Wednesdays Words: On War
In light of our current focus on Israel and Lebanon (and our ignoring Iraq and Afghanistan), I bring to you, via my weekly email from Dzogchen.org , a Buddhist perspective on war. This may explain why I'm so "far-left" on the issue, or why there's never been a war to enforce or to indoctrinate people into Buddhism.
……. At the end of the talk someone from the audience
asked the Dalai Lama,
"Why didn't you fight back against the Chinese?"
The Dalai Lama looked down,
swung his feet just a bit, then looked back up at us
and said with a gentle smile,
"Well, war is obsolete, you know."
Then, after a few moments, his face grave, he said,
"Of course the mind can rationalize fighting back…
but the heart, the heart would never understand.
Then you would be divided in yourself,
the heart and the mind, and the war would be inside you."
How refreshing!