A message from a friend:
Whats the possibility of you two moving back to the USA? At least out of the way of North Korea’s ballistic and long range missile range. I fear that Japan will see a lot of violence if the situation keeps escalating.
Thanks for the concern. Akiko and I will stay here, though. Please don’t worry for us too much!
The problem with this kind of potential violence is it is a WORLD problem – a problem for all of humanity – and not just something for Japan and the neighboring countries to deal with. It seems more immediate for us because it is physically so close, but that does not remove the responsibility from every human being to end this violence within themselves.
Violence is, of course, a human problem. Not a nationalistic problem, religious problem, social problem, but a human problem. It is true, this violence is born from nationalistic separation, religious separation, social separation, and so on. But these systems of separation will never be able to conquer this problem they have created.
The ‘cure’ for violence is beyond its system of creation. So the responsibility is that of every human being on this beautiful planet, and the solution will not be found in another system.
This separation can only be dealt with on the individual level, if I can put it that way. It is for you, and you alone. Others may talk about it or point to it, but in the end, it will be your courage and curiosity that takes you all the way to the end.
The human race has never been away from the shadow of war. But this violence does not have to continue within any of us.
5 Comments
“The ‘cure’ for violence is beyond its system of creation.”
Beautiful.
Gandhi said be the change you want to see in the world.
That is right!
Some people hear that phrase and say, “Yes, I am going to be that change,” and then struggle to force that into their lives without taking a moment to see the violence in their struggle.
For those that are the change, it is a natural extension, or perhaps we could say, a natural functioning with no struggle to change what one is.
This clarity must come from the inside, and not from the stacking up of outward strategies.
It is interesting to see how loud this voice is. If we read the newspaper or watch the news, chat with co-workers, or read some of the “joke” emails people send around, the message that dominates is how bad it is, what we should fear, and who is to blame. That’s the downside to any system – as soon as there is some idea of “other”, there is something to make wrong or blame. And if they are at fault, it is easy to justify hate and more.
There is a blindness to it as well. In North America, we celebrate Remembrance Day so it will never happen again. But it has and continues to.
The key is to stop believing this message. And the way to stop believing it is to experience it’s not true. To find that peace for yourself, in yourself.
Great post – I would only disagree with the 2nd to last sentence. We have been without a shadow of war. But not for a very long time.
The ‘remembrance’ you mention is interesting. People may say it is to keep it from happening again, but it is held closely in a different way.
We hold this remembrance to justify the continuation of violence. The remembrance is held to provide the right and wrong, or maybe it is more accurate to say, to prove that right and wrong is a good response to the action, whatever it may be.
There are some humans that have ‘gone beyond’ this superficial thinking. They have seen this in all things, and not just with a small portion of human activity. They are not here to provide answers necessarily, but their very existence may be a hint of what is to come.
But it has always been this way; the many who follow the stream (including the leaders), and the one that is not even a part of it all, for lack of a better phrase.
Some would say that such events are to honor the courage of those who served to maintain certain liberties, and all courage, in my view, should be honored. But I find myself asking, specifically in regards to 9/11, if the more courageous course would have been NOT to go to war.
Another way of looking at these remembrances is that they are a means to prevent healing of old, and new, wounds so that we may use them to judge others, to glory in our victim hood and be morally superior. “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” I marvel at how much wisdom and societal guidance is contained in those ten little words.
An external war can only emanate from an internal one.
Once again, I have said nothing.