Our hearts are broken open by last week's terrible acts of violence in the United States. We offer our deepest condolences to families and friends of the thousands of innocent victims of the September 11 attacks. We can only condemn such acts that defy any sense of the sacredness of all human life. There is no justification for wanton killing. In our grief, fiery images of destruction are etched upon our minds. It seems to many of us that things will never be quite the same in this country. But here in the U.S. and around the world, things never really were as they seemed. The illusion of peace and the comforts of privilege are like a thin curtain, so easily torn.

Now our leaders, elected or not, loudly beat the drums of war. It scares us. Our hope at Buddhist Peace Fellowship is that the leaders and people of our nation will pause to look deeply and think clearly before they step in time to this drumbeat.

In the tense moment between violent action and violent reaction we invoke several simple teachings of the Buddha. The first is that all beings are our family. Twenty-five hundred years ago the Buddha said "Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world; by non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is an Eternal Law." (The Dhammapada, Verse 5). This same sentiment can be found in every great spiritual tradition. In the middle of the twentieth century Gandhi put it even more concisely, "An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind." The most painful thing about this teaching is that we need to hear it at all. If we are one family - victims, perpetrators, innocent, guilty - then each of us is potentially capable of terrible and noble action. We must first taste our fear and anger, without rashly retaliating and escalating the violence. This is very hard work and we need each other's help. Then let us seek what is noble and just in even the most damaged of us.

The second principle is that each effect has its web of causes and conditions. This is the law of karma. Nations deny causality by ascribing blame to others - terrorists, rogue nations, and so on. Singling out an enemy, we short-circuit the introspection necessary to see our own karmic responsibility for the terrible acts that have befallen us. I am not justifying these acts in any way. But in the Middle East we have demonized peoples and an entire faith for many generations. At the same time we have curried favor with corrupt regimes so we might suck the oil we desperately crave from their lands. In Israel and Palestine, the legacy of colonialism and our national guilt for inaction against the holocaust has till now only fed the flames of violence between peoples. Until we own causes we bear responsibility for, in this case in the Middle East, last week's violence will make no more sense than an earthquake or cyclone, except that in its human origin it turns us toward rage and revenge.

The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti offers this teaching about the lives of Bodhisattvas, enlightening beings.

     In order to help the living beings,
     They voluntarily descend into
     The hells which are attached
     To all the inconceivable buddha-fields.

We are now in hell, and it seems we must go deeper. The events of September 11, their prelude and aftermath, are a terrible gift in our hands, a broken heart. When our hearts are broken open we may find a rare moment of opportunity. Only out of suffering comes understanding. Great suffering can turn to great compassion and beneficial action. We pray for the healing and turning of the perpetrators of these crimes whose damaged hearts and clouded minds have created vast suffering in the present and into the future. We count on the wisdom, patience, and loving kindness of the world's leaders, that they may be just and exercise restraint and care in all their actions From this day on, let us dedicate ourselves to peacefulness and non-violence so that the power of human goodness will overcome the folly and delusion of violence.

How can we become a real friend to all the world's people? Instead of brandishing and trading expensive weapons, can we share our wealth to feed the hungry, house the homeless, provide medicine for the sick, heal the wounds of war and hatred? Can we stop our own theft of the world's resources? Can we see that every human life is precious, and end our political and economic manipulation of others? Such bold steps, acts of wholesome letting go might at last bring us real security and help us find our true family, all humankind. Let us stop and breathe and step forward toward life in the midst of unimagined grief.

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