Chapter 6

[Cindy]

I will be on our church mission trip for a week so I won't be posting questions. But I'm starting this discussion thread because there's nothing to keep YOU from doing it! Tell us what you found interesting, or ask the group for their response to ideas.

[Judy]

I hardly know what to quote, but here's one: "Even if we transport all the bombs to the moon, the roots of war and the roots of the bombs are still here, in our hearts and minds, and sooner or later we will make new bombs." I remember when my son was a little boy, so many parents were forbidding their children to use any kind of toy weapon. And sooner or later the ones who wanted to play with guns made them out of anything - the garden hose, a stick, their hand. How telling that was. What does it take to root out this anger and violence from ourselves?

[Judy]

"Nonviolence does not mean non-action. Nonviolence means we act with love and compassion." TNH says that we must look deeply, and everything depends on our way of looking. He then describes the Noble Truths of the Buddha. First is the existence of suffering. Second is the causes of suffering. Third is the way of liberation. If we go about it the way we should, the details take care of themselves. If we truly love our enemy and take the time to understand them, they are no longer our enemy. Easier said than done.

Is it harder to forgive or to be forgiven?