Amidst all the news reports of the continuing and growing violence that grips the Middle East, a song I learned in 5th grade chorus keeps popping into my head.
Aggression -- whether you start it or I respond to it -- is the key. This is one of the central ideas behind the martial arts, how to turn someone's aggression onto itself to negate it. It is also a key element in the philosophy of pacificism. One person's aggression does not cause an aggressive response.
If nothing else, it's something to think about...particularly today.
Let peace begin with each of us.
Copyrighted Lyrics for “Let There Be Peace on Earth”Yes, it's simplistic. Yes, it's a bit pollyanna. And yet, there is a universal truth in its simplicity. Wars can't be fought if no one strikes back!
By Jill Jackson and Sy Miller
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me;
Let there be peace on earth,
The peace that was meant to be.
With God as our Father
Brothers all are we,
Let me walk with my brother
In perfect harmony.*
Let peace begin with me,
Let this be the moment now;
With every step I take,
Let this be my solemn vow:
To take each moment and live each moment
In peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.
*Copyrighted alternate lyric:
With God our Creator
(His) Children all are we,
Let us walk with each other
In perfect harmony
Copyright 1955 by Jan-Lee Music. Copyright renewed 1983. All rights reserved.
Note: If in your venue you do not choose to use the word “God,” you may use the phrase, “With Earth as our Mother, her children all are we.”
Aggression -- whether you start it or I respond to it -- is the key. This is one of the central ideas behind the martial arts, how to turn someone's aggression onto itself to negate it. It is also a key element in the philosophy of pacificism. One person's aggression does not cause an aggressive response.
If nothing else, it's something to think about...particularly today.
Let peace begin with each of us.
Great blog. Also from a Taoist perspective, you might find http://www.threetemples.com interesting.
ReplyDeleteWB Trey! I bet you've been busy lately!
ReplyDeleteThirty
Whenever you advise a ruler in the way of Tao,
Counsel him not to use force to conquer the universe.
For this would only cause resistance.
Thorn bushes spring up wherever the army has passed.
Lean years follow in the wake of a great war.
Just do what needs to be done.
Never take advantage of power.
Achieve results,
But never glory in them.
Achieve results,
But never boast.
Achieve results,
But never be proud.
Achieve results,
Because this is the natural way.
Achieve results,
But not through violence.
Force is followed by loss of strength.
This is not the way of Tao.
That which goes against the Tao comes to an early end
Tao big...VERY big!
Flounder
Trey
ReplyDeleteI always hated that Pollyanna book - my mother inflicted it on me when I was about 11. It merely filled me with an immediate urge to be sick and then a wish to give the dratted child a ding alongside the ear!
Little Dragon
Long time no see, Trey! Sorry to have been such a stranger.
ReplyDeleteI've also been blogging about the growing Middle East war and thinking a lot about non-violence.
Please just stop
Hatred is hungry and overeating
My heart aches over the death and destruction and I believe that's how the human heart is meant to function.
Those who don't feel this ache are suffering from a different kind of heart disease than we usually hear about, a disease that very well may be more deadly.
But, there's a cure, for it's an environmental disease, we contract it from living in dog-eat-dog, me-first societies.
Just need social change. No biggie. ;-)
Trey -- I haven't checked in with you in awhile but would like to comment on this posting. I heard a very simple explanation of the current uproar in the Middle East:
ReplyDelete"WHEN THE FOLLOWERS OF HAZBOLLA LEARN TO LOVE THEIR OWN CHILDREN MORE THAT THEY
HATE THE JEWS, THERE WILL BE PEACE." It is as simple as that. -- Dino
Oh, right Dino, and the Jews NEVER hate Arabs or Muslims or Persians or anyone else for that matter.
ReplyDeleteI'm one Jew who has seen it for myself, though many of my Jewish brothers and sisters refuse to admit it.
No, there's hatred operating on both sides and the violence coming from both sides is fed by and feeds that hatred.