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Tuesday, 07 November 2006 17:23 |
By JEREMY MORRISON
Following his Sept. 1 lecture at UNC Ashevilleës Lipinsky Auditorium on confronting and growing from suffering, Buddhist monk Claude AnShin Thomas answered questions from the audience about his own personal experiences with suffering.
The first questioner asked Thomas how his own transformation took place.
"I can give you the Zen answer of ǃÚIt was always happening,ë" Thomas answered laughingly, before explaining that his growth actually began after he stopped using intoxicants.
The second question concerned Thomasë view of politics ÇƒÓ which he had previously said he avoids. If wars are caused by politicians, a woman asked, why couldnët peace have political roots?
"Great question," Thomas said. "Very intellectual."
He told the
woman that war was only the most visible form of violence and suffering
ÇƒÓ that true peace must be attained on an individual level.
"This process of healing is a very personal one," he added.
The next person asked Thomas to clarify his definitions of pacifism and non-violence.
Pacifism, Thomas
replied, was a rejection of violence because of personal fear of what
the violence would lead to. He said he viewed nonviolence as having the
capacity to be violent, but choosing not to.
"How about self-defense?" a man asked. "If someone wants to kill you, do you let them kill you?"
Thomas told the
man that he was ordained near one of the crematoriums at the Nazi
prison camp at Auschwitz and then walked on a pilgrimage to Vietnam,
where he came upon a government checkpoint. When the guards demanded
money, which Thomas did not have, they demanded he give them his
wristwatch. Again, he refused.
Thomas said he recognized at that time that the situation ÇƒÓ which ended without incident ÇƒÓ could not be solved with violence.
"If someone wants to kill you, they will kill you," he said. "You canët stop them."
Thomas went on to say that non-violence requires strict commitment.
"This is the
trick about nonviolence: people think nonviolence is wonderful, but
they always keep violence in the background and say, ǃÚIf this doesnët
work, I can do this,ë" Thomas explained. "Violence isnët a solution ǃÓ
ever."
The next question gave Thomas pause.
"How do you define love?" a woman asked.
After a deep breath, Thomas responded.
"I donët. I donët deal with it," he said. "It is indefinable."
The monk explained that love could not be pigeon-holed. To do so, would be to limit its possibilities.
"Love is manifesting itself constantly, in every moment," Thomas said.
Another woman
asked how Thomas deals with suffering when it arises. She said she
sometimes feels that her pain is too great and wants to suppress it.
"As much as Iëd like to hide, hiding doesnët bring healing," he told her. "And, there is no ǃÚtoo much.ë"
Thomas then
ended the evening the same way he had begun it. With palms pressed
together, he thanked the audience and took a deep breath before leaving
the stage.
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