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Dear Wai,
Thank you so much for the link to www.tzuchi.org I am new to this group
this morning, and have read many postings already. All are interesting and
contribute to understanding (although I must sympathize with Anders in his
dismay at the tone), but this is by far the most useful thing I have
found. I have added it to my favorites list, and will contact my local
chapter today. I believe in Tich Nhat Hahn's vision of "engaged Buddhism"
and am always joyful to find an opportunity. Thank you again. Peace
and enlightenment to all of my new friends here at Zen Forum.
Kathleen Knight (abodhi2b)
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2004 4:38
AM
Subject: Re: [Zen] Zen in The Middle
East?
Hi Al
I've communicated with you several times and
I've found that you can
actually be a nice and thoughtful person, and I've
learnt much from
you too. So what happened to you? Why are you so
testy? It's
especially not too exemplary for a moderator.
Or is
your testiness meant to encourage participation? Quite
successful though,
I must admit. :-)
There is a Saddam, Hitler, Stalin or terrorist in
each of us. There
is also a Mother Theresa in each of us. So we are either
be a Mother
Theresa in the making or a Saddam in the making, depending on
whether
or not we develop wisdom and compassion. If we continue to indulge
in
vengeful attitudes, we can very well become a future Saddam in a
future lifetime. If we practise kindness, we can potentially become a
future Mother Theresa.
Judging by recent posts, it seems that there are
more manifestations
of Saddam than Mother Theresa. If we continue to be
vengeful towards
each other, you can forget about helping the Middle East
now, because
there will be many more future Saddams to reckon with. So
it's
imperative that we get rid of the Saddam in each of us now.
If
we can't even do a basic thing such as being kind towards fellow
posters
in this forum, I seriously wonder how sincere is our intent
when we say we
want to help the Middle East people. It's just pure
hypocrisy. So the most
immediate that we can do, without having to
even lift a finger, not to
mention travelling the distance to Middle
East, is to get rid of the
Saddam in each of us. If we can't even do
this one simple thing, we can
forget about all the empty talk of
helping the Middle East. Social reform
actually starts with self-
reform.
AL wrote> The DaLai Lama was
recently here in Miami amid much
> fanfare, selling his DVDs, videos,
cassettes, and making various
> speeches at various local Arenas and
Convocation Halls. None of the
> events were free, and there were no
"free passes" for students of
> any age. Dolly had a lot to say about
World Peace, but it is
> interesting to notice that his
multi-millionaire ass is always far
> away from where bullets and
bloodshed and poverty exist.
I think we should do a cost-benefit
analysis before deciding on
whether or not the Dalai Lama should be in the
Middle East. Do you
think having him there would benefit the Arabs much?
Do you think the
Arabs would listen to him? I seriously doubt so. In fact,
for the
Dalai Lama to go to Middle East and endanger his own life would be
a
most irresponsible thing for him to do. Given his influence and
stature, and the inspiration that he is to most Buddhists, he should
prolong his life to teach as many people as possible, to prevent as
many future Saddams and nurture as many Mother Theresas.
For the same
reason, I do not think that Mother Theresa, if still
alive, should be in
Middle East. Moreover, if she were to be killed
in Middle East, the enmity
between Muslims and Christians can only
become worse.
A local Imam or
Mullah would undoubtedly do a better job of preaching
peace or pacifism
than would the Dalai Lama. And even then, I do not
think that they should
risk their lives unnecessarily.
> Where are the Zen and/or Buddhist
Soup Kitchens? Where is the
> Buddhist Mother Theresa who is actively
in the trenches helping the
> poor and the sick? Where is the social
work for the benefit of
> others?
There are actually Buddhist
groups out there doing charity work, one
good example is Tzu Chi
Foundation (http://www.tzuchi.org).
Many
buddhist groups are also doing prayers and chanting, and sending
and
dedicating the positive energy towards a more peaceful Middle
East. Do you
happen to believe in prayers and
chanting?
wai
Noble Eightfold Path: Right View,
Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Effort, Right
Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Livelihood
Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Livelihood
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