Originally Posted by
AlanLa
All those faiths had one thing in common: an entreaty to another, God, to alleviate their suffering. God was not alone in this task, but He was in charge. I am a firm believer in God because of some very powerful experiences in my life, so I have no real issue with all those faiths' entreaties. But my question is if a Buddhist priest were invited to that service (surely there are Buddhists in that community, right?), what could they offer as comfort?
We, as a natural human reaction in times like this, want that hug from another, and maybe especially The Other. It is quite normal that we feel a need for that external comfort, but providing this is not a strength of Buddhism, and maybe partly an explanation of why it is not more popular. Buddhism requires harder work, more internal reflection, and also because of my experience I embrace this heartily. But acceptance of emptiness can seem very heartless to those of other faiths in the context of such a terrible tragedy. We have Avalokitesvara, but it is so easy to make her/him a saint, just another external source of comfort instead of internalizing those actions.
I know this is an old debate, an old question, usually one I now avoid here, but this new context brings it to mind, and it seems worthy enough to reintroduce in a slightly different way:
If one had the chance, what would a Buddhist (priest) say to comfort those at Newtown?
What can one of us say to comfort without calling on the Other?