One Day of Silence

I am doing two things today in this post. First I am honoring the memory of all victims of violence where ever they are. I also honor the pain and suffering of all those families grieving for for the loss of someone held dear in their hearts. Senseless violence is just that; it makes no sense.

But remaining silent on the subject is just not right if we are going to find a solution to the problem. I don't have a solution to violence but we need our voices to be heard saying we have had enough and we want a start to actively finding workable solutions. We have somehow gotten desensitized to this problem. We read about it in the paper and watch it on TV and there is no longer any sense of outrage, anger or even a loud cry to do something about it.

It is time to end the silence.

I end this post today with a link to Carson Brackney who writes so much more eloquently about this than I do.

Technorati tags: Violence, Virginia Tech, perspective, one day of silence

Thinking Skills and Perspective - Assumptions

There is a common way of thinking that can generate a lot of problems for ourselves. Have we ever said after looking around at our acquaintances, casual friends, work group, or at any social gathering; Boy, they have got their stuff together?

We look at other people and assume they don't have the same kinds of problems that we have. That somehow, they have mastered the art of living well and we haven't by a long shot.

The difficulty with this kind of perspective is that we start to assume that I alone suffer and it is a misconception on our part about the basic human condition. From Buddha Net - The First Noble Truth we can read an excerpt that covers it well.

Suffering or dukkha is the common bond we all share. Everybody everywhere suffers. Human beings suffered in the past, in ancient India; they suffer in modern Britain; and in the future, human beings will also suffer. What do we have in common with Queen Elizabeth? - we suffer. With a tramp in Charing Cross, what do we have in common? - suffering. It includes all levels from the most privileged human beings to the most desperate and underprivileged ones, and all ranges in between. Everybody everywhere suffers. It is a bond we have with each other, something we all understand.

When we narrow our perspective and exclude others from that viewpoint then we can far too easily assume it is a problem with us alone. Somehow we have not measured up. Keeping this thought in our minds can lead to a life narrowing obsession based on a false assumption.

We need to challenge our thinking when we start thinking like this and ask questions to determine why we think like this and does it have any basis in reality.

If it does; then, we have a call to take action. If not; then it is time to remind ourselves that we all suffer in different ways. After all, we are all human.

 

Technorati tags: thinking skills, perspective, suffering, self-learning