Thank you for sharing your lesson from the Buddhists. I think it is one version of Buddhism that is worth hearing about. The Buddhist are in the news today you know because they decided, a bunch of them anyway, to walk from Texas to Washington DC for Peace! Once you get over the idea of Buddhist living in Texas, they are a wonderful crowd, although none of them are nuns.
But I want to remind you something else about Buddhists. My lasting thought about this group of people is that some of them practiced self immolation during the American war in Vietnam. That got our attention. Pouring a flammable liquid on yourself and lighting a match as a protest about the inequity that you see and face in the world is a little bit different than what you are suggesting. So you should remember that some people who are Buddhist have a different approach to the world. Some meditate, some walk long distances, and self immolation appeals to some as the only way to bring about a better world.
Sorry, I'm an obnoxious word hound — and, believe me, my posts have grammar boo-boos and typos in them all the time -- ask anybody! :-)
I think Buddhists and Buddhism are cool, but self-immolation feels like a bridge too far for me. If I remember those images correctly, though, they're sitting in repose whilst doing it, so somehow they are able maintain a level of peace within while doing it.
I'm not Buddhist myself, but I have a lot of respect for them. Thanks for sharing the message about the march.
Thank you for your spelling correction. Siri let me down. My own internal spellcheck was nagging me about the word.
Buddhists in Vietnam were not the last word on protest self immolation.
The man who burned himself to death to protest the war in Gaza last year was Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old active-duty member of the United States Air Force. He self-immolated on Sunday, February 25, 2024, outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C..
Here is the breakdown of the story:
The Act: Dressed in his military fatigues, Bushnell walked towards the Israeli embassy and began a live stream on the platform Twitch. He stated that he would "no longer be complicit in genocide" and that his suffering was minimal compared to that of Palestinians in Gaza.
The Incident: He set his phone down, doused himself in a liquid, and set himself on fire while shouting "Free Palestine!" multiple times.
Response: Secret Service officers arrived at the scene and extinguished the flames. Bushnell was transported to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries on the same day.
Identity and Background: Aaron Bushnell was a senior airman from Whitman, Massachusetts, stationed at Joint Base San Antonio in Texas. He was a cyber defense operations specialist.
Impact: The act was described as an "extreme act of protest". It drew significant attention to the war in Gaza and U.S. support for Israel, leading to vigils in his honor.
People have some self determination about how far to go in their acts of protest. I gather you are saying that you wouldn’t burn yourself to death. I probably wouldn’t either. But I do respect people who believe in something enough to die for it. It used to be that we thought soldiers in wars had that common characteristic. I’m not so sure about that.
In my life, I have chosen to be a non-violent, conscientious, objector and pacifist to paying for wars waged by the US. I do that by openly refusing to pay my federal income taxes when I owe them because so much of those taxes go to the military. You can learn a lot more about that form of protest by going to nwtrcc.org and maybe you will find that that is not a bridge too far for you. You can also look for the documentary film The Pacifist on Amazon for a little more about my story.
I hope that if you do check it out, you will let me know what you think! I am sure that both I and the film creator will be interested in your reaction as a self identified pacifist.
IMDb 8.1, that's pretty good. I consider IMDb the most reliable film rating source, if for no other reason than it rarely gets review bombed, but also because the ratings typically seem to blend well with my tastes. I've queued it up, so I'll let you know.
Those kinds of spelling things happen all the time to me, and if I hadn’t been planning to use the word in my response I would have just skipped it. I’d be a terrible person to *spell chek every comment I see. :-)
I forgot about Aaron Bushnell. Thank you for the reminder. I forget many things, which I normally would worry about as I get older, but it’s pretty much the same as when I was ten or so.
Thank you also for the tax tip! I’ve been thinking and wondering about that lately.
I’ve always been a pacifist, too. I’ve never hit another person, so I practice it in my day to day living, but I’ve never thought about it much, if that makes sense. I would not consider myself an activist, however, except maybe in some of my writing.
I’ve been seeing more calls for “revolution” lately in comments on my “political” posts, which can actually be fairly belligerent. I put “political” in quotes because I do not consider our current national debate a political one.
So I wrote a small fiction piece to convey my general opinion about the worth of violent revolution:
Publisher's note :) -- One primary reason I take writing so seriously is its ability to spark robust dialog. I am so pleased that my story connected you two! What a valuable conversation.
I remember those images clearly from the media! Something to think about, for sure, Larry. And we know that no group of humans is homogeneous. Since my life is modern-Buddhism centered, stories and practices like metta resonate with me. But that’s just the drum I march to. Thanks for taking time to read! May you be well.
Om!
