War and the Peaceful Mind

War and the Peaceful Mind

As the snow fell gently down covering the trees and the recently shoveled deck I sat with my coffee and became aware of my breath going in and out. Sure enough after several minutes I felt a warm peaceful feeling, just as the Venerable Monk had told me in his talks during the Walk for Peace. I find that this simple act works to calm and relax me.

After eating a light breakfast I decided I would turn on the computer and check out how much snow we are supposed to get. After looking at the weather and briefly thinking about a week or more of snow to come, I clicked on our local public radio website and read the heart wrenching story of the family in Soldotna, Alaska that was suddenly torn apart and deported.. Not criminals, just a mom and her kids, one who had the misfortune to be eighteen and was jailed like a common criminal as his mom and brothers were flown to Mexico and dumped.

Then I made the mistake of going to the New York Times. Seeing the headlines about our criminal in chief attacking Iran, I was suddenly consumed with a visceral hatred so strong it shocked me. That this petty, arrogant, criminal excuse for a human being could evoke such a strong destructive feeling, destroying the peaceful presence I had managed to achieve, was simply mind boggling. And certainly not the mindfulness I had intended for my day.

I do not claim to be an expert in foreign policy. All I know is what I glean from reading and listening to people like Heather Cox Richardson who attempts to simply report the news, often relating it to what has happened in this country in the past. She reports the day’s events as reported by multiple sources. I like her scholarly approach and her optimism; that we will somehow overcome this assault on our democracy.

I only know one thing for certain, and even it is often questionable. I know what goes on in my head, and my heart, and my gut. I know that I have always felt war to be morally wrong, that there has to be a better way for humanity to solve its differences of opinion.

That war is, and has always been, largely about greed and power and money, and seldom about principle. If it is ever about principle it is about somebody defending themselves from the power hungry greed of the oppressor. That the economic might of this country and others is largely built on munitions and the tools to kill other people, not on some high moral aptitude, has always been amazing to me. The idea that we could use the same earning power, energy, and efficiency to make the earth a better place for all the planet, but that we don’t, astounds me.

I grew up thinking the military in this country was about defense. Sometimes it was. Sometimes it was used as an effective deterrent to discourage the money hungry power hungry oppressors of other countries. Just as often it was used as a powerful economic engine.

Now there is no longer a hidden agenda. It is up front and center, as the emperor in waiting, and his toadies, attempt to destroy our democracy and half the world with it, all for their personal gratification and greed. Unfortunately this is not a new story. The history of this planet is rife with the telling of like tales.

For me, I am living a good life, all warm and cozy, looking out at the winter wonderland that nature is providing me. I could choose to just not think about the atrocities being committed by our current criminal in chief in his quest to take over as emperor of the world, at least the western hemisphere. I could choose to ignore his gold plated, cheap burger infested values, and enjoy the beauty that is left on this planet.

But I am having a hard time. Not ignoring it, but accepting it. For what it is. And mostly for what it is not. If humankind does not adjust its thinking and continues to be dominated by fear, greed, and the quest for power at the expense of others and the planet, there may not be much hope for the species and the environment it inhabits.

I can only hope that the peace that the monks who waked for peace and envisioned buried in every single person will win out in the end.