In searching for a blog topic this morning, I was recounting the activities of the last week and had CNN on in the background. While opening up Word and typing some keywords to search, I heard today's news stories including the latest on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and the shootings in Kansas. President Obama was on the air saying, "No one should ever fear for their safety when they go to pray."
I Googled the following words, having no idea whatsoever what to write this week's blog about:
bal-ance:
- the state of having your weight spread equally so that you do not fall
- the ability to move or to remain in a position without losing control or falling
- a state in which different things occur in equal or proper amounts or have an equal or proper amount of importance
(from Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
un-der-stand-ing:
- the knowledge and ability to judge a particular situation or subject
- an informal agreement
- a willingness to understand people's behavior and forgive them
(from Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
I soon remembered something that happened recently that I thought significant at the time. On one day, I started the morning by reading small sections from these two books:
Soon after reading the sections from each, I found myself at an Indian restaurant ordering Masala Tea. While I was waiting for the tea, the manager of the establishment began to tell me about the Indian name "Ashok," which is the name of someone I know and I was trying to remember and pronounce the name correctly. He began slowly, almost cautiously in my opinion, telling me about a famous King bearing the name, and when I welcomed the story, in part by my sharing with him that I had just read words from the Dalai Lama that morning, the floodgates seemed to open up and he told me all about the story of "Ashoka the Great."
In short, Ashoka was a great king and conquerer around the time of 300 BC. After one particularly deadly battle, he found himself scanning the bloody battlefield and seeing all of the dead bodies and had the realization from within that his own ego had caused all of the death and destruction that lay before him. This caused him to change and he soon become a great force for Kindness and Good. He was credited much with the spread of Buddhism throughout the region and the world.
"Legend
says that one day after the war was over, Ashoka ventured out to roam the city
and all he could see were burnt houses and scattered corpses. This sight made
him sick and he cried the famous monologue:
What
have I done? If this is a victory, what's a defeat then? Is this a victory or a
defeat? Is this justice or injustice? Is it gallantry or a rout? Is it valor to
kill innocent children and women? Did I do it to widen the empire and for
prosperity or to destroy the other's kingdom and splendor? One has lost her
husband, someone else a father, someone a child, someone an unborn infant....
What's this debris of the corpses? Are these marks of victory or defeat? Are
these vultures, crows, eagles the messengers of death or evil?
The
lethal war with Kalinga transformed the vengeful Emperor Ashoka to a stable and
peaceful emperor and he embraced Buddhism. This led to the expansion of
Buddhism in the Mauryan empire and other kingdoms during his rule, and worldwide
from about 250 BCE."
(from Wikipedia.com)
Today, as I recalled the incident of hearing that story, it occurred to me that it would make a good blog topic. So I Googled "Ashoka the Great." THAT'S WHEN IT HAPPENED...
I had typed the words and hit "enter" so fast that the computer had only registered the last four letters, "reat" when it searched and I sat in wonderment at how my search for "Ashoka the Great" had turned into a search for "reat" and had brought up the story that had just played on CNN about the Kansas shootings ("Reat" was the name of the 14 year old shooting victim at the Jewish Community Center who was there for a vocal audition with his grandfather, also killed). The following link appeared on my screen, on this the eve of Passover:
At once I realized the significance of the "accident" of my computer's search and sat in stunned amazement.
Earlier, I had randomly opened to this page from "The Dalai Lama" book pictured above:
As so many of us prepare to celebrate Easter and Passover, I personally feel exceptionally Blessed, as someone who was raised Catholic, to be in attendance at a Jewish Seder this evening and to be included in that celebration of Passover. I am encouraged to learn about other traditions as well. I remember feeling a sense of significance and belonging when a simple stop for tea turned into an education about a historic king that I had previously known nothing about. Why not learn a little something about a culture I am less familiar with and take a moment to "understand" how similar we all are... for collective "balance."
Namaste
T
P.S.
In another related "coincidence," Russell participated as a cast member in a historic musical performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center last week, written by David and Iola Brubeck, that has much to do with the topic of understanding and race relations....
"They say I look like God,
Could God be black? My God!
If all are made in the image of Thee,
If all are made in the image of Thee,
Could Thou perchance a zebra be?
He's watching all the earth,
He's watched us from our birth,
And if He cared if you're black or white,
He'd mix one color, one just right..."
- lyrics from "They Say I Look Like God" from the musical "The Real Ambassadors"
No comments:
Post a Comment