Editor's Note - This is an excerpt from the June 2004 issue of the Buddhist Wheel

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense.”

These words make me wonder why humanity must suffer so much. In war, people die on both sides. Bombs and missiles kill many beings indiscriminately while others die slowly from lack of food or medicine. War makes no exception for children, women, the elderly, or the helpless. Those firing missiles cannot consider the after-effects of sorrow and suffering while firing. Tragically, many lives are taken in an instant without pity. Relationships are cut off. Tears flow across many borders. War brings only sorrow and pity. Isn’t war an absurdity? How can we accept this reality?

War is indeed very strange. People who are at war believe that they are doing the right thing, that the are protecting their country and its people. Nobody wants war, yet when war is fought, weapons are needed. They are made, and then they are crushed one by one during battle. I wonder whether those making the weapons ever think that they are working to make weapons to kill people. Of course not. They probably say, “We are working to support our families and children.” Even soldiers say they are fighting to protect their country and families. Nobody wants to kill another human being. Moreover, we must acknowledge the reality that the enemy’s children and families are dying as well. No matter what you think, war means killing another human being. War is a difficult dilemma indeed!

In Tannisho, Shinran says, “I, Shinran have never even once uttered the Nembutsu for my father and mother.” Shinran felt that all beings have been fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, in the timeless process of birth and death. When each of us attains Buddhahood in the next birth, each will be saved. Shinran Shonin didn’t think that he could save his parents through the Nembutsu because that power comes from Amida Buddha who has already promised to save all sentient being through his Vow. Amida Buddha does not discriminate. We therefore need to turn to the Nembutsu during these chaotic times for the many more that are embraced by the Vow.

If we think only of ourselves, we will be joyful when we win the war. However, we should go beyond this thinking because we need to realize that each person who dies has a family: parents, a wife, children, brothers or sisters. If we retain our narrow self-centeredness, we cannot realize the universal truth of interconnectedness. As Eisenhower suggests, the consequences of war do not change; humanity pays the price through sacrifice of life and property.

We should cherish all living beings of this world with the same heart that loves our parents and our families. I think this is what Shinran is saying to us in Tannisho, chap. V. The karmic suffering that wars have brought about is beyond our power. What we must understand is that every human being is just that---another human being. We need to be thoughtful of others. I want peace. Others want it too. Let Amida’s compassion and wisdom help us get along with everyone. May I ask that everyone seek peace? In gassho.

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