Healing Hatred
On the morning of Osama Bin Laden’s death, my heart ached when I saw the big bold headlines of the New York papers. One said, “Vengeance at Last.” Another said “May He Rot in Hell.”
As I was reflecting on this event and the reactions to it, I was sent the following statement by Martin Luther King that spoke to exactly what I was feeling:
“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
There is a story told by Wayne Muller that highlights the shift of perception that Dr. King is inviting us into:
Maha Ghosananda, a respected Cambodian monk went into the refugee camps where thousands of Cambodians had fled the terrible holocaust conducted by Pol Pot. Every family had lost children, spouses, and parents to the ravages of genocide, and their homes and temples had been destroyed. Maha Ghosanada announced to the refugees that there would be a Buddhist ceremony the next day, and all who wished to come would be welcome.
Some wondered what Maha Ghosanada would say. He began repeating a verse from the Dhammapada, a sacred Buddhist scripture.
Hatred never ceases by hatred;
But by love alone is healed.
This is an ancient and eternal law.
Over and over again Maha Ghosananda chanted this verse. These were people who had as much cause to hate as anyone on earth. Yet as he sat there repeating this verse, one by one, thousands of voices joined together in unison: “Hatred never ceases by hatred: but by love alone is healed. This is an ancient and eternal law.”Out of the mouths of people who had been wounded, oppressed, made homeless, aggrieved, and crushed by the pain of war, came a prayer proclaiming the ancient truth about love, a truth that was greater than all the sorrows they had seen and felt.
May we know that what will bring peace to our world is a shift in perception that moves beyond hatred and vengeance. This may seem like an enormous task in the face of how much unconsciousness there still is in the world. But we can begin by holding the intention to heal the war inside of ourselves through moments of letting go of our identification with our angry, vengeful, scared, self-pitying thoughts. As we remember that we are all in this together and that all of us are a mixture of dark and light, we become a part of the healing of our world, and it becomes possible to live from the ancient truth of Love that IS life – the Love that is who we truly are and that is greater than any sorrow, any violence, any revenge.
I leave you with verse from one of my favorite Rumi poems, Inner Wakefulness.
Humankind is being led along an evolving course
through this migration of intelligences,
and though we seem to be sleeping,
there is an inner wakefulness that directs the dream,
and that will eventually startle us back
to the truth of who we are.