[Buddha-l] Re: Buddhism & War

[Mike Austin]

In message <000e01c6dcfe$e9d7dd80$2a369c04 at Dan>, Dan Lusthaus 
<dlusthau at mailer.fsu.edu> writes
>Mike,
>
>> >So is not attending to a termite infestation of one's home.
>>
>> Yes, termites eat wood. This is not the sort of violence to which I was
>> referring. Also, it would be born of desire that is already present and
>> not of anger stimulated by another being.
>
>That's missing the point. The issue was predictability of violence, and the
>issue I raised was the predictability of refraining from violence. Unless
>you plan to move everytime a termite appears (and where you see one, there
>are droves you don't see - and be careful you don't inadvertently move one
>of them along with you), violence will be visited upon the hungry creatures.
>Otherwise what happens to your house is as predictable as taking a wrecking
>ball to it (only more slowly).

OK, I see what your angle is here - the house is already infested. If it 
were not the case, then precautions could have been taken.  The original 
analogy was attacking a wasps nest, i.e. initiating the violence.

Concerning the predictability of not doing something - there is not any! 
How could there be? What remains to be predicted has to be based on what 
is acting. The predictability you refer to is that of termites - not the 
inaction of the householder.  In karmic terms,  it would be the previous 
actions of the householder that put him in this situation with termites. 
Were he to respond violently, he would experience corresponding results.

-- 
Metta
Mike Austin