Washington Post Article on "Buddhist Assassin"

[Mp]

... but about putting ourselves in the shoes of someone who is mentally ill. We can feel empathy for someone who has the flu because we have felt this ourselves ...

Nicely said Dosho ... I agree that we should try to understand and to realize that they are more then their illness. That they too long for happiness and a sense of stability in their lives.

Gassho
Shingen

[Joyo]

One of the things I also find tragic about this, is the reporting. Sadly, the adding of details about this event that do not apply - does it matter that he was Buddhist? No! His mental disorder drove him to do the act, not the fact he was a Buddhist. I find that some news organizations use these types of tactics to generate ratings and don't give any thought to the recourse of these statements.

Sorry for the rant, just my two cents.

Gassho
Shingen

Yeah, I wholeheartedly agree!! What do we (as a human race) want to do here, continue on like we are doing until our differences cause the complete extinction of humanity? The more we see each other as the same, the less likely we are to cause hate crimes.

As for this man being a Buddhist, well, there was a murder in my town a few days ago, by a young Chinese boy. Does that mean all Chinese boys are dangerous? Of course not, one bad egg shouldn't ruin the entire batch. Christianity has been blamed for the cause of slavery, it was also a driving force in the abolition of slavery. No matter what holy text you read, whether you chant, pray, meditate--all of these things are really filtered though what kind of a heart you have. And, for many, the condition of our heart is directly related to our environment, either in the present, or how we were raised as children, or our mental state, not by what particular brand of religion is being followed.

Gassho,
Treena

[RichardH]

There are times in this Practice that one feels so absolutely free, and there is so much emphasis in our Way on "transcending human judgments such as life and death, good and bad", that the Buddha cautioned against our falling into nihilism. The Precepts, emphasizing peace and non-violence, are meant to keep us on a good and beneficial road.

The goal (yes, we have goals even though goalless!) is not to be "amoral", but rather to find a certain Peace, Compassion and Goodness even greater than small human judgments of good and bad, violence and peace.

I think it true in any religion or philosophy that one can find either a message of peace or an excuse for violence and bloodshed (such as the Christian Crusaders or 9-11 Hijackers). The same could be true in Buddhism if one does not live the non-violent, non-abusive, caring and charitable way that the Precepts guide us. For the most part (there have been exceptions through the centuries) most Buddhists seem to stay on the good road.

Gassho, J

It was definitely nihilism, or being stuck in the emptiness of things... or a notion of that. Still, a innate instinct for goodness was present enough to recoil at the possibility of acting out. It never happened.

Gassho Richard

[Jundo]

A well stated op-ed in the Washington Post, in response to the earlier article ...

At least in this regard, Buddhism differs from these religions, and this should be made crystal clear to the average citizen. Alexis would have been hard pressed to find and reference any Buddhist sacred scripture that supported his mindless actions at the Navy Yard. But does the average citizen understand this about Buddhism? Probably not. Or does the average citizen, due to his/her negligible understanding of non-Western religions, now assume that because Alexis was allegedly a practicing Buddhist, that Buddhist doctrine could somehow be interpreted to support this behavior? Maybe. But Alexis’s act should now be used profitably as a teachable moment. That is to say, Buddhism cannot condone, nor can any Buddhist scripture be found that would allow, this type of deplorable bloodletting.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/wp/2013/09/18/aaron-alexis-was-no-buddhist/

[Myosha]

Thank you.


Gassho,
Edward

[Taikyo]

What a good article it distills all that has been said on this thread. Thank you Jundo.

Gassho

d.

[Biko]

As Jundo said, sometimes deeply troubled people seek out Buddhism because they see a spark of hope there. I'm sure many of us here are such people. Unfortunately there are those individuals who for whatever reason just snap and nothing could have prevented it. Metta to the victims, their families and friends, and to the friends and family of this deeply troubled person.

Gassho, Jeffrey

[Daitetsu]

Thanks for this new article, Jundo.

