[Buddha-l] Re: Buddhist pacifism

[Gad Horowitz]

any link in a chain, especially if it is a living being, offers resistance.
if there were no resistance, there would be no "links".  link implies
separation, not mere conduction of previous events.  resistance is not
eliminable from chaining.  or to put this in more familiar language, you
can't not decide.  nondecision is decision.  for us buddhists etc. the
question would be what decision is conducive tothe enlightenment of the last
blade of grass, etc.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joy Vriens" <joy.vriens at nerim.net>
To: "Buddhist discussion forum" <buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com>
Sent: Friday, October 14, 2005 6:04 AM
Subject: Re: [Buddha-l] Re: Buddhist pacifism


> James A. Stroble wrote:
>
> > So Joy, ya got my back?  (We really have to stop using these combative
> > terms to refer to our debate here!)
>
> You have been of a perfect clarity and don't need any help. Dan can
> relax. :-)
>
> When I read passages from Zen at war or similar texts, and reports about
> Lama Zhang from the Tibetan tradition, I am very much reminded of the
> desinterested action (also in a war context...) of the Bhagavad gita or
> even of the notion of spontaneous Buddha activity. Is there any link?
>
> "This is Zen bushido in action: Killing as high art. The soldiers are
> being taught the perfect etiquette in beheading - the exact way to
> cleanse the sword, the proper way to swing the weapon, the strong virile
> shout. With this image in mind, consider the following passage that D.
> T. Suzuki wrote at the same time as the Nanking massacre: "... the art
> of swordsmanship distinguishes between the sword that kills and the
> sword that gives life. The one that is used by a technician cannot go
> any further than killing.... The case is altogether different with the
> one who is compelled to lift the sword. For it is really not he but the
> sword itself that does the killing. He had no desire to harm anybody,
> but the enemy appears and makes himself a victim. It is though the sword
> automatically performs its function of justice, which is the function of
> mercy…. the swordsman turns into an artist of the first grade, engaged
> in producing a work of genuine originality."
>
> No thinking = No-mind = No-self = No karma or acting which is free of
> the three circles (subject, object and action) and which is therefore
> non-action.
>
> So either one totally effaces one's self, dissolves it, so that one
> becomes a selfless actor or rather actorless activity, a totally
> obedient (because not opposing any resistance) link in a chain, becoming
> one with whatever programme needs to be carried out, or one retains a
> bit of Tom's "personal ontological purity", a bit of personal judgement
> about what it is right or wrong and the possibility to resist that
> programme or the "general interest". Making choices creates anxiety and
> responsibility. One can be much more in peace when no choices need to
> made. One's own purity doesn't need to be a selfish concern and is
> therefore not necessarily a comfortable thing.
>
> Joy
>
>
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