Violence in Our Lives
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
With palms together
Good Morning All,
It is early. My alarm and I woke at the same time, 5:00 AM. Today is our monthly zazenkai and, as always, I am looking forward to a day of serene reflection meditation. This month, however, we will address violence. How does violence manifest within us?
We rarely think of ourselves as violent people. Yet, violence of a sort is in our every breath. Each step we take across the grass in the park, regardless of the care we use, is crushing to whatever is beneath our feet. We kill flies and roaches without a thought to their lives, we eat animals and plants which are killed because of our needs. We consider violence as we drive, as we argue, as we watch the television or go to the movies.
Violence is so close to us that we don't even see it.
Some things, some actions, touch us in ways that trigger a considered need for violence. The assault of a friend or loved one. An attack on our nation. Someone giving us "the finger".
As this trigger is squeezed, it is up to us how we respond. Yet this is already too late! There are things we should do even before this. We must discover the triggers. We must discover the conditions within which violence has the potential to manifest. And we should then take preemptive steps to eliminate them in the first place.
What are such steps? It really depends, does it not, on the triggers? This is the work in front of us.
If we really want to eliminate violence within us, then we must be willing to recognize that violence, our prejudices, our dislikes, our fears, our memories. In short, we must be willing to identify and then eliminate the filters we use to understand our world.
It will be a challenging day, I'm sure.
Be well.
Good Morning All,
It is early. My alarm and I woke at the same time, 5:00 AM. Today is our monthly zazenkai and, as always, I am looking forward to a day of serene reflection meditation. This month, however, we will address violence. How does violence manifest within us?
We rarely think of ourselves as violent people. Yet, violence of a sort is in our every breath. Each step we take across the grass in the park, regardless of the care we use, is crushing to whatever is beneath our feet. We kill flies and roaches without a thought to their lives, we eat animals and plants which are killed because of our needs. We consider violence as we drive, as we argue, as we watch the television or go to the movies.
Violence is so close to us that we don't even see it.
Some things, some actions, touch us in ways that trigger a considered need for violence. The assault of a friend or loved one. An attack on our nation. Someone giving us "the finger".
As this trigger is squeezed, it is up to us how we respond. Yet this is already too late! There are things we should do even before this. We must discover the triggers. We must discover the conditions within which violence has the potential to manifest. And we should then take preemptive steps to eliminate them in the first place.
What are such steps? It really depends, does it not, on the triggers? This is the work in front of us.
If we really want to eliminate violence within us, then we must be willing to recognize that violence, our prejudices, our dislikes, our fears, our memories. In short, we must be willing to identify and then eliminate the filters we use to understand our world.
It will be a challenging day, I'm sure.
Be well.