Thank you for sharing your lesson from the Buddhists. I think it is one version of Buddhism that is worth hearing about. The Buddhist are in the news today you know because they decided, a bunch of them anyway, to walk from Texas to Washington DC for Peace! Once you get over the idea of Buddhist living in Texas, they are a wonderful crowd, although none of them are nuns.
But I want to remind you something else about Buddhists. My lasting thought about this group of people is that some of them practiced self immolation during the American war in Vietnam. That got our attention. Pouring a flammable liquid on yourself and lighting a match as a protest about the inequity that you see and face in the world is a little bit different than what you are suggesting. So you should remember that some people who are Buddhist have a different approach to the world. Some meditate, some walk long distances, and self immolation appeals to some as the only way to bring about a better world.
*self-immolation
Sorry, I'm an obnoxious word hound — and, believe me, my posts have grammar boo-boos and typos in them all the time -- ask anybody! :-)
I think Buddhists and Buddhism are cool, but self-immolation feels like a bridge too far for me. If I remember those images correctly, though, they're sitting in repose whilst doing it, so somehow they are able maintain a level of peace within while doing it.
I'm not Buddhist myself, but I have a lot of respect for them. Thanks for sharing the message about the march.
Thank you for your spelling correction. Siri let me down. My own internal spellcheck was nagging me about the word.
Buddhists in Vietnam were not the last word on protest self immolation.
The man who burned himself to death to protest the war in Gaza last year was Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old active-duty member of the United States Air Force. He self-immolated on Sunday, February 25, 2024, outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C..
Here is the breakdown of the story:
The Act: Dressed in his military fatigues, Bushnell walked towards the Israeli embassy and began a live stream on the platform Twitch. He stated that he would "no longer be complicit in genocide" and that his suffering was minimal compared to that of Palestinians in Gaza.
The Incident: He set his phone down, doused himself in a liquid, and set himself on fire while shouting "Free Palestine!" multiple times.
Response: Secret Service officers arrived at the scene and extinguished the flames. Bushnell was transported to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries on the same day.
Identity and Background: Aaron Bushnell was a senior airman from Whitman, Massachusetts, stationed at Joint Base San Antonio in Texas. He was a cyber defense operations specialist.
Impact: The act was described as an "extreme act of protest". It drew significant attention to the war in Gaza and U.S. support for Israel, leading to vigils in his honor.
People have some self determination about how far to go in their acts of protest. I gather you are saying that you wouldn’t burn yourself to death. I probably wouldn’t either. But I do respect people who believe in something enough to die for it. It used to be that we thought soldiers in wars had that common characteristic. I’m not so sure about that.
In my life, I have chosen to be a non-violent, conscientious, objector and pacifist to paying for wars waged by the US. I do that by openly refusing to pay my federal income taxes when I owe them because so much of those taxes go to the military. You can learn a lot more about that form of protest by going to nwtrcc.org and maybe you will find that that is not a bridge too far for you. You can also look for the documentary film The Pacifist on Amazon for a little more about my story.
I’ll check out the documentary. I’m sure I’ll like it.
I hope that if you do check it out, you will let me know what you think! I am sure that both I and the film creator will be interested in your reaction as a self identified pacifist.
IMDb 8.1, that's pretty good. I consider IMDb the most reliable film rating source, if for no other reason than it rarely gets review bombed, but also because the ratings typically seem to blend well with my tastes. I've queued it up, so I'll let you know.
I will, thanks
Those kinds of spelling things happen all the time to me, and if I hadn’t been planning to use the word in my response I would have just skipped it. I’d be a terrible person to *spell chek every comment I see. :-)
I forgot about Aaron Bushnell. Thank you for the reminder. I forget many things, which I normally would worry about as I get older, but it’s pretty much the same as when I was ten or so.
Thank you also for the tax tip! I’ve been thinking and wondering about that lately.
I’ve always been a pacifist, too. I’ve never hit another person, so I practice it in my day to day living, but I’ve never thought about it much, if that makes sense. I would not consider myself an activist, however, except maybe in some of my writing.
I’ve been seeing more calls for “revolution” lately in comments on my “political” posts, which can actually be fairly belligerent. I put “political” in quotes because I do not consider our current national debate a political one.
So I wrote a small fiction piece to convey my general opinion about the worth of violent revolution:
https://www.ruminato.com/p/conversations-on-a-bank-floor
Publisher's note :) -- One primary reason I take writing so seriously is its ability to spark robust dialog. I am so pleased that my story connected you two! What a valuable conversation.
The story was good (and rather calming, I think). I also love to see such inspired rational conversations.
I remember those images clearly from the media! Something to think about, for sure, Larry. And we know that no group of humans is homogeneous. Since my life is modern-Buddhism centered, stories and practices like metta resonate with me. But that’s just the drum I march to. Thanks for taking time to read! May you be well.