Thich
Nhat Hanh
Terror is
in the human heart. We must remove this
terror from the
heart. Destroying
the human heart, both physically and psychologically,
is
what we
should avoid. The root of terrorism should
be identified so that
it can be
removed.
The root of terrorism is misunderstanding,
hatred and violence.
This root
cannot be located by the military. Bombs
and missiles cannot
reach
it, let alone destroy it. Only with the
practice of calming
and looking
deeply
can our insight reveal and identify this
root.
Only
with the
practice
of deep listening
and compassion can it be transformed and
removed.
Darkness
cannot be dissipated with more darkness.
More darkness will
make darkness
thicker. Only light can dissipate darkness.
Violence and
hatred cannot be
removed with violence and hatred. Rather,
this will make
violence
and hatred grow a thousand fold. Only
understanding and compassion
can dissolve violence and hatred.
"Strike
against terror" is a misleading expression.
What we are striking
against
is not the real cause or the root of terror.
The object of
our strike
is still human life. We are sowing seeds
of violence as we
strike. Striking
in this way we will only bring about more
hatred and violence into
the
world. This is exactly what we do not
want to do. Hatred and
violence are
in the hearts of human beings. A terrorist
is a human being with
hatred, violence
and misunderstanding in his or her heart.
Acting
without understanding,
acting out of hatred, violence and fear,
we help sow
more terror,
bringing terror to the homes of others
and bringing terror
back to our own homes.
Whole
societies are living constantly in fear
with
our nerves
being attacked day and night. This is
the greatest casualty
we may suffer
from as a result of our wrong thinking
and action. Such a state
of confusion,
fear and anxiety is extremely dangerous.
It can bring about
another world
war, this time extremely destructive.
We must learn
to speak
out so that the voice of the Buddha can
be heard in this dangerous
and
pivotal moment of history. Those of us
who have the light should
display
the light and offer it so that the world
will not sink into
total darkness.
Everyone has
the seed of awakening and insight within
his or her
heart.
Let us help each other touch these seeds
in ourselves so that
everyone
could have the courage to speak out. We
must ensure that
the way we
live our daily lives (with or without
mindful consumption, with or
without
discrimination, with or without participating
in injustice,
...) does
not create more terrorism in the world.
We need a collective
awakening
to stop this course of self-destruction.
-
Thich Nhat Hanh
Shanghai
19 October, 2001