Introduction
I waked up early on the Easter Sunday, and was thinking about attending the Easter Sunday service which I traditionally do, even though I am a baptized Buddhist. I consider myself rather a practicing Christian, as I try to practice what Christ is here to teach rather than just wearing a label. My spiritual background is rather Universal Unitarian, but even this title seems to be too restrictive as any label will immediately put a box around the heart and mind of the infinite soul.
Back to the topic. I was more than shocked to see the morning news coming from Sri Lanka, and could not believe what has happened on the beautiful Easter Sunday when the sky was blue, and birds were chirping happily on the new green branches. I have some close friends from that country and I deeply have felt the connection, in part because my husband grew up in India and Sri Lanka has a very unique position in Indian mythology and heritage. It is a peaceful and beautiful island with Buddhism being the major religion after the time of the Buddha. To think that churches were attacked in Sri Lanka, and especially on the Easter Sunday, was simply beyond my comprehension.
My mind was literally being blown away, just as if the bombs were dropped in it as well. I could immediately feel the aftershock of as if an earthquake just happened there, and the rolling waves were spreading to everywhere around the globe, with Sri Lanka being the epicenter. Why, how, what… all the questions came up to my mind. I had to sit for a while to calm down, waiting for a later time to text my friends without disturbing them. I tried to read the news as much as I could, digesting and deciphering what had happened. I felt the heartbroken pain of those who were affected, and the sinking of the world to hear this news, especially the Christian community. It cannot be worse than this, on the Sunday morning of Easter, one of the most important holidays for Christians.
My chest was so heavy and I felt the urgency to send the message to others, who may be still sleeping or busy preparing Sunday events. I wrote up several social-media posts quickly with a hope of letting people know, but at the same time bringing a centering of peace to them. I had to attend other community events planned throughout the day and struggled to come up with a way to convey to people what just happened and why it is important.
The response varied. Some I have met, have not heard anything at all (obviously nobody was interested in reading the early morning news on Easter Sunday). Some had a blank look with no reaction, which I totally understand. Overall, Sri Lanka, this small country and a big island in the Indian Ocean, hasn’t been registered into something substantial in the western world, apart from its civil war and other incidents in the past, which once a while pieced into the thick bubble of American news. Some I talked to continued on with their Easter events, indifferent to what happened on the other side of the world so far removed from our daily reality here, which I also totally understand.
We have so accustomed to guns and bombs, from Florida Parkland shooting on Valentine’s Day, to Colorado Columbine shooting, which had its 20’s year anniversary on the same Easter weekend. We lived just 15 miles from Santa Fe school shooting, and now our schools are all equipped with vestibules. We have heard war in Syria, refugees in Central America, massacre in New Zealand mosques just a few weeks ago, and now Sri Lanka church bombing on the Easter Sunday. This seems to become just a new norm: learning to cope with terror and horror which could spring from anywhere at any moment. Even if you don’t want to hear real horror in real life, the top show in town, is a new horror movie with a good box office sale. In Chinese, we say, “Boiling the frog sitting in the cold water”. Are we becoming the frogs in the heated up water as well? And how long will we sit in it waiting to be boiled until we start to scream?
I found it is very hard to let go of this heaviness and frustration in my heart triggered by what’s happening in Sri Lanka, and this has been going on since the 2016 US election. Every day I have felt the inner conflict of being with the beautiful nature, versus what’s happening in the human world. This conflict has been even more intensified and polarized recently.
What is happening in this country and in the world need no more explanation since 2016. Apart from the inner conflicts, most of us have felt the intense stress and conflicts in our personal relationships and among the social-political divisions. As a Truth seeker following the spiritual path, I knew the art of lifting myself up into higher planes, being in peace and stillness with the Buddha. I knew what could be done to calm down myself and get into the flow of work. But what can we do, when we look on the Earth plane, at the news of Sri Lanka, hear the crying of mothers who just lost their children? What can we do, when we see humanity looks like voyaging on a Titanic sinking in melting glaciers, whiles people are still occupied with arguing and fighting with each other. At a time like this, apart from praying and feeling propelled to help others, I also have asked and tried to seek the advice from heaven, from our beloved spiritual master who is the reason why Easter exists in the first place.
And this is how the following writing came through.
A Lesson on War and Peace
If you open any textbook on human history, the topic of war seems to be dashed around just as if blood splashed during a bomb attack. We seem to be so accustomed to the idea of fighting, as if killing is one of a few only solutions that progress can be made, and how messages can be heard.
Any changes will incur resistance. This is how physics works in both the material world as well as on other planes, except the resistance may feel different. On the physical plane, if you try to punch a brick wall, you will get hurt. To move the wall, you will have to start by knocking a hole, and move the pieces one by one. On the mental plane, changes happen in a more fluid way. When a new idea or thought comes, it feels more like a push against the water. You do feel the resistance as well, and the harder you push against the water, the stronger it will push back and swirl around you.
