True Hero's Never Kill | Courage to Keep Precepts when It's Hard | Non-Violence | Ajahn Dhammasiha
Dhammagiri Buddhist PodcastsShow Notes
Ajahn Dhammasiha praises participants of our One Day Meditation Retreat for their commitment to virtue and unshakable ethical principles. By committing ourselves, without any if or when, to non-violence; to commit ourselves to abstain in all possible circumstance from any act of killing, we're making a powerful statement against war, and remove ourselves from any participation in war and violence. By developing bhāvanā to weaken and ultimately abandon greed, hatred and delusion, we work on removing the deep causes of any forms of war and violence. Ajahn shares several stories of persons who decided not to kill/not to shoot in very challenging situations, some of them possibly even saving the world from global nuclear war through their courageous decisions. These heros of not-killing and non-violence are unfortunately much less famous and much less appreciated than "heros" who receive the Victoria Cross and similar medals of "bravery" for killing. Often their steadfastness in obeying their conscience goes completely unnoticed, or worse, it may even lead to them being denigrated and attacked. Similar for those who dare to state the truth in challenging circumstances. Stating a simple truth, though it is disagreeable to those in power, can be a truly heroic act with far-reaching consequences. It may break the spell of false narratives and propaganda, and be of great long term benefit to many beings, even though the truth tellers may be attacked, or may even end up sacrificing their life for their act of truthfulness.
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