ANGEL #10…Avenging Angels
/My favorite Dalai Lama quote: “An eye for an eye…we are all blind.” One of his drier aphorisms. Probably one that Kurds, Shiites, Sunnis, and other tribal cultures would find little humor in, unfortunately. But you can’t blame the Dalai Lama for trying. The Dalai is certainly an ‘angel.’ You shouldn’t have to be a Buddhist to agree. He maintains his religion is ‘kindness.’ It’s beyond me how anyone can argue with that. The unfortunate thing is that the Dalai Lama has too limited an audience.
“When something needs to be done in the world to rectify wrongs, if one is really interested in benefitting others, one needs to be engaged, involved. This is action out of compassion.” (Dalai Lama XIV.) It’s obvious there’s a difference between recognizing a wrong that needs to be righted and doing something about it. I think down deep we’d all like to rectify wrongs or why would we have our super heroes: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Avengers? Ironically the original audience for these rectifiers were children who were willing but, pragmatically, not able to avenge. When we become adults, we are able but not necessarily willing. We sit on our…couches, and watch our heroes. I certainly don’t want to discount simple acts of human kindness, compassion. (Although unfortunately we frequently express more compassion for animals than humans.) If everyone believed in kindness, we’d have peace in the world. I don’t believe people are our enemies in wars and even our more trivial conflicts; I believe ignorance is the enemy.
“Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free.” (Dalai Lama XIV.) If you lived in Syria and the only way to survive, to feed yourself and your family, (short of leaving…which may be the biggest conundrum in the world today) is to join ISSIS, ISSIL, Boko Haram, Al Qaeda, the Taliban… what would you do? You have no unbiased education or ability to work a skill: all you know is fear and hunger…nothing else. Might there be a better rectifier than trying to kill an endless stream of pawns?
In utopia, if the world was taught the bible according to the Dalai Lama, there would be peace in the world. I’d venture it would be impossible to interpret the Dalai’s message, as one apparently can with the Koran for instance, to include killing, rape, maiming, violence… If ignorance is the enemy, how do we go about educating the susceptible down-trodden masses? We need a Hindu Dalai Lama, a Hindu pope. Some engaged individuals that have mass influence who believe in freedom and human dignity.
A Segway into what appears to be our current, most influential avenging angel: the Pope. On one hand it’s necessary he is considered a Catholic, because there are millions of downtrodden Catholics in the world who will be influenced by him. On the other, I’d guess the Pope would agree that his religion is kindness, as well. He certainly seems engaged, involved in trying to right some of the wrongs in the world. Note: I am not a Catholic, and I’m going to go out on a limb and say something certainly not politically correct: if you don’t believe the Pope can rectify wrongs because he is Catholic and you’re not…that’s the type of ignorance that prevents wrongs from being rectified. Call it narrow-mindedness, discrimination. Judgementalism. Call it what you like…I call it ignorance. Sorry if I offend, but it’s something I strongly believe. I believe it’s an example of parochialism, call it partisanship, that separates people and prevents necessary things from being done. An angel has no denomination or affiliation.
“As people alive today, we must consider future generations. A clean environment is a human right like any other. It is therefore part of our responsibility toward others to ensure that the world we pass on is as healthy, if not healthier.” (Dalai Lama XIV.) Sounds like the Dalai Lama and the Pope are in cahoots. If we had more avenging angels with influence on the masses of the world, might it not be healthier…in all respects?
