War in our souls...

The Venerable Thich Nhat Han says, “There is a deep malaise in our society…We have to look deeply together into the nature of war in our collective consciousness.

The war is in our souls.

Many of us are not healthy within, and yet we continue to look for things that only harm us more…The most important practice for preventing war is to stay in touch with what is refreshing, healing, and joyful inside us and all around us.

If we practice walking mindfully, being in touch with the earth, the air, the trees, and ourselves, we can heal ourselves, and our entire society will also be healed.”

“If someone offers you a gift, to whom does the gift belong?” “If someone offers you a gift of anger or hostility and you do not accept it – then it still belongs to the giver.”

– Buddha. Why choose to be upset over something that does not belong to you?

When we look at anger closely and search for clues in dealing with it, we discover a whole spectrum of interrelated issues: anger itself, and then the things into which it can degenerate –

hatred, aggression, violence, and rage.