war
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Weapons are tools of ill omen
Wielded by the ignorant.
If their use is unavoidable.
The wise act with restraint.
The greatest sorrow is to be a veteran,
witness to the atrocities of humanity.
If you hold a
real weapon in your hand, you will feel its character strongly. It begs
to be used. It is fearsome. Its only purpose is death, and its power is
not just in the material from which it is made but also from the
intention of its makers.
It is
regrettable that weapons must sometimes be used, but occasionally,
survival demands it. The wise go forth with weapons only as a last
resort. They never rejoice in the skill of weapons, nor do they glorify
war.
When death,
pain, and destruction are visited upon what you hold to be most sacred,
the spiritual price is devastating. What hurts more than one's own
suffering is bearing witness to the suffering of others. The regret of
seeing human beings at their worst and the sheer pain of not being able
to help the victims can never be redeemed. If you go personally to war,
you cross the line yourself. You sacrifice ideals for survival and the
fury of killing. That alters you forever. That is why no one rushes to
be a veteran. Think before you want to change so unalterably. The
stakes are not merely one's life, but one's very humanity.
war
365 Tao
Deng Ming-Dao
daily meditations
my favorite "sitting duck" cartoon
by Bedard
from the Village Voice
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today's meditation comes on a day when war is ravaging a world
stage. if you would like to see a few pages that have been
composed showing the emotions of war (not the gore or the torture) you
might wish to visit the following sites:
a world weeps
a world watches
a world protests
coming home
http://www.duckdaotsu.org/world_weeps.html
http://www.duckdaotsu.org/world_watches.html
http://www.duckdaotsu.org/world_protests.html
http://www.duckdaotsu.org/coming_home_mainhub.html
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