The site has been updated to include a poem and a short essay, Remembering 9/11: A Buddhist Approach to Terrorism..
For about 10 years now, I have made my Collected Poems on Buddhist Themes available at no charge, through my buddhistpoems.com site. I've decided now, to reach out to a wider audience, including making the book available through online vendors, as Amazon, BN, and Powells.
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When Terrorists Camp On The World Poems and Essays on a Buddhist Approach to Terrorism
A Buddhist Approach to 9/11 We're coming up to the anniversary of 9/11 -- the destruction of the World Trade Center and the other terrorist attacks. Approaching this from Buddhist and Taoist perspectives is very important, I believe, and instructive to people in general. It's all too easy for one to get caught up in hatred and throughts of revenge, and returning hatred with hatred.
If one would walk a Buddhist path to Ground Zero it would be with mindfulness and compassion. There would be mindfulness that all things rise and fall, joys and sorrow alike; there would be gratitude for the lives of those who died, and the joys they brought to others. And there would be compassion, for those who died and the widening circles of family, friends, acquaintances, other New Yorkers, and other citizens of this country, and of the world, who were affected by their deaths. And how could one not have compassion for the terrorists themselves who suffered at their own hands-- who blinded themselves to all but their deeds, and its preparations, who moved freely in host countries -- open societies-- among people who trusted them, leaving destruction and deceit in their wake? As the terrorists literally consumed themselves with their own hatreds, they ignited new flames of suffering for their own friends, as well.
It's too easy to return hatred with hatred, particularly as war preparation seem to be growing here, for an American attack on Iraq. We should consider and learn from the Tibetans, so brutally killed, as their country was ravaged by mainland China. There was no Tibetan Liberation Army. With Buddhism permeating native religions, the Tibetan people and the clergy did not return hatred for hatred, blow for blow. They understood that they would be creating spirals of suffering for other living beings, even for those beings who were their killers and destroyers of their country's very life. Instead, the Dalai Lama and many other Tibetans left their country to spread the Buddhist dharma to the West, in a peaceful manner, even as they continued to peacefully protest the ravaging of their country by the Chinese.
The US is a world power, and clearly has a different place in world history than Tibet. But if Buddhist truths are universal, they apply to all people of all nations. These truths are that we should understand karma -- how actions begets action. Therefore, we should always try to act wisely, and with compassion toward all humans and other sentient beings, with the interests of the many in our hearts and minds, and not the interests of the few. The rise of Islamic extremism and of Al-Qaida could certainly be examined in this context. And so too, should the nationalism and imperalist policies of the world powers likewise be examined.
To kill another living being dispassionately, and not filled with hatred, is in some way is preferable to killing when one filled with rage. This may be the way of a Taoist or Zen warrior, or even of a hired killer. But such a path, I believe, does not lead one up the mountain of discriminating wisdom and compassion toward all living beings, nor does it necessarily lead to the destruction of bad karma. History goes on its way, with its spirals and seeming detours, and evil is often engaged and defeated at great cost for the sake of a greater good -- one thinks of Lincoln, the abolition of slavery and the killing of millions in the Civil War, and also of the war by the Allies against Nazi Germany and the Axis powers. The American led invasion of Afghanistan post 9-11 to search for bin-Laden, destroy Al-Qaida bases, and remove the Taliban from state power could be viewed in this context of a just war.
I don't believe that Buddhism is necessarily pacifistic. But there are degrees of attachment and non-attachment, even to life, and degrees of strength in one's resolve to not add to injurious karma. For nations to pursue wars -- whether aggressive or defensive wars, or just or unjust -- involves tremendous suffering for all concerned. Instead of war, or guerrilla war, the Tibetan people as a collective, chose the path of peaceful, non-violent protest.
To choose peace, and not war, to turn the other cheek and be willing do die rather than fight and inflict pain and new cycles of violence for the sake of peace, are certainly not actions that most people could do. But we could try to capture something of the Buddhist spirit of non-violence of the Tibetan people in our own lives -- being aware of hatred as it arises in the mind, watching these thoughts and feelings rise and fall, as do all of our thoughts and feelings; being non-attached to things and events as we could have them be; being attached to selflessness, to doing good, to not perpetuating destructive karma, and to acting compassionately and with reverence toward all living beings.May we approach the anniversary of 9-11 with these things in mind.
May all beings be happy, peaceful and free from suffering.
An Introduction to the Poems on the Balkans
I wrote some poems on the Balkans 1999, when hopes for peace in the Balkans were in the air. All too often, suffering is not due to nature attacking people, as in floods and earthquakes, but to people hurting other people, using force to resolve their differences. This, in turn, creates more spirals of suffering.
A person can learn to be mindful of their anger, and choose not to expend it, like a scorpion which loses interest in striking and lowers its stinger. Such a frame of mind would result in one not transmitting suffering to another being. Further, if people realize that their anger toward others impede their own spiritual development, they could learn to let the anger go. What comes to mind here is a parable of the Buddha, parallels to which we would find in all the world's spiritual traditions. The Buddha comes to a town, where he is reviled by a jealous man, who follows him on horseback, jeering at him. The Buddha continues walking, seemingly ignoring the man. When he reaches the next street, the man taunts him again. This continues for some time. Finally, the Buddha turns to the man and asks him, in words to this effect, if someone is offered a gift which they refuse, then what happens to the gift?The man realized that it goes back to the sender, who would then receive all the ills they were sending to another.When people refuse to pass them along, anger and conflict will be given their well earned rest from their all too active role in human history. And then, a more evolved human respone to negative emotions can proceed, along the upward spiral of awareness, detachment, equanimity and compassion.
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