SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: The Wise Response to Terror - Staying Calm -

[Jundo]

http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/keep-calm-and-stop-the-terror.png

If I may offer a viewpoint that may sound a little cold at first hearing ...

One of the primary tools we have to respond to "terrorism" is, as best we can, not to feel "terrified" and not to overly react. I know that is hard, and not our usual way.

For example, 911 was a great horror, with thousands killed. This is true. However, it immediately led to the news media and politicians amplifying the event 100,000 fold, showing the images again and again for months and years, scaring people with "this is the end" screaming headlines, not to mention the wars which followed. We ourselves magnified the event and made it endlessly worse beyond the horror it was, thus handing the terrorists "terror" beyond their wildest dreams. The more we were afraid and reacted so, the more the 911 attack was a success for the perpetrators.

It also led to our own alienation, divisions in society, our children being afraid. My friend Daizan wrote today, "It serves the interests of extremists to deepen alienation between Muslim and non-Muslim people. It's a good day to hug a Muslim friend and smile for a Muslim neighbor." We must show the people who wish to rip our societies apart that it has only worked to bring us closer together.

The real "enemy" here is human hate, violence, divisive thinking, and the fear in our hearts.

The smartest reaction by a society would be to take whatever security and police action is necessary to respond, but otherwise say "is that so?" and turn the other cheek and get on with life. Then the terrorists fail. I know that doing so would take a level of responsibility and maturity probably beyond the media, politicians and average citizens in western democracies right now.

Let us sit and offer Metta for all victims of war and violence ... and keep calm.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05JFIYFiUp0

[Mp]

Thank you Jundo ... this is a good reminder. gassho2

Gassho
Shingen

#sattoday

[Andrew]

Good thought, thank you, Jundo.
Metta for the people of France.
In Gassho,
Andrew
I sat today.

[Sozan]

Thank you Jundo. As in Zazen, recognizing what has happened and letting it go, can help to focus the mind. Then acting from this calm place can help yourself and those you touch.

Metta for all victims of violence

Gassho,
John

s@2day.

[Jiken]

May we all be free from overreaction and help each other to practice calmness, wisdom and love in this time of desperate need

Gassho,

Jiken


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[SoR]

Thank you for your teaching, Jundo.

-Sam

#SatToday

[Jakuden]

Yes, sometimes deliberately backing away from excessive attachment and reactivity could seem cold, but this helps to understand why it is really just the necessary pathway to peace. Something else that suddenly makes sense, thank you so much Jundo for your wise perspective. No more reacting to hate with more hate! It is really difficult to be on social media right now and watch the escalation of "pro-us" and "anti-them" rhetoric.

Gassho,
Sierra
SatToday

[CK732]

Thank you Jundo.

Gassho

Clarisse Sat2Day


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[Jishin]

Hi,

I haven't watched the news in 5 years. It has helped my state of mind which in turn helps the state of mind of others around me and far away via the domino effect. This is my response to terror.

Gasho, Jishin, _/st\_

[Seido]

Now is the time to practice great meta to all, including the attackers. If they felt the love and compassion of the world, they wouldn't want to hurt people.

Gassho,
Ken
SatToday

[Kyotai]

Thank you Jundo

Gassho, Kyotai
sat today

[Washin]

Thank you for this talk Jundo.

Gassho
Sergey
ST

[Theophan]

Thanks Jundo
Metta

Gassho
Theophan
Sat Today

[adrianbkelly]

_/\_

Ade

Sat today


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[Jyukatsu]

Thank you Jundo. Hurt people hurt.....meditation heals; it heals us so we can heal others.
Marina sat today

[Kakunen]

合掌


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[Ugrok]

Today, while i was walking in Paris with mourning people around me, who went to put flowers on the places where people got killed two nights ago, i wondered : what if we really, as a society, without exception, all practiced total "non doing" about these attacks ? It's like a science fiction scenario, but i wonder what it would change. For example : no reaction in the media, no reaction from anyone, just people keeping on as if nothing happened. Of course it is impossible, but for the sake of imagination, what would happen ? I think thoses terrorist attacks would stop. Because there is no point in doing that if nobody cares.

It's also because we are so hurt by this that those attacks make sense for those who commit them. If we lived in a society that did not fear life nor death, for ourselves or the others, anymore, things like that would never happen, i thought. I know it's stupid to think like this, of course, as no one can stay without reaction in front of this ; but i still think that the less we react, the better it is...


PS : sci fi scenario aside, parisians are just GREAT. There is no hate, no screaming, no shouting. Just people calmly mourning and walking through the streets ; and people drinking and eating in the bars as if nothing happened.

[Tb]

Hi.

Thank you.
A good talk, especially in these times.

I just got this quote on FB:

Hatred cannot be stopped by hatred.
Violence should not be responded to with violence.
The only way out of violence and conflict is for us to embrace the practice of peace, to think and act with compassion, love, and understanding.

- Thich Nhat Hanh, in "Creating True Peace: Ending Violence in Yourself, Your Family, Your Community, and the World".


Thank you for your practice.

Mtfbwy
Fugen

#Sat2day

[TimF]

I have often thought that when there is a mass shooting here in the States, that media should not talk about the shooter. I believe that the more we talk about the shooter, the more someone else that is thinking of committing such a terrible act will be inclined to do so. In the case of terror, I also believe that applies. Give no one "credit"...reflect and focus instead on the victims and their families.

