KJ
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The
Buddha and the Terrorist: The Story of Angulimala
Satish Kumar, Green Books, 2005, paperback, 75pp
Reviewed by Ted Taylor (in KJ #65)
During In these dark days of dissenting clashing views beliefs and spiraling
violence, the story of Angulimala is one that speaks profoundly. In
The Buddha and the Terrorist, Satish Kumar retells this classic
tale of the Buddha's conversion of a merciless killer, mixing the version
he heard as a child from his mother with a version he later learned
from a Sri Lankan monk.
In Savatthi, a northern Indian city, an Untouchable called Angulimala
(“Wearer of a Finger Necklace”), has been indiscriminately
killing people and cutting off their fingers, vowing not to stop until
he has killed one hundred victims. Warned of the danger by terrified
villagers, the Buddha states, “Life lived in fear is no life.”
Continuing on his journey, the Buddha is soon confronted by the killer.
Of murderers, terrorists, and criminals, the Buddha says, “They
are not bad, they are just asleep, ignorant and disconnected. Friendship
is the way of connecting and waking up.”
After hearing the Buddha's gentle message, Angulimala quickly understands
the futility of his anger and the violence that stems from it. He soon
after takes monk’s vows, changing his name to Ahimsaka (“Non-violent
One”) and begins to follow the Eightfold Path. The Buddha then
sets out to persuade the King, and the families of those who Angulimala
has killed, of the merits of loving one’s neighbors and the wisdom
of practicing non-violence.
Kumar is well acquainted with the path of peace work. As a Jain monk,
he once walked 8,000 miles around the world in order to meet with the
world leaders of the five countries that possessed nuclear weapons.
He is now the editor of Resurgence magazine and program director of
Schumacher College, both of which focus on the interconnectedness of
the world and its inhabitants. The story of Angulimala has long been
used as a means of introducing the basics of Buddhist thought. In his
reworking of the tale, Kumar stresses the importance of looking for
the root causes of violence and terror, and insists that “meeting
fire with fire” is not an enlightened method of defusing violence.
We simply need “only connect,” with those with whom we disagree
in order to begin peaceful dialogue and thereby find practical solutions
to our common problems.
Copyright
held by the author
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