The War Zone

I just wrote about how the realization came to me yesterday that where I am living is like a war zone. A place where multiple times daily and nightly the building literally shakes. The walls shake, my floor shakes, the furniture shakes, my bed shakes. Imagine what that is doing to my mind, body, and spirit. Not good things.

But what exactly is a war zone?

The karma of war zones is all over the planet. A lot of beings are caught up in violent energy. One thing that the teachings I follow explain is about freeing oneself from karma, from violence, from violent actions and energy. But it is all around.

It is not just here, it is all over the globe. One reads every day about incidents of violence. In order for such incidents to happen there is a huge amount of violence that is already present all the time. Before any overt act occurs there is already violence. The actual acts of violence that one reads and hears about are just the product of the widespread, rampant violence that has many, many beings caught up in it.

The teachings that I follow take one on a path away from darkness, towards light. Yet still there is a lot of darkness in the world. It self-replicates very effectively. Violence is enabled by a lot of different types of karma. Not all these types are overt, but they contribute.

A lot of things go together to create violence and lay patterns of violence which replicate and spread. It is the complicity from all levels that creates situations like this. Acts of negligence, irresponsibility, selfishness, greed, and others can all go into the toxic mixture of creating a violent society.

Again, the basic teachings that have been handed down over not just centuries, but millennia, are highly relevant. As human beings, we only require so much to attain our peak happiness. Beyond that it is only misguided overindulgence which leads to destruction.

Yet over and over again even right now at the present moment, in this place, people are preoccupied with greed over the fundamentals such as wholeness of mind, body, and environment. Why is it that politicians ejaculate over themselves every time it comes to something like building a new sports arena or expensive condo development, but then when it comes to basic fundamentals such as the sanctity of the home of every human being who dwells in their communities, they lose interest?

Perhaps they will claim that it is for the money, and that that money can be of benefit to the community. But communities do not need blood money. Blood money is never a benefit. What people need are peaceful homes, safe communities, the ability to enjoy where they live not just indoors but outdoors. Its important for a healthy mind, body, and soul, and critically important for the development of healthy children.

But the modes which are dominant right now are only increasing the problems, not decreasing them. They are leading to more division, not less. More stratification of society into privileged and underprivileged, instead of unity.

There is violence all over the world. It takes many things to go into the mix: negligence, corruption, selfishness, greed, lack of concern, etc. Even something like caring about a little bird in one’s front yard can be important. How many people think about the welfare of a small creature that has every right to live its existence in peace and happiness as does any human?

The idea that humans have a right to perpetrate violence against nature at will is perverse and sick. Humans do have that capacity but as they fall into that cycle of deep violation they lose something very critical and important for survival. Just as they may claim that they are engaging in violent behaviors for the sake of their survival, they are assuring their destruction.

I’m kind of sad. I have thought that by now humans would have figured out a lot more than they have, that they would be a lot further – a lot – along from where they are. They have intelligent minds and the ability to observe and learn. Most of what it takes to live harmoniously and wisely on Earth is not rocket science. But gentle attentiveness is pushed time and again to the side in place of aggression and myopia.

People should be very careful in a time like this. There are a lot of realms of suffering and it takes a sincere, honest, and strong resolve to want to end the cycles of violence that enslave so many.

The violence that one reads or hears about that is in far away places is not so far away at all. It is right here. It is all over. And people need to pay more attention and start listening to their conscience if they really truly want it to end.