Gassho,
Tim

Sat today

[Myosha]

Hello,

Thanks to all for wisdom.


Gassho
Myosha sat today

[Doshin]

Thank you Jundo.

Gassho

Randy
sattoday

[Deirdre]

Thank you for this. In the midst of all of the reflexive reactions out there (I feel like many are simply re-playing the same script each time), it was wonderful to hear this wisdom and perspective.

Gassho,

- Deirdre
sat2day

[martyrob]

I give a link here:

hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/

From a commentator who's politics I couldn't be further away from in a newspaper which has consistently sought to incite the worst atavistic responses in its readership and yet here gives a measured and thoughtful repost to all those base instincts. I'm truly shocked that I have underestimated Peter Hitchens for so long. I don't read social media or the tabloids so I don't know what's going on out there but, if you're inclined to read it, this article shows that there are voices of reason and moderation which might give us hope that others share our values of calm thoughtfulness.

Martyn

Sat today

[Jakuden]

Wow! Yes the voice of reason coming from a most unexpected place.

Gassho,
Sierra
SatToday

[Risho]

Thank you Jundo -- gassho2

Thanks for the link Martyn!

Gassho,

Risho
-sattoday

[tlap]

Thank you, Jundo, for this lesson.

I have faith in the people of Paris to carry on in the face of sorrow, just as New Yorkers carried on after 9/11. It's the political opportunists of all different stripes that will whip people into a frenzy. Best that we focus on the small acts of lovingkindness that sustain everyone and anchor the normalcy.

Let me recall the important images that I remember from 9/11. As we were walking uptown from lower Manhattan, there was a woman in Chinatown who was handing out flat shoes to women who were struggling along in their high heeled city pumps...the people lined up at the hospital to donate blood...the mission in the Bowery that put all their chairs outside so people could rest, and kept urging everyone to stop and eat some pasta. This is all I will say about that day, because this is all that is worth remembering.

The media does not share those images, because they are too much about keeping calm in the face of terror.

Gassho
Trish
sat today

[Ongen]

Thank you.

Gasho
Ongen
Sat today

[Byokan]

The real "enemy" here is human hate, violence, divisive thinking, and the fear in our hearts.

Thank you Jundo gassho2

Gassho
Lisa
sat today

[Jika]

gassho1

[Washin]

The real "enemy" here is human hate, violence, divisive thinking, and the fear in our hearts.

If I may, here's the link to a good article by Barbara O'Brien I've just read on facebook.

http://buddhism.about.com/od/Living-A-Buddhist-Life/fl/What-the-Buddha-Taught-About-Terrorism.htm

Gassho
Sergey
sat-today

[Byokan]

If I may, here's the link to a good article by Barbara O'Brien I've just read on facebook.

http://buddhism.about.com/od/Living-A-Buddhist-Life/fl/What-the-Buddha-Taught-About-Terrorism.htm

Gassho
Sergey
sat-today

Thanks for the link, Sergey, that's a great article :encouragement:

Gassho
Lisa
sat today

[Kyonin]

Thank you Jundo.

Very important talk for all of us who feel sad for all that's happening.

Lets keep calm indeed.

Gassho,

Kyonin
#SatToday

[Jundo]

Thanks for the link, Sergey, that's a great article :encouragement:

Gassho
Lisa
sat today

http://buddhism.about.com/od/Living-A-Buddhist-Life/fl/What-the-Buddha-Taught-About-Terrorism.htm

Yes, wonderful. Thank you for the link, Sergey.

Gassho, J

SatToday

[Mp]

If I may, here's the link to a good article by Barbara O'Brien I've just read on facebook.

http://buddhism.about.com/od/Living-A-Buddhist-Life/fl/What-the-Buddha-Taught-About-Terrorism.htm

Gassho
Sergey
sat-today

Thank you for this share Sergey. =)

Gassho
Shingen

#sattoday

[Matt]

Thank you for this teaching, Jundo.

Deep bows,
Matt
#SatToday

[Jeremy]

If I may, here's the link to a good article by Barbara O'Brien I've just read on facebook.

http://buddhism.about.com/od/Living-A-Buddhist-Life/fl/What-the-Buddha-Taught-About-Terrorism.htm

Gassho
Sergey
sat-today
Thanks for the link - very nice article. I tend to like articles by Barbara O'Brien a lot.

My response to stuff like this is to do some armchair pontificating with my wife. We try to figure out what such acts mean to those who did them, individually and as members of a group. If we get to the conclusion that they're 'deluded', we start to look at the ways we ourselves and our society are 'deluded'. That can go on for a long time :)

step lightly... stay free...
Jeremy
st

[Jakugan]

thank you Jundo

Gassho

simon
sat2day

[Getchi]

Thankyou Jundo.

Not to trivialise, but today my 4 year old told me during a tantrum that he was "going to throw me outside in teh bin".

I told him "then I would hug you and love you and we'd both be in the bin".

Instant calm, then a hug.


Geoff
SaToday

-remaining calm.

[Jundo]

Ah, you see, the terrorists really are killing us ... just not how we think they are ...

Recent study shows terrorism concerns may affect our health

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/recent-study-shows-terrorism-concerns-may-affect-our-health/

Gassho, J

SatToday