Those who walk the path of peace must take care not to stray to the path of ignorance, for to "ignore" violence, without or within, does not nullify it. We may deny our violent nature, but violence will only bubble and seethe within us, like magma beneath the still mountain which, in time, explodes in a rain of fire and ash, destroying all around it. We may try to ignore violence in the world, but it will still cause destruction though we choose to look away. By and by, when violence finds us, we may attempt to respond with peace, love and acceptance, but if the only motivation is to destroy us, we have then only peacefully accepted our own destruction. It is a shame, really, that enlightened prophets so often make of themselves martyrs for their excessive devotion to "peace".
Enlightenment is not all mantras and crystals. True enlightenment is often paid for in pain and tears of wisdom hard-won. The enlightened warrior has seen the pain wrought by the path of destruction, often first-hand. Most people do not survive such ordeals, or, if they do, are broken by them. The enlightened warrior, having endured and overcome, seeks to preserve others from a worser fate at the unforgiving hand of another. Thus, like the firm hand of a loving parent, they administer discipline to those who will learn no other way.
By mastering violence, we come to terms with the violence, both within and without, learning to control it, to reign it in and subdue it, rather than allowing it to run rampant and unchecked. To allow this is not compassionate, neither to the world which is subjected to that violence, nor to the violent person running headlong down the path of violence toward their own eventual destruction.
When a child too young to understand language or reason reaches out to touch a flame, is it better to let them learn by burning their hand or to lightly smack the hand so that they still associate fire with pain without blistering their flesh? When an adult commits a crime does the judge or officer say to them "I love you, please don't do that" or is the person arrested, charged and punished?
When mass shootings occur, has any shooter EVER stopped because a victim asked them "why?" or said to them "I have never hurt you, please don'e hurt me."
Has a rapist ever been stopped in their tracks by an intended victim saying "it is okay that you do this to me because I love you."
Would the holocaust have been prevented if only the Jews embraced Hitler as their feurer?
I believe in love and compassion. I believe in acceptance and understanding. I believe in the pursuit of peace, and I believe that "fighting" for "peace" is largely pandering because, in the literal sense, the two are mutually exclusive. However, I believe, as I expressed in the mission statement of this project, in BALANCE above all. Mercy must sometimes be tempered with severity and forgiveness with punishment. True love and compassion cannot abide violence, hate and fear indefinitely. True peace must sometimes be obtained by destruction of the destroyer. If they can be converted or rehabilitated, wonderful. Always try that first, but do not assume that they will accept it willingly. Sometimes it is necessary to subdue and control the source of violence before they will listen to reason. Those who do not know compassion must be taught compassion, but when they feel that they are protecting some higher good by destroying that which they are offended by, they may need to find themselves on the other end of the proverbial stick before they can see the error of their philosophy.
One can learn to master violence and, in so doing, obtain peace. One can inflict pain out of love to spare another from even greater pain. One can help to heal a wounded individual with compassion, acceptance, and understanding, but only if they themselves survive the initial confrontation.
It IS, in fact, possible to be a "Peaceful Warrior"
As the old adage says;
It is better to be a warrior in a garden than to be a gardener in a war.
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