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@novaw0lf Here is Buffy Sainte-Marie's take on it.
Universal Soldier by Buffy Sainte-Marie
He's five foot two and he's six feet four He fights with missiles and with spears. He's all of thirty one, and he's only seventeen, He's been a soldier for a thousand years. He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain, A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew And he knows he shouldn't kill And he knows he always will, Kill you for me, my friend, and me for you.
And he's fighting for democracy, he's fighting for the Reds, He says it's for the peace of all. He's the one who must decide Who's to live and who's to die, And he never sees the writing on the wall.
But without him how would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau? Without him Caesar would have stood alone. He's the one who gives his body as a weapon of the war, And without him all this killing can't go on.
He's the universal soldier, and he really is to blame His orders come from far away no more They come from him, and you and me, And brothers, can't you see, This is not the way we'll put the end to war.
Poetic criticism, well written, though devoid of challenge of fact to disprove. Ostensibly, I am talking to many of you as brick walls, and I'm sure you feel the same in reciprocation. Henceforth, we are two different breeds of people, as I said.
...Alas, I see no need to speak further on this. Though I'm sure many will have more comments to add, ultimately: I've stated my case to the best of my current ability. Anything further would be to jaw and type in futility.
I think the challenge she poses is to just say no to fighting and killing. A personal commitment. Now, if she had just written a song for fishermen. It's tough to break away from a lifetime of conditioning.
Truth does not have an opposite, only delusions, lies and self does that. So for example we can say we have a unique perception or character. That is the posture that has an opposing or different 'truth'. Knowledge, Gnosis, Rigpa, Buddha Nature can not be contained by a wrong or opposing view. It exists as inherently unopposable. That is why it can be 'transmitted' or alluded to but not be spoken. In this sense the 'Masters' of Buddhism, the awakened are another breed, that speak with 'one voice'. Those of us asleep are still clinging to wrong view in different containers.
I think the challenge she poses is to just say no to fighting and killing. A personal commitment. Now, if she had just written a song for fishermen. It's tough to break away from a lifetime of conditioning.
Perhaps I am wrong, but from you I sense a modicum of pity for me in between your words; perhaps such is befitting. The poem basically states that there will never be an end to war for he who fights it, regardless of what philosophical or theological angle he enters war from.
To what apotheosis of war begotten by all the world do I expect a resolution? None, so long as there is the existence of human emotion. I know that my path is an endless one; we men are tragic beings caught in cyclic strife, though for some reason...I still cling to hope, my reason to fight; for so long as there is evolution, the will to learn, and history to be written in aid of the prevention of previous err...there is a means to an end.
We as a people are indeed growing toward something; toward what, I'm not sure. Even if the end would result in our total destruction, it would not be for naught, for regardless of its result or definition, there will still be peace...and I can live with that, no matter how many lives I spend reaching for it. We will all -eventually- reach nirvana, in one way or the other. What's the old proverb? Some roads may be longer and more arduous than others, but all roads do lead to Rome!
So for example we can say we have a unique perception or character.
Truth does not have an opposite, only delusions, lies and self does that. So for example we can say we have a unique perception or character. That is the posture that has an opposing or different 'truth'. Knowledge, Gnosis, Rigpa, Buddha Nature can not be contained by a wrong or opposing view. It exists as inherently unopposable. That is why it can be 'transmitted' or alluded to but not be spoken. In this sense the 'Masters' of Buddhism, the awakened are another breed, that speak with 'one voice'. Those of us asleep are still clinging to wrong view in different containers.
I understand what you're saying...and I dare to disagree. Any psychologist or philosopher will tell you that truth is one thing; fact is another. Truth is subjective; fact is not.
Use fact to change me, not your perception of truth.
My apologies, I should have said Absolute Truth, not mundane truth. Such absolutes are experietial but not expressible without the usual counters. You will notice how easy the expression finds a polarity . . .
Truth does not have an opposite, only delusions, lies and self does that. So for example we can say we have a unique perception or character. That is the posture that has an opposing or different 'truth'. Knowledge, Gnosis, Rigpa, Buddha Nature can not be contained by a wrong or opposing view. It exists as inherently unopposable. That is why it can be 'transmitted' or alluded to but not be spoken. In this sense the 'Masters' of Buddhism, the awakened are another breed, that speak with 'one voice'. Those of us asleep are still clinging to wrong view in different containers.
I think we can get glimpses though .... and these glimpses convince me that I have nothing to say about Truth - lol.
This is one of those grey subjects that most of us wish was simply a black and white issue.
Violence!.. What do you think of when thinking of this. It's an interesting concept to isolate and examine beyond our emotional knee jerk reactions to it.
I think of violence as the experience of an assault on anythings personal space. We can not really breath without being violent by this definition.
