Friday, September 22, 2006
MLK , Gandhi, and HH Dalai Lama
MLK:
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.... The chain reaction of evil — hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Strength to Love (1963)
Violence is an expression of hierarchy: it is the intention and action of dominance over another.
Change occurs, violence happens; that's the way of the world. We, as humans however, have the capacity to choose how to act with each other and our environment.
We may find ourselves in less-than-ideal conditions, but that's the hand we're dealt, and we have to work within the realistic context we find ourselves in. That's the dynamic relationship between choice and choicelessness. We are choiceless in the circumstances we find ourselves in, but from that very place, we can choose how to think, feel, and act.
The world is what we make of it. Be the change you want to see in the world, is pretty simple, profound, and brilliant.
That does not mean indulging in idiot-compassion or spiritual materialism. It doesn't necessarily mean pacifism. But it does mean opening our eyes, hearts, and minds, and realizing that "business as usual," a.k.a. hierarchy and its patterns of violence, are futile and self-destructive.
There is a better and more ultimately skillful way to go about things, one based in simplicity, altruism and loving-kindness.
By-the-by, in terms of Dalai Lama and Tibet: It's true that Tibetan history is rife with the worst of bureaucracy, politics, and sectarian violence. But at the same time has produced self-actualized and amazing people. Maybe it was time for these teachings to leave that container and spread throughout the world.
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.... The chain reaction of evil — hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Strength to Love (1963)
Violence is an expression of hierarchy: it is the intention and action of dominance over another.
Change occurs, violence happens; that's the way of the world. We, as humans however, have the capacity to choose how to act with each other and our environment.
We may find ourselves in less-than-ideal conditions, but that's the hand we're dealt, and we have to work within the realistic context we find ourselves in. That's the dynamic relationship between choice and choicelessness. We are choiceless in the circumstances we find ourselves in, but from that very place, we can choose how to think, feel, and act.
The world is what we make of it. Be the change you want to see in the world, is pretty simple, profound, and brilliant.
That does not mean indulging in idiot-compassion or spiritual materialism. It doesn't necessarily mean pacifism. But it does mean opening our eyes, hearts, and minds, and realizing that "business as usual," a.k.a. hierarchy and its patterns of violence, are futile and self-destructive.
There is a better and more ultimately skillful way to go about things, one based in simplicity, altruism and loving-kindness.
By-the-by, in terms of Dalai Lama and Tibet: It's true that Tibetan history is rife with the worst of bureaucracy, politics, and sectarian violence. But at the same time has produced self-actualized and amazing people. Maybe it was time for these teachings to leave that container and spread throughout the world.
