The leech's kiss, the squid's embrace,
The prurient ape's defiling touch,
And do you like the human race?
No. Not much.
--Aldous Huxley
Oh, the recriminations are going to fly. The Republicans are already figuring out how to blame Obama for the North Korean nuclear test. We all know that Bush and Cheney let it happen while they were obsessed with their lies to get us into Iraq where we are now bogged down and unable to offer even a credible military threat where it might be needed. But let us look at a bigger picture.
Here is a country that can't even feed itself yet puts on elaborate pageants to the ego of a megalomaniac and squanders what national treasure it has on nuclear weapons, which, if it ever actually used them, would result in the total obliteration of North Korea.
So what's the actual difference today?
Not much. We just have more wealth to squander--that's all.
It is thus with military conflict and the posturing that precedes it.
The human race has taken another lurch into the obscene idea that security can be bought with force and violence. This is nothing but the result of fear trying to defend the idea of a self and of a world that does not inherently exist. In so desperately trying to defend that illusion, we create untold suffering.
The Tibetan language has a word for "world" that is approximately pronounced "jik-ten." But it can be spelled two ways and acts as a pun--a very instructive pun. In my perhaps imperfect transliteration the word "Jigs" means to crumble, fall away. When it is spelled with a silent initial letter, " 'Jigs," means fear. The two are pronounced exactly the same. the word "rTen" when used as a noun means "basis, support, container." When it is used as a verb, it means "to hold onto."
Thus, pronouncing the word "jik-ten" which is the word for "world" can be understood two ways. It can mean literally, "the crumbling basis or support," or it can mean "holding onto fear." And in the Tibetan Buddhist view, both meanings apply. The world is impermanent and illusory and we create our world by grasping what we hope is real due to our fear of this impermanence, this emptiness. The more we fear, the more desperately we grasp and the greater is our suffering.
The world's problems will never, ever be solved by taking "strong positions," by sending an "unmistakeable message," by pre-emptive strikes of any of the obscene, malformed antics that humankind has always turned to. Such solutions simply lead to more and deeper problems.
Still, having said that, I do not have a huge amount of hope that it will do any good. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been saying exactly the same thing for 50 years and Tibetis still under the oppression of China. The Chinese are none the happier for the effort they put into suppressing Tibet, but no one will look at any other way due to one overriding reason--fear.
Giving up fear means having to accept the possibility of nonexistence of the self, of death. This not-being is anathema to the ego, which struggles with all it's might to hold onto that fear of not being to stave off the crumbling of the basis--which is ultimately inevitable.
Appropriate to Memorial Day, I found two true stories that illustrate the liberation from fear--one is a military tale:
Two Stories BOTH TRUE - and worth reading!!!!
STORY NUMBER ONE
Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago . Capone wasn't famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder.
Capone had a lawyer nicknamed "Easy Eddie." He was Capone's lawyer for a good reason. Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie's skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time
To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big, but Eddie got special dividends, as well. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block.
Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him.
Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his young son had clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object.
And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was.
Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn't give his son; he couldn't pass on a good name or a good example.
One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done..
He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al "Scarface" Capone, clean up his tarnished name, and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great. So, he testified.
Within the year, Easy Eddie's life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street . But in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he could ever pay. Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a crucifix, a religious medallion, and a poem clipped from a magazine.
The poem read:
"The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour. Now is the only time you own Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time. For the clock may soon be still."
STORY NUMBER TWO
World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O'Hare.
He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific.
One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank.
He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship.
His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet.
As he was returning to the mother ship, he saw something that turned his blood cold; a squadron of Japanese aircraft was speeding its way toward the American fleet.
The American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenseless. He couldn't reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger. There was only one thing to do. He must somehow divert them from the fleet.
Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 caliber's blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent.
Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible, rendering them unfit to fly.
Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction.
Deeply relieved, Butch O'Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier.
Upon arrival, he reported in and related the event surrounding his return. The film from the gun-camera mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch's daring attempt to protect his fleet. He had, in fact, destroyed five enemy aircraft
This took place on February 20, 1942 , and for that action Butch became the Navy's first Ace of W.W.II, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Medal of Honor.
A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His home town would not allow the memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today, O'Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man.
So, the next time you find yourself at O'Hare International, give some thought to visiting Butch's memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor. It's located between Terminals 1 and 2.
SO WHAT DO THESE TWO STORIES HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER?
Butch O'Hare was "Easy Eddie's" son.
Peace