In a press release issued on Dec 19 after the shooting in Newton, Conn., New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg stated that 34 Americans fall victim to gun violence every day. They are our parents, children, friends, neighbors, and our police officers, managers, teachers – perhaps indirectly we all know someone who has met a violent end. Every death tears a hole in the intricate network of relationships that unites us.
The Buddha taught that from birth, each of us has an instinctive gentleness towards others – a desire to protect those around us from harm and a willingness to make sacrifices to help even strangers.
Cultivating and nurturing this love gives meaning to our short lives. Yet looking within ourselves we also find our innate self-focus. This self-awareness is a sense that we exist apart from others.
Rather than being a negative factor, it is this very self-focus that enables us to feel empathy because it is the basis for our common humanity.
It is only because we experience suffering first hand that we generate the motivation to eliminate the suffering of others. As a nation, we deeply mourn the loss of the 20 school children and their teachers at Sandy Hook because of this deep seated connection.
In contrast, many believe that human nature is malevolent, so we need to guard ourselves from others.
We invest in many defense systems ranging from security systems, door locks, firewalls, antivirus software, passwords, all the way to what some consider the ultimate protection – possessing guns.
Some own guns based on the conviction that the world will end and we need guns in order to survive. Others feel that guns are necessary to stand up against a tyrannical government, or to rid society of undesirable people.
The underlying rationale is the need for protection against an external threat, an outside enemy who intends to injure us.
In response the to the Sandy Hook shooting, Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Association advocated for putting armed police officers in every school in America.
More guns, however, is not the solution. Instead as a society we need to address the underlying causes of violence in our nation.
Likewise, we need to tone down the violence in the entertainment industry so that our children do not grow up thinking that aggression is an acceptable means of resolving problem.
Violence breeds more violence, today's killers may be tomorrow's victims.
According to the Buddha's teaching about karma, actions always have related consequences.
Murder is a misdeed because it harms others and the result is that the killer will experience tremendous suffering in the future and may even die in a similar manner. As such, all guns should be illegal as they only serve one purpose – to end lives.
Continued
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...b63_story.html
The Buddha taught that from birth, each of us has an instinctive gentleness towards others – a desire to protect those around us from harm and a willingness to make sacrifices to help even strangers.
Cultivating and nurturing this love gives meaning to our short lives. Yet looking within ourselves we also find our innate self-focus. This self-awareness is a sense that we exist apart from others.
Rather than being a negative factor, it is this very self-focus that enables us to feel empathy because it is the basis for our common humanity.
It is only because we experience suffering first hand that we generate the motivation to eliminate the suffering of others. As a nation, we deeply mourn the loss of the 20 school children and their teachers at Sandy Hook because of this deep seated connection.
In contrast, many believe that human nature is malevolent, so we need to guard ourselves from others.
We invest in many defense systems ranging from security systems, door locks, firewalls, antivirus software, passwords, all the way to what some consider the ultimate protection – possessing guns.
Some own guns based on the conviction that the world will end and we need guns in order to survive. Others feel that guns are necessary to stand up against a tyrannical government, or to rid society of undesirable people.
The underlying rationale is the need for protection against an external threat, an outside enemy who intends to injure us.
In response the to the Sandy Hook shooting, Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Association advocated for putting armed police officers in every school in America.
More guns, however, is not the solution. Instead as a society we need to address the underlying causes of violence in our nation.
Likewise, we need to tone down the violence in the entertainment industry so that our children do not grow up thinking that aggression is an acceptable means of resolving problem.
Violence breeds more violence, today's killers may be tomorrow's victims.
According to the Buddha's teaching about karma, actions always have related consequences.
Murder is a misdeed because it harms others and the result is that the killer will experience tremendous suffering in the future and may even die in a similar manner. As such, all guns should be illegal as they only serve one purpose – to end lives.
Continued
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...b63_story.html
