Orange County Buddhist Church
Orange County Buddhist Church
We were all shocked to see and hear the tragic news of the shootings at Virginia Tech University. I was speaking at a temple in Japan during this time and watched the news from Japan. Even in Japan it was big news with all the stations covering the event and with commentators analyzing what happened from various perspectives.
There are various ways that this tragedy has been analyzed, from the standpoint of gun control, police and college security, to the mental health condition of the shooter.
I would like to reflect on this tragedy from the perspective of the nobility of life.
I think that an act like this, more than being a moral or ethical issue, was an act done by someone who lost or could not find the nobility of life. Not having a sense for the nobility of life, becoming depressed and falling into a darkened state of mind, the shooter took the life of others, and eventually his own life.
We usually think in terms of right and wrong, morals and ethics. Of course from a moral and ethical standpoint, one would have to say that what occurred was an immoral act. However, what is the basis for living a moral or ethical life? From a Buddhist perspective, the basis comes from one's understanding about life and others. It comes from an understanding about the interdependence of life. It comes from an understanding of the precious nobility of life. One does not want to harm or take the lives of others because of the awareness or understanding of the precious, nobility of life. In that sense, this understanding may go beyond morality and ethics.
From a moral and ethical standpoint, one could say that the shootings were immoral. However, that same person may have the viewpoint that the War in Iraq is morally and ethically justified. The Buddhist, however, might consider the shootings at Virginia Tech, and the war in Iraq, as both taking the precious noble life of innocent college students at Virginia Tech, and also the innocent lives of civilians and soldiers on either sides of the war in Iraq.
While the world tries to deal with societal and world problems of crime, violence, and war, with gun control, prisons, or military action, the Buddhist perspective seeks to get to the core of the issue, the source of man's violence, the unenlightened ego self. With an awareness, an understanding of the precious nobility of life, with an awareness of the interdependent nature of mankind, we cannot hurt or take the lives of others, here or abroad. We cannot take our own life, for it too is noble, precious, and unrepeated.
Namuamidabutsu,
Rev. Marvin Harada
May 2007
