THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - 18 DECEMBER 2014 - VISHVAPANI
Of all the horrors we’ve seen in the international conflict with radical Islam, Wednesday’s massacre at
the army school in Peshawar must be among the most ghastly. When defenseless women and
children are targeted on this scale, we’ve reached a new level of barbarism.
How did we get here? Without detracting from the attack’s distinctive horror, it stems from a spiral of
violence and escalating conflict. When did it all start: the Pakistani army’s campaign against the Taliban?
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? 9/11? The legacy of occupation and empire that stretches back over
centuries? The causes are endless: perhaps that’s the nature of conflicts. And the solutions are
doubtful. The Pakistani army may be victorious, but at what cost, and with what consequences? Perhaps
this war will spread, or merge into the region’s other conflicts; or perhaps the barbarism will just continue
to escalate.
violence and escalating conflict. When did it all start: the Pakistani army’s campaign against the Taliban?
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? 9/11? The legacy of occupation and empire that stretches back over
centuries? The causes are endless: perhaps that’s the nature of conflicts. And the solutions are
doubtful. The Pakistani army may be victorious, but at what cost, and with what consequences? Perhaps
this war will spread, or merge into the region’s other conflicts; or perhaps the barbarism will just continue
to escalate.
Reflecting on the conflicts of his own time, the Buddha alighted on a singular term for what he observed:
proliferation. Causes multiply into diverse effects, especially when ideology and beliefs magnify them. He
made sense of this by noting the parallel with what happens in our minds: one irritable thought begets
another, which becomes a compelling narrative about what’s happening; and, soon enough, we act.
proliferation. Causes multiply into diverse effects, especially when ideology and beliefs magnify them. He
made sense of this by noting the parallel with what happens in our minds: one irritable thought begets
another, which becomes a compelling narrative about what’s happening; and, soon enough, we act.
This psychological approach led the Buddha to locate the ultimate causes of war and conflict in the
minds of individual human beings. We’ll do anything to banish unpleasant feelings and put things right
when we feel they’re wrong, even if that leads us to act in ways we’d otherwise condemn. That’s how
otherwise decent people come to justify the use of torture.
minds of individual human beings. We’ll do anything to banish unpleasant feelings and put things right
when we feel they’re wrong, even if that leads us to act in ways we’d otherwise condemn. That’s how
otherwise decent people come to justify the use of torture.
In the Buddhist view, nothing good can result when we’re driven by hatred, anger and the desire for
revenge. Blood will have blood. This doesn’t mean that force should never be used or that wars are
never justified; but it’s a strong caution to check the impulse to act out of anger, to note the
moral distortion that rigid ideology can bring, and to allow space for other wiser responses that
come when we put anger aside.
revenge. Blood will have blood. This doesn’t mean that force should never be used or that wars are
never justified; but it’s a strong caution to check the impulse to act out of anger, to note the
moral distortion that rigid ideology can bring, and to allow space for other wiser responses that
come when we put anger aside.
Proliferation ends, the Buddha suggested, when we learn to tolerate pain, rather than reacting to it, and
when patience and forgiveness give us the mental space to act with love. For me, that’s the ultimate
challenge of the barbarity in Pakistan. The world is good at creating warmongers. Peacemakers have to
make themselves.
SELF: The ultimate challenge is not the heroism and the ultimate sacrifice that gets lauded back home
as you come home in a body bag but: - restraint, the quiet, soft answer that turns away wrath and the
courage not to retaliate.
when patience and forgiveness give us the mental space to act with love. For me, that’s the ultimate
challenge of the barbarity in Pakistan. The world is good at creating warmongers. Peacemakers have to
make themselves.
SELF: The ultimate challenge is not the heroism and the ultimate sacrifice that gets lauded back home
as you come home in a body bag but: - restraint, the quiet, soft answer that turns away wrath and the
courage not to retaliate.
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