Sunday Stream (37) ~ Killing

[mtmynd]

I was struck by a Zen koan I read on killing -

"Gasan instructed his adherents one day: 'Those who speak against killing and who desire to spare the lives of all conscious beings are right. It is good to protect even animals and insects. But what about those persons who kill time, what about those who are destroying wealth, and those who destroy political economy? We should not overlook them. Furthermore, what of the one who preaches without enlightenment? He is killing Buddhism.'"

Given the political times we are living in I immediately equated thhis koan with what is going on in our government. Is not the current President killing truth, destroying the National Treasury and even destroying religion... not necessarily Christianity, although that is arguable. Take wars... they not only kill people but destroy the beauty of cities, towns and the countryside of wherever war is waged, not to mention people's faith and love.

Killing is an act that does not benefit the mind of a killer, whether it be an individual or a collective group of like-minded people. Killing always involves at least two. Even with suicide one is killing that which is destroying their inner peace and understanding.

Killing is a two-fold act that requires a killer and a victim. But when one is involved in killing, even for the national good, there is something that goes awry in the majority of those that have killed. Some may reach a level of peace within in a relatively short period of time, while others may live with the effects for the rest of their lives... but killing will destroy inner peace.

"Thou shalt not kill" is a Biblical commandment. In Buddhism there is the Eight-Fold Noble Path within which is "Correct actions: avoid killing, (stealing and sexual misconduct)". I trust that within any honest religion there is a taboo towards killing... it would only make perfect sense.

So what does society do with those that kill? Should the killer in turn be killed? A great social question for many countries... U.S. included. I have had disagreements with myself in contemplating this very problem - the serial killers... are their minds so broken that it would be the honorable thing to do..? Or should society just lock them away even from others not so sick for their lifetime..? This I still feel might be the better alternative than killing the serial killer. Maybe in their solitude they will reach an answer within as to why they did kill in multiples. If they learned the answer to their behavior over a period of time and they were to live, even for a day or week, a month or a year, before they parted this life, they may be better prepared for their next life. Or they may learn nothing and when they leave this life they will return to learn their lessons that they should have learned in this life all over again. This way of thinking does involve acceptance in reincarnation, which not many within our society can accept, and that is why there is such a strong revenge factor involved in punishment. Those that have the revenge factor are without compassion.

Oddly enough, compassion, in a social sense, is often equated with a level of cowardice, even though in Christianity it is written to "turn the other cheek". That way of seeing is false and many do not grasp the power of compassion and so the unenlightened continue to interpret the spiritual, therefore killing the very message that is the basis of all religions. (see original story)

The truly compassionate cannot kill. The truly compassionate does not have the desire to kill. Not only is killing a wrongful act, but it is plain stupid for the compassionate. It is an act devoid of wisdom of any kind.

Can compassion conquer the sickness of a killer? It would require patience and patience is in abundance with the fully compassionate. Compassion is the sword that can cut through ignorance and reveal the light of understanding behind the veil of illusion.

If human history is fact, and it is... warring is human's desire for survival. We are not only at war with our own kind, but we war against dis-ease, we war against poverty, we war against hunger, we war against ignorance, but compassion must be the other half included in the battles. We do not fight a forest fire by setting another forest fire, we do not fight floods by flooding our own homes. Killing and compassion must find a balance in order to ensure that we do not become the victims of our own killing, but to find the bliss of existence. It is our gift... one that requires our own opening.

[enough]


Cecil
03 July 2005

Goldenwall... where the fireworks are eternal and celebration is infinite

[hester_prynne]

Killers who read this might call you a sissy Cec, but I say you are among the bravest....for voicing these words.
Shout it from the rooftops.

A fine, strong and refreshing stream Cec, as usual.
I thank you.

H

[Zlatko Waterman]

As usual, mtmynd, you've written a thoughtful and calm meditation. I wouldn't presume to tamper with your central theme: compassion as an alternative to killing.

But the idea of justice and Hammurabi's Law-- or the principles evinced in EXODUS 21:23-25 quickly and popularly summarized as "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth", works out in a more intricate fashion, once Hammurabi's full code is studied:

http://eawc.evansville.edu/anthology/hammurabi.htm


and advocates what we today would certainly judge an overly-generous use of the death penalty.

The same is true of most analyses of EXODUS, or LEVITICUS:

http://www.benisrael.org/articles/Eye%2 ... 0Tooth.htm


The little essay just cited above refers to "the moral sanity of the planet." How can anyone, even God, be responsible for that, it asks.

Contemporary police strategies involving lawbreakers who barricade themselves with hostages often engage females as negotiators, partly on the presumption that lower testosterone levels result in less violent, revengeful behavior. The masculine mode might be to storm the barricade and take the suspects at whatever cost.

Females are increasingly preferred to males for all sorts of negotiations, including legal, business and military:


www.negotiatormagazine.com/NEGMAGGENDER.doc


A recent case of this kind involved a barricade here in Los Angeles, safely and successfully negotiated by female officers without anyone, even the gunman, getting hurt seriously.

