Compassion and Revenge
The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon are occasions of great
significance. They are opportunities for you to feel inside, to find those parts
of yourself that are in fear, and to make the decision to move forward in your
life without fear. That is the challenge for each individual on this planet
today. The pursuit of external power – the ability to manipulate and control
– creates only violence and destruction. The painful events in New York
and Washington are living examples of that reality.
The causal chain that created this violence is one in which compassion and wisdom
are absent. Are wisdom and compassion present in you as you watch the television,
and read the papers? It is important to realize that you do not know all that
came to conclusion, or into karmic balance, as a result of these events. Because
you are not able to know all that can be known about them, you are not in a
position to judge them.
When you are able to look at the events of the Earth School from this perspective,
you will see clearly the central importance of the role that you play in it.
That role is this: It is for you to decide what you will contribute to this
world. Many will be asking your opinion of these events. Each question is an
opportunity for you to contribute to the love that is in the world or to the
fear that is in the world. This is the same opportunity that presents itself
to you at each moment.
If you hate those who hate, you become like them. You add to the violence and
the destructive energy that now fills our world. As you make the decision to
see with clarity and compassion, you will see that those who committed these
acts of violence were in extreme pain themselves, and that they were fueled
by the violent parts of ourselves – the parts that judge without mercy,
strike in anger, and rejoice in the suffering of others. They were our proxy
representatives. If you can look with compassion upon those who have suffered
and those who have committed acts of cruelty alike, then you will see that all
are suffering. The remedy for suffering is not to inflict more suffering.
This is an opportunity for a massive expression of compassion. It is also an
opportunity for a massive expression of revenge. Which world do you intend to
live in – a world of revenge or a world of compassion?
Copyright © 2001 by Gary Zukav. All rights reserved.