In nature, for a new sprout to grow, it has to crack its shell and make a breakthrough in the ground. New cells need to continue to grow while the old die off. It is a beautiful process that does not incur violence or destruction. When we live during the springtime, trees are sprouting, flowers are blossoming, and baby birds are chirping. That’s why we love spring after a cold and harsh winter. What nature is trying to convey to us is that new growth can be a joyful moment, rather than what we are conditioned and accustomed to thinking that war and bloodshed are the only ways for progress or removing resistance.
Although new ideas and new thoughts surely will meet resistance, just as new sprouts have to break ground and take roots into the soil, progress does not imply that the old must be removed and killed in a violent and miserable way. But rather new growth can be welcomed as if a new baby is being born, and a family will happily watch and provide the care.
In the same way, new ideas can be brought in a more joyful and peaceful manner rather than thinking of it as a fight between the old and the new. The reason why we are so conditioned to think that social progress has to be made through confrontations and wars is that in the past, people have not learned and exercised their power to seek peaceful solutions, rather than throwing themselves into attack and revenge. Although peaceful solutions have also been part of the history as well, our mind tends to only remember those more traumatic moments of war, which can arouse a great deal of emotion, fear and pain. The same thing is true for literature, documents, and films being made in the past and especially now. What feels attractive to people are those violent acts and raw emotions spewing out. This in turns leads to a distortion of the collective memory and a skewed way of looking and solving problems.
In the meantime, there is also indeed so much fear of losing what we treasured in the past, and the fear of stepping into something new and unknown. It is not the old things are necessarily worse or inferior, quite on the contrary, people love antiques because what they bring to our senses and memory. It is just the fear of the new which often holds us back and makes us feel reluctant to move into the future. Future seems to forever look like an intimidating unknown black hole rather than the solid past that we know what happened and what worked well.
This is the reason why conflicts exist especially between the old and young generations. Imagine that the senior leaders of organizations or communities want to do things in their way that they know surely worked, whiles younger folks want to experiment with new things and taking the risk. This happens all the time everywhere in the world.
It does not mean that the old ideas and established ways will have to be killed and destroyed brutally, which is what war is truly about. But it is about preference and perspectives. Unless we understand that it is the preference and perspectives that are the root cause of the differences and confrontations, we will not be able to proceed in a peaceful manner and resolve such conflicts. Again, older ideas and ways are not necessarily worse or inferior, neither new ideas and ways are necessarily better or superior, but it is just a matter of preference and perspective. Isn’t it true that, for example, the greatest social movement such as communism, didn’t bring the progress as what it was originally intended to do, but rather brought more trauma and suffering to the people? This does not mean that social progress was not achieved, quite on the contrary, a great deal of lessons was learned, though in a very costly and painful way. The question is whether such lessons need to be repeated, and can they be learnt in a more effective and peaceful manner.
If the old folks and younger generations can sit down and talk about their preferences and perspectives, negotiate and communicate in their best interest, this is how better solutions may be possible, considering a broader and more rounded perspective may be achievable. Did communist party really have to kill the landlords and those who were considered sinful owning properties in order to re-establish a new social order?
In the same way, the hourglass is about to be flipped over now in the society. Does the idea of capitalism have to be destroyed in order to bring something new? Every new step is also an experiment and implying risks, which means solutions may be safer and more feasible if all parties involved are willing to negotiate, bringing different options and unique perspectives into consideration. In such, conflicts can be resolved, and wars can be avoided. Wars and violence are ultimately not the way to solve problems, but perhaps the most costly and painful way, and the last resort to be avoided.
In addition to the struggle between the old and the new, any conflicts between two parties or among multiple parties who are involved in a power struggle and territorial fight, can be worked at in the same principle. If they are willing to talk and communicate, convey their needs and perspectives, make the other parties be able to see differently and open up their mind, even a sliver of window, then violence and attack could be avoided. If we learn to respect and appreciate different views and benefits they bring to us, then we will be making a progress towards ways of taking advantages of differences rather than treating them as enemies or threats to our existence.
Humanity overall, needs to move on to more peaceful ways of solving problems and embracing diversity, which can be far more effective than extremely costly and traumatizing wars. Nobody wants to die in a miserable way unnecessarily. Not a single soul! Peace, is a measure of the social progress and advancement of civilization. Any civilization, which has learned to resort to peace rather than war to resolve conflicts and welcome new growth, will be making progress towards its evolution.
Post Remarks
After writing the above piece, news gradually emerged that ISIS, the Islamic extremists were claiming the responsibility of this coordinate bombing, as a revenge for the New Zealand massacre. But what about the innocent lives that have been lost in Sri Lanka? Which one of them was involved in the New Zealand killing? Will extremists now find excuses to attack more innocent Muslims?
If we have not let Christ’s teaching, or the teaching of Koran sink in our heart and soul, this vicious cycle will continue, with even an escalation of violence. Do we choose peace, or do we resort to war?
How can we be actively calm and calmly active bringing peace in the troubled time as we are living now?