for years even after all physical wounds are healed.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284057,00.html

"They are directly or indirectly assisting to update the image of Satan from the ghetto-like Jew to the "new Jew", namely the Israeli. They are not doing much to prevent the fundamentalist finger from pushing the button that will, God forbid, send 6 million "new Jews" up to heaven in the smoldering smoke of the global era's nuclear furnace. And we the Jews? Then as now, we are burying our heads in the sand, repressing the new Nazism – the Islamic fundamentalism."