War

I was listening to a report on the war between Israel and Hamas/Palestinians. The reporter indicated some political entities thought there should be war crime charges levied toward Israel and/or Hamas. I thought this was a strange thing. How is it possible to assign war crime charges when war itself is a crime? This is like saying a murderer is only responsible for the way they killed, not the killing itself.

If we look into our own mind, it is easy to see how war arises. It is simply a consequence of attachment and aversion, desire and hatred. When we believe we have a right to control our circumstances based on ego grasping or political ideology (same thing), we experience an attack of ‘otherism’ in which we assign someone the blame for our personal or political discontent. We think if we obliterate the ‘other’ we can have happiness. Does that ever work?

When we fail to resolve the wars raging in our own minds, we will continue to blame our suffering on ‘others’. We have the ridiculous notion it is possible to settle our discontent by throwing a few bombs. Think of the expletives we have thrown at a driver who is weaving in and out of traffic. There is little difference between bombs and expletives when it comes to the mind. It is just a matter of the level of outer violence.

Our responsibility is to look into the nature of our thoughts—how they arise and take life. We also investigate the nature of suffering and its cause. When we understand all suffering arises from thoughts of separateness, the illusion of self and ‘other’, we become humble and more compassionate. What is the use of causing suffering for others to deal with our own suffering? 

War, huh, yeah, what is it good for? Absolutely nothin’! Say it again…🎶