Mark S. Blackburn, Veteran USA
The below letter from Deepak Chopra challenges us to peace and to avoid the easy reaction of retaliation!
-Mark
Subject: Letter from Deepak Chopra - Constructive,
Evocative and Empowering
The Deeper Wound
As fate would have it, I was leaving New York on a jet flight that took
off
45 minutes before the unthinkable happened. By the time we landed in
Detroit, chaos had broken out. When I grasped the fact that American
security had broken down so tragically, I couldn't respond at first.
My
wife and son were also in the air on separate flights, one to Los Angeles,
one to San Diego. My body went absolutely rigid with fear. All
I could
think about was their safety, and it took several hours before I found out
that their flights had been diverted and both were safe.
Strangely, when the good news came, my body still felt that it had been
hit
by a truck. Of its own accord it seemed to feel a far greater trauma
that
reached out to the thousands who would not survive and the tens of
thousands
who would survive only to live through months and years of hell. And
I
asked myself, Why didn't I feel this way last week? Why didn't my
body go
stiff during the bombing of Iraq or Bosnia? Around the world my
horror and
worry are experienced every day. Mothers weep over horrendous loss,
civilians are bombed mercilessly, refugees are ripped from any sense of
home
or homeland. Why did I not feel their anguish enough to call a halt
to it?
As we hear the calls for tightened American security and a fierce military
response to terrorism, it is obvious that none of us has any answers.
However, we feel compelled to ask some questions. Everything has a cause,
so
we have to ask, What was the root cause of this evil? We must find
out not
superficially but at the deepest level. There is no doubt that such
evil is
alive all around the world and is even celebrated.
Does this evil grow from the suffering and anguish felt by people we don't
know and therefore ignore? Have they lived in this condition for a
long
time?
One assumes that whoever did this attack feels implacable hatred for
America. Why were we selected to be the focus of suffering around
the
world? All this hatred and anguish seems to have religion at its
basis.
Isn't something terribly wrong when jihads and wars develop in the name of
God? Isn't God invoked with hatred in Ireland, Sri Lanka, India,
Pakistan,
Israel, Palestine, and even among the intolerant sects of America?
Can any military response make the slightest difference in the underlying
cause? Is there not a deep wound at the heart of humanity?
If there is a deep wound, doesn't it affect everyone?
When generations of suffering respond with bombs, suicidal attacks, and
biological warfare, who first developed these weapons? Who sells
them? Who
gave birth to the satanic technologies now being turned against us?
If all of us are wounded, will revenge work? Will punishment in any
form
toward anyone solve the wound or aggravate it? Will an eye for an
eye, a
tooth for a tooth, and limb for a limb, leave us all blind, toothless and
crippled?
Tribal warfare has been going on for two thousand years and has now geen
magnified globally. Can tribal warfare be brought to an end? Is
patriotism
and nationalism even relevant anymore, or is this another form of
tribalism?
What are you and I as persons going to do about what is happening? Can we
afford to let the deeper wound fester any longer?
Everyone is calling this an attack on America, but is it not a rift in our
collective soul? Isn't this an attack on civilization from without
that is
also from within?
When we have secured our safety once more and cared for the wounded, after
the period of shock and mourning is over, it will be time for soul
searching. I only hope that these questions are confronted with the
deepest
spiritual intent. None of us will feel safe again behind the shield
of
military might and stockpiled arsenals. There can be no safety until
the
root cause is faced. In this moment of shock I don't think anyone of
us has
the answers. It is imperative that we pray and offer solace and help
to
each other. But if you and I are having a single thought of violence
or
hatred against anyone in the world at this moment, we are contributing to
the wounding of the world.
Love,
Deepak
Mark Blackburn
Mark S. Blackburn, MBA
1310 E Street Mansion
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.444.6500
Write to Mark: Mark_Blackburn@Yahoo.com