The attack against the United States on September 11th\u00a0was an act of karma–bad karma–that not only stained the lives of those who propagated the attack, but everyone on the planet. Karma then is like a stone dropped into a pond. Those ripples fan out and strike other objects within the wake of those ripples and like an echo, eventually come back to the source.\u00a0This is where cause and effect comes into play. One’s\u00a0karma\u00a0returns.<\/p>\n In the case of Osama bin Laden’s karma, the ripples touched millions instantly, including me. Just as the ripples in water cause a reaction\u00a0(unless you are\u00a0detached\u00a0from karma, as the Buddha teaches) in everything it contacts, I was moved into action by these events.<\/p>\n Two weeks later, I\u00a0surrendered to and embraced the national hatred toward this man and his al-Qaeda network. I joined the United States Marine Corps with the sole intent of going into\u00a0whatever clime and place\u00a0required to wipe this man’s existence off the planet.<\/p>\n But something happened. I didn’t make it through\u00a0Basic Training. 1 1\/2 months in (half-way through) my time at Paris Island, South Carolina Marine Corps Training Depot, I started sleep-walking. I was so involved in my training, so ready to be a Marine, that I performed drill movements with my rifle\u00a0in my sleep. I was immediately discharged and it took years for me to let go of my desire to get back into the Corps.<\/p>\n This is what the Buddha was talking about. My desires became an obsession that mired my very existence. I became a slave to karma. Freedom is only achieved once we release ourselves from desire and master our own minds. My wife insists that I didn’t become a Marine due to some higher purpose. Indeed, had I graduated, I would not have married her, had our children, or maybe\u00a0even\u00a0alive to write this post to you. But even thinking about such things pulls us back into karma–into the tar-pit of our own subconscious\u00a0imaginings. What matters is what is here, now.\u00a0The reality\u00a0and realization of constant change.<\/p>\n To overcome one’s own self is indeed\u00a0better than to conquer others. Neither god nor demigod, nor Mara with Brahma, can undo the victory of him who has subjugated himself and who practices self-restraint.–Dhammapada, canto 8: 104-105<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Now that I’ve overcome my desire to become a Marine and kill Osama bin Laden out of revenge, the Buddha asks me to go a step further. So, Great Master,\u00a0it isn’t enough that I don’t want to personally kill him, but\u00a0I must refrain from wanting others<\/em> to kill him as well? Indeed, the Buddha teaches us that All<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0life is not only sacred, but possesses\u00a0latent buddha-nature. Because of this possible enlightenment, this possible change (all existence\u00a0is in flux, remember?), we cannot be attached to what we perceive\u00a0this man or anyone else as being, because this apparent state of being is only our own projections of that person or thing. Our projections are not reality, only our personal conditioned<\/em> reality.<\/p>\n But what about justice? Didn’t Osama bin Laden deserve to die? I can’t answer that,\u00a0but I suspect that the Buddha would ask us why we cling to the cause and effect cycle of retribution (sometimes a fancy word for “justice”) that is karma in the first place. If we release ourselves from this notion that killing bin Laden somehow creates balance in the universe, then the teachings of the Buddha becomes clear. Did killing him or any other terrorist remove our animosity? Some might say, “Well it makes me feel better.” The Buddha would probably reply “That means you were a slave to your desire. Your enslavement to the desire to seek ‘justice’ controlled your actions. You are not free.”<\/p>\n So I return to where I started. What do I do with this news of bin\u00a0Laden’s death? What do I do with my feelings of satisfaction and joy for this man’s demise?<\/p>\n Nothing. The Buddha tells me to:<\/p>\n Observe your thoughts with detachment as you observe with detachment the distant flight of birds in the peace of the evening. –Cularahulovada Sutta<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Wow. No one said this would be easy. Obviously the national reaction to this news is celebration and relief, a sigh from the breath of Justice. But the Buddha calls us to do something higher. To release ourselves of that need, to meet evil with good, the violent with\u00a0non-violence, hatred with love, the intolerant with\u00a0tolerance.<\/p>\n A tall order indeed. I can’t say I’m there yet, but I’m trying. Of course there’s also the timeless wisdom of Master Yoda:<\/p>\n “There is no try. Do, or do not.”<\/p>\n All I know is that I want to be like this guy.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/projectconversion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/bin-Laden.jpg\")
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