9/11 A Call For World Peace

The Buddha Shakyamuni in his infinite wisdom taught us the infallible law of cause and effect called karma. All of our own happiness and suffering is self created. If we do good, then good things will happen to us. If we do bad, then bad things will happen to us. In this saha (time & space) world karma might come back swiftly and it might come back later or even in another life time, but it will definitely come back to us. Jesus said that you reap what you sow. Isaac Newton said that for every action there is a reaction. So what was 9/11 a reaction to? How did we "self create" 9/11? Where in the world have we created 9/11's that it comes back to us now? More importantly, what positive actions are we going to take now to prevent another 9/11 from happening in the future? If 9/11 is not a wake up call for us to assume responsibility for our own actions and their karmic consequences and purify them through the power of goodness we will be bound to repeat them again and again until we do so.
If we want peace we must give peace. If we want to stop terrorism we must stop being terrorists. This is the universal law of karma. Peace does not come from the end of a gun barrel. Only peace is the cause of peace. War is the cause of war. Peace is not the cause of war. War is not the cause of peace. Any peace gained through war might give a temporary sense of peace but it can only last until the karmic debt of war comes due. And when it does, it always comes with compounded interest. If we really want peace we must lead the world by example because only by transforming our enemies into our friends can we really develop lasting peace. As a young but powerful nation we should learn how to make friends with our neighbors so that we don't offend them and live in a constant state of fear and poverty. Spending trillions of dollars on security and war just squanders the wealth of a nation. It could be much better spent on infrastructure improvements, education, health care, and social security like our Northern European neighbors. After all these are the issues and services that all citizens can't live without. We can easily transform our war money into peace money by simply transforming our enemies into our friends through loving kindness. Enjoying these spoils of peace makes the world a much healthier, happier and prosporus place to be.
How do we make friends and develop international peace? Most people generally have an understanding of how to make friends and how to make enemies. We all know that when we treat people with arrogance, indignation, and aggression we create enemies, and when we treat people with dignity, respect and loving kindness we create friends. Everyone wants to be treated with dignity, respect and loving kindness. Even if we treated our current enemies with dignity, respect and loving kindness there is no way they can remain our enemies for long. All of today's terrorists were yesterday's freedom fighters. All of today's enemies were yesterday's friends and all of today's friends were yesterday's enemies. How did we create our enemies in the first place is the first question we should ask if we want to make them our friends. Then with humility and the sincere intention to create world peace apologize for all our misgivings and start anew. If we are sincere our enemies will know it and we can begin to transform them into our friends right away. And, by remaining Sincere future enemies will not arise.
In the Buddha Dharma and most religions there are really only two paths. The path of transformation and the path of renunciation. Some people start off with renunciation and then develop the ability to transform, and some begin with the path of transformation and develop renunciation. What is renunciation? renouncing negative actions is the path of renunciation. When monks renounce the world they are really only renouncing that which is harmful to their own peace and the peace of the world so that peace becomes a more prevalent experience in life. What is transformation? Transforming negative situations into positive ones and dissolving them into the great state of equanimity is the path of transformation. Everyone has the power of renunciation and transformation especially world leaders, terrorists, freedom fighters and friends. How we apply the power of renunciation and transformation is up to us.
America is currently the most powerful country in the world and we have the ability to transform the whole world into a healthy peaceful place to live in, or into a toxic wasteland. So far we've done both. How we conduct ourselves now will determine the quality of life we will live in in the future and give to our children when we're gone. The choice is up to us. Even though all things good and bad are a creation of the absolute nature or God's magic dance, just because one might have a view of this infinite wisdom, our conduct should be as refined as flour. Peace is living in harmony with our own mind's true nature and God's infinite grace. If we were really true Christians, Muslims, Jews, Daoists and Buddhists we would not kill, lie, steal and so on. If we really followed our own moral codes of conduct and commandments without wavering World Peace would already be a reality. When all becomes One there is no space for two and the dualistic fixation of friend and foe dissolve into the vast expanse without a trace only leaving peace and calm abiding to remain.
Buddhist don't believe in an external God that creates our world but that each individual person experiences the creation of their own karma. This idea of personal responsibility makes us personally responsible for our own actions and the world we create. There are no excuses. We can't blame God or anyone else for our own suffering. We have created it ourselves and if we truly want to rid ourselves and the rest of the world from pain and suffering we have to get back to the basics of morality, meditation and wisdom. So, whether we experience war or peace is really up to us.
For every effect there is a cause. Let's be the cause of Peace now!!!