Hawk and a Dove
Originally posted to firesofcreation.gaia.com on Oct 18th, 2007
Some people might cringe looking at this picture. The Dalai Lama with George Bush? Is a hawk and a dove compatible? This image brings to mind one of my earlier blogs where I matched up Gandhi and Bush in a parallel universe where Bush has a scrooged-like Christmas Carol transformation leading him to forever condemn preemptive war.
To the mindset of a Hugo Chavez, who called Bush "the Devil," in front of the U.N. General Assembly, guilt by association would cast anyone cozying up to the president as another supporter of the "current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world." In this black and white universe of good and evil, which George Bush happens to also inhabit, imagine a scenario where the Dalai Lama received an award from Saddam Hussein or Osama Bin Laden before September 11th, 2001 and the war on terror. Would the Dalai Lama be welcomed with such open arms in the Bush administration if he were associated with "evil doers"? It is interesting how to some Chinese, Bush awarding the Dalai Lama is on par with awarding an al Qaeda operative hell bent on splitting the motherland.
It just goes to show you that one man's good is another man's evil, which is why Gandhi and the Dalai Lama's philosophy of nonviolence and compassion for even enemies, may hold the key to ending duality and warfare. But it could also be argued that nonviolence and compassion may also be complacent or responsible for the continuation of evil. It is documented that the Dalai Lama had associations with Shoko Asahara before he orchestrated the deadly gas attacks in Tokyo's subways. It is unknown however, whether the Dalai Lama knew enough about Asahara to see warning signs. Perhaps he knew of Asahara's great capacity for evil but chose to nurture his capacity for good in the hopes he would choose right over wrong. The same might be said of his meeting with Bush. The Dalai Lama most likely knows of all the accusations around the world that 9-11 was inside job by the Bush administration. We've all heard of those who believe Bush is evil but what about his good side? The Dalai Lama was most likely aware that some strong condemnation of the Myanmar government for the beating and killing of Buddhist monks in Rangoon came from Bush's pulpit before U.S. sanctions on the country were put in effect.
Clearly the warfare between polar opposites will continue going on long after the Dalai Lama has left this world. Even now, there maybe some new al Qaeda recruits from Baghdad who are scheming a way to drop off a suitcase nuke in Washington D.C. They may be driven by the same thirst for vengeance that lead U.S. forces to punish Saddam Hussein for invading Kuwait, murdering Kurds and executing thousands of Iraqi political prisoners over the course of his reign. Perhaps these new al Qaeda operatives from Baghdad, had parents, brothers and sisters whose bodies were brutally blown to pieces by U.S. bombs during the invasion. Like Chavez, these people may hold Bush in their mind as a Devil. And if the Dalai Lama were ever an obstacle in their path of avenging their loved one's lives, he would most likely be taken out regardless of the compassion he holds for suffering beings like them.
In fact, the entire city of Washington D.C. would also pay the price for harboring their number one enemy just as the entire nation of Iraq paid the price for harboring one of the number one enemies of America and Israel. And with the never ending warfare of duality raging on, it just never stops in the mindsets of people where the world is arranged around the eternal warfare of good and evil, God and Satan. Following Washington's destruction, there would most likely be a massive backlash where America launches a nuclear strike on enemies in the middle east. This new world war wouldn't stop until one of the opposing sides had been utterly smashed into oblivion.
As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.... The chain reaction of evil — hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."
So, this is why a Gandhi, M.L. King Jr. or Dalai Lama is capable of bridging two sides of a duality. Their philosophy of nonviolence would force them to show compassion for factions of people considered enemies to opposing factions. This however doesn't mean they wouldn't speak out against injustices. Who knows what the Dalai Lama told president Bush when nobody was listening. Perhaps he looked him squarely in the eye and firmly said, "You must peacefully end this tragic occupation in Iraq before it creates any more suffering in the world." Would Bush laugh at or ignore such a request from someone who abandoned the realm of material and military might for the more idealistic realm of spiritual power? Only time will tell.
