Ask the Lama
answers from Lama Surya Das
Updated 28 Jun 2003
Introduction
Lama Surya writes a periodic column on Beliefnet, responding to readers' questions. See the Archive below for links to his responses.
(Links will open in a new window)
Q. What can be learned from the tragic events of Sept. 11? Can some good come out of all this suffering, anger and anxiety we Americans are experiencing?
A. The tragic events of September 11 have given us all serious pause for prayer and reflection. I hope that this wake-up call helps us to gain more clarity, sensitivity and perspective regarding our place and policies in the world, so we may continuously strive to remain calm and clear while we make our decisions about how to proceed in meeting this challenge. We are all becoming increasingly aware of how violence can beget more violence, and how and eye-for-an-eye approach can leave us even more blind. Buddha said that "Hatred never ceases through hatred; hatred ceases only through love." I urge restraint and even-handedness in the face of the danger and difficulties we face today. I also think we ought to learn about Islam and other peoples in poor and developing countries; investigate how we relate to the other (the "them"), the stranger. in our own midst; and give serious consideration to how we relate to and manage our own inner anger and aggression before we fall into mere retaliation.
There is an old spiritual saying that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, and that suffering can bring us greater inner strength. I think this very much depends on how we learn to relate to it. Some say that God doesn't send us anything we cannot handle. Unfortunately, five thousand or more of our compatriots lost their lives on September 11, not to mention countless others who have met violent ends in recent times. There is a certain amount of positive growth and learning that may be gleaned from these dire events, which can help make more meaningful this tragic loss of life.
This terrible event brings to an abrupt end the era of America as the New World, a refuge and sanctuary above and beyond the plight and the destiny of the rest of humanity. We can no longer delude ourselves that we are insulated and isolated from the rest of the world and its problems, and that unilateral policies and rhetoric have a place in any new sociopolitical order. We have been rudely awakened to the realization that we are part of this world, one world, after all.
I myself experienced the immensity of suffering on September 11 like a physical body blow, although I was in Massachusetts on that terrible day. The tragedy and its painful aftermath are helping us to empathize and feel the pain of others, as we endure for the first time, in our own heartland, what other peoples have experienced in their own cities and capitals during the past century. The trauma our country is presently experiencing has helped us to better appreciate and respect our emergency workers, firemen and police officers. It has helped bring us together as Americans, and to appreciate the freedoms and opportunities we have here in this country as well as the cost of that freedom and of an open, pluralistic, democratic society.
I myself have lived abroad for almost two decades, including several weeks in Afghanistan in the early Seventies when it was still quite peaceful. I feel a terrible sadness at the troubles and travails of the beleaguered Afghan people, and of all our fellow beings throughout the developing countries for whom life is hard, opportunities are scarce, and options are narrowly circumscribed -- all of which can contribute to desperation, despair and fanatical extremism. Perhaps we need the modern equivalent of a Marshal Plan to rebuild the Middle East after such a protracted era of war, violence and dislocation.
Suddenly we all have begin learning more about Third World peoples and their countries, cultures, religion, society, politics, troubles -- and even their history and geography. We are left wondering about the "Ugly American" syndrome. and why we are hated and despised in many places around the world, and what we might be doing to fuel those fires rather than to assuage and alleviate them. This increased awareness of the world we live in and inquiry into the roots and origins of this conflagration will serve us all as we enter the Twenty First Century and the emergent global society.
During the weeks immediately after the disaster,
I found that people have been feeling more connected, seem less selfish and
narrowly preoccupied, and express more openly a genuinely heartfelt concern
for others. Here in the Boston area, for the first few weeks after the
disaster people were driving far more considerately and with much more
patience and tolerance, which is saying a lot! The
fact that this does not continue reminds me of the possibility at least that
we can come together in times of crisis, and to wonder what it would take to
take every day life as of equal significance
and import to drive us to such conscientious consideration of and
brotherhood with others, based on a heartfelt feeling for our shared
humanity.
Cambridge, MA
Oct. 1, 2001
"Since I was a young man, I've tried to understand the nature of compassion. But what little compassion I've learned has not come from intellectual investigation but from my actual experience of suffering."
Thich Nhat Hanh
Ask the Lama
Archive