Yes, this week’s quote is from the original engaged Buddhist, Siddhartha himself. This time we’ll leave out the bio, as I think you know who he is. Here’s the quote, as it appears in the Dhammapada:
“Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.”
To go off on a little side road — a few weeks ago one of the big news stories was President Obama’s acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize. In his otherwise gracious acceptance speech, the president said, “A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler’s armies.” This is an argument that many people make when they talk about the possibility of nonviolence as a force for change in the world.
Michael Nagler, a scholar at UC Berkeley and founder of the Metta Center for Nonviolence, does a great job in explaining the holes in this argument and telling the story of a nonviolent resistance action in Germany during World War II that actually did work in this post on Yes! Magazine’s website.
So it seems that Siddhartha was on to something. Nonviolence is not easy, it’s not magic, but it can and has worked in the course of history.
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Blog news: I’m taking a little time off from writing the rest of this week to re-charge my batteries. When I return, I’ll be getting ready to participate in a “Buddhist Blog Swap.” I’ll be doing a guest post on Adam Johnson’s blog “Home Brew Dharma” and my blog will be honored to post an entry by Shane Hennesy, the author of the blog “Zenfant.” Should be fun!
Have a wonderful. peaceful new year!
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If you enjoyed this post, I invite you to visit my other website: The Liberated Life Project — a personal transformation blog with a social conscience.
The Jizo Chronicles 
Hey–you beat me to this! ; )
Have a restful week, Maia! Thank you for all you do.
gassho,
Lynette Genju