In the wake of the events of September
11, a number of Buddhist teachers and practitioners have
offered thoughts and prayers for guidance during this time.
Teacher Responses
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Best Web site Anthologies
| Suggested
Readings
Cultivating Compassion to Respond
to Violence: The Way of Peace
Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh, Plum Village,
France
All violence is injustice.
Responding
to violence with violence is injustice, not only to the
other person but also to oneself. Responding to violence
with violence resolves nothing; it only escalates violence,
anger and hatred. It is only with compassion that we can
embrace and disintegrate violence. This is true in relationships
between individuals as well as in relationships between
nations. Many people in America consider Jesus Christ as
their Lord, their spiritual ancestor and their teacher.
We should heed His teachings especially during critical
times like this. Jesus never encourages us to respond to
acts of violence with violence. His teaching is, instead,
to use compassion to deal with violence. The teachings of
Judaism go very much in the same direction. Spiritual leaders
of this country are invited to raise their voices, to bring
about the awareness of this teaching to the American nation
and people. What needs to be done right now is to recognize
the suffering, to embrace it and to understand it. We need
calmness and lucidity so that we can listen deeply to and
understand our own suffering, the suffering of the nation
and the suffering of others. By understanding the nature
and the causes of the suffering, we will then know the right
path to follow.
The violence
and hatred we presently face has been created by misunderstanding,
injustice, discrimination, and despair. We are all co-responsible
for the making of violence and despair in the world by our
way of living, of consuming and of handling the problems
of the world. Understanding why this violence has been created,
we will then know what to do and what not to do in order
to decrease the level of violence in ourselves and in the
world, to create and foster understanding, reconciliation
and forgiveness. I have the conviction that America possesses
enough wisdom and courage to perform an act of forgiveness
and compassion, and I know that such an act can bring great
relief to America and to the world right away.
Thich Nhat
Hanh
18 September 2001
The Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh will be fasting from the
21st-30th September as a way of prayer in action. He invites
all of his friends and disciples to join him in this prayer
and meditation, wherever you may be and for however long
you wish, in order to embrace all those who have died and
all who are suffering from the recent tragedy.
Those
who plan to participate in this act of peace may like to
e-mail mfmaster@vermontel.net,
and to write a letter to the President and to their Congresspeople
to inform them of your intentions.
On September
25th, the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh will visit New York
City and give a public talk at Riverside Church. He will
be addressing the relevant issues of peace in action and
the cultivation of compassion.