It was good, but there was one passage that I have my problems with:

So, was Alexis, who is also reported to have been a “hard-core drinker,” a gun-lover with previous gun violence arrests, and a murderous killer, a Buddhist? In name only, based on these facts. And based solely on the observance of the basic Buddhist tenets described above, and other such tenets as metta, or loving-kindness, Alexis cannot accurately be defined as a Buddhist. This is because, simply put, Buddhist is who Buddhism does.

So as soon as you break a Precept you are not a Buddhist anymore?
Sorry, that sounds too easy, and moreover it is a logical fallacy called "No true Scotsman" (clicky):
Person A: "No Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge."
Person B: "I am Scottish, and I put sugar on my porridge."
Person A: "Then you are not a true Scotsman."

(See more info at the above Wikipedia link.)

According to that logic the crusaders were not Christians, because a true Chistian does not kill; in WWII no German was a Nazi, because a true German is not a racist, the responsible people for 9/11 were no Islamists, because true Islamists don't kill... etc. the list is endless.
With this argumentation no ideology in this world would ever be responsible for someones behavior. Of course I don't think Buddhism was the cause here and I agree with most other things that were said in the second WP article, but this argument is cheap IMHO.
Anyway, just wanted to point it out.

Gassho,

Timo

[Joyo]

Timo, I've never thought of it that way before, how interesting. I've had several debates with Christians about things such as the Crusaders, and the response is always "but they were not true Christians"

Like I said before, you can be Christian, Buddhist, or whatever, it's what is in your heart as to how you are going to live your life. The bible can be used as a weapon to flame the fan of bloodshed, or it can be used to motivate people to spread love and kindness. How is it the same book can be used for such opposite actions?


Treena

[Daitetsu]

Hi Treena,

Totally agree with you.
Indeed, this argument is used by many people nowadays who identify themselves with an ideology/philosophy/religion/concept/you-name-it.

BTW: Jundo wrote something interesting about the killing Buddhists in Myanmar:

http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?9979-Buddhist-genocide-and-ethnic-cleansing&p=82455&viewfull=1#post82455

Gassho,

Timo

[Heishu]

What is it that makes a person who they are? What is the true identity of the self that represents a person. Was Aaron Alexis a Buddhist? He held the answer within his being to the truth of that matter but he also held many other things and that is now how he will be remembered. Here is something that I ran across that spoke to me. It may not be the answer to any questions concerning Aaron but then maybe it is.

\

The words to this poem can be found here: http://www.poetrybycharlescfinn.com/pleasehear.html

Gassho,
Heishu

[Joyo]

Thank you for the post, Timo. Another good read. I've said this on facebook before, when I've come across fiery debates on homosexuality--if you religion is causing you to cloud your compassion, it's time to change your religion.

Like Jundo posted, I too have seen many Christians act much like these Buddhists. They put themselves in a bubble, by choice obviously as I live in a country where illiteracy is not a problem. They read only the bible (and of course, their interpretation of it is the right one), listen to Christian speakers, Christian music, Christian friends, church, church, and did I mention church on almost every single night. Now, that's all fine and dandy. I'm not here to judge how ppl should live their lives. However, what I've noticed, is that when someone does this, their religion becomes a catalyst for isolation, which leads to an "us" vs. "them" mentality. Then, it becomes difficult to relate to them, how can you when everything is filtered down from their perspectives on life. When this happens, there is no wiggle room for growth. You do not hear the stories of other people in other races, religions, and sexual orientation. This isn't a Christian problem, it happens all the time, all over the world. And it saddens me that we, as a human race, do not spend more time listening to others' stories more often, and less time being critical of others, regardless of how "different" they may appear.

[kidbuda]

wow hard topic and it is a reality that one call himself or herself a buddhist without trully living the dharma, the same way someone can call himself a catholic without following the full path. And like everything in this world we cannot judge the whole for just a part, not all buddhist have mental illnesses and that guy maybe was truthful to some part of his practice and at some point his mind just snapped or maybe he wasn´t truthful at all XD. Who knows? maybe even he doesn´t kow.

Gassho

kb