Missed Opportunity
Just as individuals often miss opportunities to transform suffering into compassion and patience, so it is with groups of people, including whole nations. Tenzin Palmo cites the September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center as a missed opportunity. “America as a whole missed the lesson from the attacks. The lesson was, You’re not invulnerable. You’re not invulnerable from living in terror and fear. This may be the first time it’s happened to you, but it is a daily occurrence for many on the planet. The Buddha said, Hatred does not cease by hatred; hatred ceases by non-hatred or love. I felt it was a time for extremely skillful action, not to create a polarization in the world of ‘us’ against ‘them’.”
There are looks of agreement and understanding about the opportunity missed by the United States after 9/11 and the unskillful choices that led to U.S. wars that continue today in Iraq and Afghanistan. I also sense in the room a sigh of relief at the idea that there is something useful to be done with suffering. Most of us have tried a variety of tactics to be free from suffering, but the notion of not resisting can often get lost in the shuffle. I see expressions of interest and hope. ~ From: Full Bloom — A Profile of Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo by John Malkin
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