In this talk, Zach dives deep into a famous line from the Dhamma Pada, “Hatred does not cease through hatred at any time. Hatred ceases through love. This is an unalterable law.” 2,000 years later, humanity still hasn’t learned this law of the Universe. In a world with conflict, violence, and war, love is the only path to peace.
The intro poem is unpublished, see Zach’s books here: https://www.amazon.com/author/zach_beach
Learn more at www.zachbeach.com
Weapons are the tools of violence;
all decent men detest them.
Weapons are the tools of fear;
a decent man will avoid them
except in the direst necessity
and, if compelled, will use them
only with the utmost restraint.
Peace is his highest value.
If the peace has been shattered,
how can he be content?
His enemies are not demons,
but human beings like himself.
He doesn’t wish them personal harm.
Nor does he rejoice in victory.
How could he rejoice in victory
and delight in the slaughter of men?
He enters a battle gravely,
with sorrow and with great compassion,
as if he were attending a funeral.
– Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
“Others will kill. We shall not kill. Thus we should direct our hearts.
Others will be cruel. We shall not be cruel. Thus we should direct our hearts.
Others will speak falsely. We will speak what is true. Thus we should direct our hearts.
Others will be fraudulent. We shall not be fraudulent. Thus we should direct our hearts.
Others will be hateful. We shall become loving. Thus we shall direct our hearts.
Others will be unwise. We shall become wise. Thus we shall direct our hearts.”
– Jack Kornfield
To those who withhold refuge,
I cradle you in safety at the core of my Being.
To those that cause a child to cry out,
I grant you the freedom to express your own choked agony.
To those that inflict terror,
I remind you that you shine with the purity of a thousand suns.
To those who would confine, suppress, or deny,
I offer the limitless expanse of the sky.
To those who need to cut, slash, or burn,
I remind you of the invincibility of Spring.
To those who cling and grasp,
I promise more abundance than you could ever hold onto.
To those who vent their rage on small children,
I return to you your deepest innocence.
To those who must frighten into submission,
I hold you in the bosom of your original mother.
To those who cause agony to others,
I give the gift of free flowing tears.
To those that deny another’s right to be,
I remind you that the angels sang in celebration of you on the day of your
birth.
To those who see only division and separateness,
I remind you that a part is born only by bisecting a whole.
For those who have forgotten the tender mercy of a mother’s embrace,
I send a gentle breeze to caress your brow.
To those who still feel somehow incomplete,
I offer the perfect sanctity of this very moment.
– Kuan Yin’s prayer for the abuser
Do you think peace requires an end to war?
Or tigers eating only vegetables?
Does peace require an absence from
your boss, your spouse, yourself? …
Do you think peace will come some other place than here?
Some other time than Now?
In some other heart than yours?
Peace is this moment without judgment.
That is all. This moment in the heart-space
where everything that is is welcome.
Peace is this moment without thinking
that it should be some other way,
that you should feel some other thing,
that your life should unfold according to your plans.
Peace is this moment without judgment,
this moment in the heart-space where
everything that is is welcome.
– Dorothy Hunt, Peace is This Moment Without Judgment
“If you want to see the brave, look at those who can forgive. If you want to see the heroic, look at those who can love in return for hatred.”
– Bhagavad Gita
“The real problem of humanity is the following: we have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and god-like technology.”
– Edward Wilson