The urge to kill for retaliation or retribution is very strong among males, part of the male "macho" code many experience in their upbringing.

Compassion shows weakness, we learn, and only conquest and domination matter. Death stops the offender from pressing forward with his oppression. In connection with this "principle",I heard some family victims in the Oklahoma City bombing shortly before the McVey execution say: "The important thing right now is to get McVey into the ground. Then we can talk about other things."

The intent was FIRST: Enact vengeance SECOND: Think through the other "details", such as how to deal with the grief over McVey's actions.

At the end of "The Bridge on the River Kwai", screenwriter Robert Bolt has his character (Col. Nicholson) repeat, "Madness, madness . . ." as he stumbles forward, the wreckage of the bridge symbolizing his men's unswerving pursuit of honor and their own style of justice in smoking ruins around him.

Here is a brief comment on the film's website:

(paste)

The Bridge on the River Kwai is a superb Prisoner of War movie. Set in World War II Thailand, it's a monumental test of wills between two equally driven officers, one on either side. Colonel Nicholson (deftly played by Alec Guinness) is dogmatic and rigid, refusing to give an inch to the demands of the Japanese. Colonel Saito is desperate. The bridge he is assigned to complete is far behind schedule. All prisoners must work, including the officers. But Nicholson won't have that. It's a violation of the rules -- and so begins the conflict between the two.
Saito, who firmly believes in the Japanese samurai code of honor, sees the prisoners as disgraced by the surrender. Yet Nicholson refuses to be broken and, in fact, triumphs in the test of wills. He then proceeds to build a better bridge than the enemy could have ever envisioned.
Guinness as Nicholson is at his very best. Sessue Hayakawa as Saito is also first rate, as is the rest of the cast. This film is a wonderful depiction of the triumph of the human spirt in the madness of war.

(end paste)


Those interested in reading further about this fine depiction of a central theme involved in the madness of war, or who perhaps haven't seen this first-rate 1957 film yet, may wish to view its website:


http://www.historyinfilm.com/kwai/


The madness of the US government and the Bush administration in pursuing what, for public consumption, they identify as the "higher purposes" of their Iraq war seem chillingly familiar, for we heard them intoned last over the Vietnam War:

Liberation, Emancipation
The Triumph of Justice
Economic Prosperity
Self-Determination

A brief comparison of the two-- Vietnam and Iraq:


http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0703-20.htm


Whether compassion-- for example an understanding of the "insurgents'" or "rebels'" point of view based on an understanding of the US's wrongdoing in their part of the world-- our relentless support for Israel in their bloodiest and most murderous reprisals, for instance-- whether compassion, I say, will suffuse current negotiations or not, remains to be seen.

Certainly the US under the Bush administration has pursued the macho "go it alone" ( in spite of the laughable claim of 30 nations in support of our "cause"), "never relent", "till hell freezes over" philosophy.

Whether the killing in Iraq stops soon or not will depend on many things, but, sadly perhaps, probably not depend heavily on the degree of compassion either the suicide bombers or the US military possess for their "enemy."



Zlatko

[Artguy]

Wisdom of the hunter, not the new hunter with his prey in the sites of his high powered rifle .....but the primitive hunter giving homage to the life that gives life.....

[Arcadia]

thanks for the stream, cecil!. I´ll read it more carefully later (no internet at home these days, bill problems).
saludos,

Arcadia

[mtmynd]

Thank you kindly, Hes' !! But bravery in writiing may be a bit inflated... afterall I only streamed.

Z - thank you for your words and links. There is some serious reading in these links and I shall devote more time when I have some to spare. It seems during my days of 'semi-retirement' that time is more difficult to spare... something that surprises me altho I've heard it said before.

Yes, artguy, the compassionate hunter knows the cycle of life depends upon death to continue. Thanks!

Y Arcadia... demaciado problemas are born de dinero... mucho tiempos, no?

[mnaz]

If human history is fact, and it is... warring is human's desire for survival. We are not only at war with our own kind, but we war against dis-ease, we war against poverty, we war against hunger, we war against ignorance, but compassion must be the other half included in the battles. We do not fight a forest fire by setting another forest fire, we do not fight floods by flooding our own homes. Killing and compassion must find a balance in order to ensure that we do not become the victims of our own killing, but to find the bliss of existence. It is our gift... one that requires our own opening.

[enough]


Cecil

03 July 2005

Goldenwall... where the fireworks are eternal and celebration is infinite

We do not set a fire to fight another fire.... that is, unless you are the predominant form of US foreign policy, particularly over the last forty years....

Great read, Cecil...
Much truth to be found, here.

[mtmynd]

Thanks, em-naz... nice seeing you about. Appreciate the words!

[mnaz]

Yeah, Cecil....

I haven't been around much, not that I haven't wanted to drop by.
Computer time is at quite a premium for me, these days. I'm looking forward to getting my own computer back on line, so I can satisfy this habit of mine more often....

[mnaz]

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[mnaz]

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[mnaz]

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[mtmynd]

yeah, em-naz... you seem to have utilized your post button quite well...

when you headin' down Phar Lepht way...? The tequila is still good.