Is the world safer armed or disarmed? This question may incite our mind to respond with political stances and justifications, but if it is freedom we are after then this is a question that can only truly be answered by the heart. Consider the ultimate potential of maintaining arms: the destruction of perceived danger. So your enemy is dead now. His life has ended. And what about your suffering, has it ended as well?
Mahatma Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” Our hearts are often deeply drawn to simple truths that acknowledge the interconnection of all living beings. These words are easily understood by a child, but are also inarguable by the most highly educated mind. And yet, we live in a world where oftentimes simple truths are not so much argued, but rather blatantly ignored in favor of greed and hatred. The need for safety is answered with violence and separation rather than peace and unity. The fear of being destroyed leads to violent acts of self-preservation that disregard our common humanity. As we continue to see ourselves as separate, there are never ending reasons to be “for” and “against”. There are constant rationales to remain on defense and maintain arms. We naturally feel powerless and overwhelmed when considering whether civilization will ever peacefully disarm. Where is hope to be found? Where do we begin? How can we possibly make a difference against weapons of mass destruction? Images of war can take us around the world, but perhaps the most difficult path is to acknowledge the suffering and intolerance directly before us.
As individuals it seems that we are born with armed hearts. Stephen Levine likens the layers over the heart to pieces of rice paper; so thin, so frail. Yet with the passing of each day, each year, each lifetime the layers accumulate. In a world of over six billion people it is easy to see how we could have gotten where we are and difficult to see how it can be reversed.
With a childhood based in Christianity I often recall scriptures in answer to complex questions. Isaiah 2:4 says, “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” As a child this scripture brought forth images of all of mankind laying down their weapons as God’s magic arrow created a global shift in consciousness. But the Buddha’s revolutionary path puts the power in our hands. The Buddha’s teachings challenge us to set aside our weapons of protection and destruction and aim the arrow of insight directly at our own hearts. By turning inward we are able to see through the delusions of anger, greed, and ignorance which cloud our minds and convince us that we are separate and hence in danger.
Day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment we become willing to peal away the layers in search of freedom. As we learn to rest in the safety of the present moment our hearts are naturally inclined to relinquish boundaries. The confining walls of prejudice and intolerance melt into the heart of acceptance. It is in this open space of the heart that we begin to sense the interconnection and value of all life. Our joy and suffering are intertwined with that of every man, woman, and child. There is no “us” and “them.” There is only “we.” With the open heart of truth we surrender our weapons and truly experience freedom from armament and violence. As eloquently stated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, “In our struggle for freedom, truth is the only weapon we possess.”
I recently experienced how easy it is for us to give reason for separation and defense and the suffering that arises out of that response. I took a side job this summer selling merchandise at an outdoor concert series. Upon arriving at one of the shows I was encountered by a t-shirt for the performing artist that read, “PRAY FOR PEACE. PREPARE FOR WAR.”
I was stunned. I could not believe what I was seeing. Certainly I have been exposed to this country’s ruling politic, but such a brazen juxtapose of two opposing concepts was shocking. Suddenly my casual summer job turned into a political battlefield. My safe little merchandise booth of t-shirts and CDs was reason for protest. As I continued to stare at the shirt the walls began to build. The armor began to form. Intense anger and self-righteousness arose. “How dare they! I cannot be around these people! I refuse to sell this merchandise or associate with the people who would either sell or buy it!” Suddenly they were monsters and my ability to see them as fellow, suffering humans was momentarily blocked.
Of course there was the question of right livelihood in selling a shirt that propagated war, but what I really began to see was my desire to build a defense. I could not ignore my eagerness to make them separate from myself. And when you begin that process of separation, how far do you go? How long before mental weapons of anger and fear turn into physical weapons of destruction?
As I sat with my supervisors and discussed my anger the tears began to flow over the grief and fear of my younger brother’s service in Iraq as a member of the U.S. Military. As I spoke I realized that many of those buying and selling the shirts were in fear for the lives of their own family members. When I returned to my merchandise booth I vowed to approach everyone through the eyes of an open tender heart rather than the alienating fear of the mind. That night I spoke to probably a dozen individuals waiting for loved ones to return home safe and unharmed. Their fear and grief was no different than my own.
Oftentimes we are compelled to look outside of ourselves for peace and security, giving our power to outside parties. “If only the political office were different, we would experience more freedom.” Perhaps so, but would that truly provide the depth of solace which we long for or would we remain in conflict with ourselves? Would you still hang on to the self-judgment of how you raised your child or the anger towards your parents for how they raised you?
Equally necessary to seeing through the mind’s ability to separate is a commitment to nonviolence. Gandhi reflected the Buddha’s teachings with his unwavering stance for Ahimsa. To live in Ahimsa means to dwell in nonviolence and love. This is not simply a matter of discarding physical weapons, setting aside gross forms of violence that infringe upon another’s right to life, but a vow to relinquish all the ways in which we violate ourselves. We will not fully heal as individuals, communities, and nations until we are fully accepting of all aspects of our human nature. That means laying aside the weapons of self-destruction and surrendering all the ways in which we have tortured, abused, abandoned, and neglected ourselves. Living in Ahimsa means letting go of the weapons of self-blame and judgment and vowing to never pick them up again.
As we graciously acknowledge our own joy and suffering we are then able to widen the circle to each being’s right to life. As we set aside weapons of intolerance forgiveness and compassion become our tools for unveiling the heart of freedom. In his book No Future Without Forgiveness, Desmond Tutu writes, “Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language. It speaks of the very essence of being human…You share what you have. It is to say, ‘My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours.’ We belong in a bundle of life. We say, ‘A person is a person through other persons.’ It is not, ‘I think therefore I am.’ It says rather: ‘I am human because I belong. I participate, I share.’ A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed, or treated as if they were less than who they are.”
Throughout history we can find examples of individuals who find strength in nonviolence despite great torture and abuse. Jesus Christ is a profound example of a heart open to great tolerance and forgiveness even amongst grave injustice. Even as he was being mercilessly tortured and led to death he uttered the words: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” [Luke 23:34] A beautiful modern day example is that of Nelson Mandela who, after twenty-seven years of unjust imprisonment, invited his white jailer to be an honored guest at his presidential inauguration. With an open heart we are empowered to forgive in a manner that does not sweep injustice under the rug, but rather acknowledges our ability to arm and kill, as well as, our ability to return to our true nature of freedom in kindness and compassion.
As our hearts break open situations which we once found frightening become rich opportunities for connection. Rather than turning away or looking through eyes of judgment we are able to simply acknowledge the pain of the homeless man on the corner or the loud and angry youth living across the street. We see our connection to the hundreds of thousands of men and women inhabiting our prison system that society tells us we should live in fear of and separate from. Our hearts begin to understand what it is that took them there and are opened to all the ways in which their suffering is no different from our own. With fearless hearts we begin to see ways in which we can reach out and disarm our own communities.
It is the innate desire of every living being to be peaceful and free. Even when trapped in the darkest aspects of the mind. Even when we know no other way than to respond with anger and destruction we are still in search of freedom. May we acknowledge that common goal. May we learn to surrender to our interconnection and accept the simple truth that one man’s suffering is every man’s suffering. May we put down our weapons, open our hearts, and let ourselves be free.
(c) 2005 Rachel M Beals
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