Expert Advice on Violence v. Nonviolence from a Spiritual Master

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Expert Advice on Violence v. Nonviolence from a Spiritual Master

Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Sat, 01/28/2006 - 3:20pm.

These are the words of His Holiness the Dalai Lama:

On the basis of external action, it is difficult to distinguish whether an action is violent or nonviolent. Basically it depends on the motivation behind the action.
If the motivation is negative, even though the external appearance may be very smooth and gentle, in a deeper sense the action is very violent. On the contrary, harsh actions and words done with a sincere, positive motivation are essentially nonviolent.
In other words, violence is a destructive power. Nonviolence is constructive. (emphasis added)

I think this is a good thing to consider in the violence v. nonviolence debate. It is also helpful in the "what is violence?" discussion.

Robert Whitlock's blog
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I didn't mean to scare everyo

Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Sun, 01/29/2006 - 10:54pm.

I didn't mean to scare everyone off.

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