I can only judge violence by whether it results in compassion, love and wisdom or if it results in greed, hate and ignorance. My Zen background tends to view it in terms of whether it solidifies or intensifies the ego or whether is softens and dissolves it. The precepts are good gauges to measure this by.
My apologies, I should have said Absolute Truth, not mundane truth. Such absolutes are experietial but not expressible without the usual counters. You will notice how easy the expression finds a polarity . . .
I understand that there is no true self, since the self as my brain recognizes it to be is merely a container for the conscience which is actually shared by all sentient beings in the universe. Therein, your successes are my successes; your failures are my failures, and so forth.
However, when I speak of myself as being a different breed of person, I mean not to separate us intrinsically, but to separate us physically, that which we are. Even following that "absolute" truth, it does nothing to challenge my vow to live for all sentient beings, which I hereby take.
I finally just read the wikipedia article on Bodhisattvas.
It pretty much explains everything that I feel in much better words than my flawed grammar can articulate. Reading this nearly brought a tear to my eye. I took the Shepherd's vow in my heart, long before I even knew what it was. I just looked this up today. Before, when @zombiegirl said it, I said nothing in return, because I was uneducated in what it was. I looked it up in the dictionary afterward, and smiled. Then just this morning, looked it up in more detail and nearly cried. This is me.
I will dedicate the rest of my life (this life, the next, and the next after), even if in loneliness, perfecting myself for the sake of others. Traveling the world in peace, though prepared for war should it arise (in order to defend the freedoms of those who would need it), balanced, until all life-forms are able to reach nirvana.
My personal desires are nothing; my greatest attachment is the world.
Comments
Here is Buffy Sainte-Marie's take on it.
Universal Soldier by Buffy Sainte-Marie
He's five foot two and he's six feet four
He fights with missiles and with spears.
He's all of thirty one, and he's only seventeen,
He's been a soldier for a thousand years.
He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain,
A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew
And he knows he shouldn't kill
And he knows he always will,
Kill you for me, my friend, and me for you.
And he's fighting for democracy, he's fighting for the Reds,
He says it's for the peace of all.
He's the one who must decide
Who's to live and who's to die,
And he never sees the writing on the wall.
But without him how would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone.
He's the one who gives his body as a weapon of the war,
And without him all this killing can't go on.
He's the universal soldier, and he really is to blame
His orders come from far away no more
They come from him, and you and me,
And brothers, can't you see,
This is not the way we'll put the end to war.
...Alas, I see no need to speak further on this. Though I'm sure many will have more comments to add, ultimately: I've stated my case to the best of my current ability. Anything further would be to jaw and type in futility.
Now, if she had just written a song for fishermen. It's tough to break away from a lifetime of conditioning.
Perhaps I am wrong, but from you I sense a modicum of pity for me in between your words; perhaps such is befitting. The poem basically states that there will never be an end to war for he who fights it, regardless of what philosophical or theological angle he enters war from.
To what apotheosis of war begotten by all the world do I expect a resolution? None, so long as there is the existence of human emotion. I know that my path is an endless one; we men are tragic beings caught in cyclic strife, though for some reason...I still cling to hope, my reason to fight; for so long as there is evolution, the will to learn, and history to be written in aid of the prevention of previous err...there is a means to an end.
We as a people are indeed growing toward something; toward what, I'm not sure. Even if the end would result in our total destruction, it would not be for naught, for regardless of its result or definition, there will still be peace...and I can live with that, no matter how many lives I spend reaching for it. We will all -eventually- reach nirvana, in one way or the other. What's the old proverb? Some roads may be longer and more arduous than others, but all roads do lead to Rome!
Truth does not have an opposite, only delusions, lies and self does that. So for example we can say we have a unique perception or character. That is the posture that has an opposing or different 'truth'. Knowledge, Gnosis, Rigpa, Buddha Nature can not be contained by a wrong or opposing view. It exists as inherently unopposable. That is why it can be 'transmitted' or alluded to but not be spoken. In this sense the 'Masters' of Buddhism, the awakened are another breed, that speak with 'one voice'. Those of us asleep are still clinging to wrong view in different containers.
I understand what you're saying...and I dare to disagree. Any psychologist or philosopher will tell you that truth is one thing; fact is another. Truth is subjective; fact is not.
Use fact to change me, not your perception of truth.
Truth does not have an opposite, only delusions, lies and self does that. So for example we can say we have a unique perception or character. That is the posture that has an opposing or different 'truth'. Knowledge, Gnosis, Rigpa, Buddha Nature can not be contained by a wrong or opposing view. It exists as inherently unopposable. That is why it can be 'transmitted' or alluded to but not be spoken. In this sense the 'Masters' of Buddhism, the awakened are another breed, that speak with 'one voice'. Those of us asleep are still clinging to wrong view in different containers.
I think we can get glimpses though .... and these glimpses convince me that I have nothing to say about Truth - lol.
Violence!.. What do you think of when thinking of this. It's an interesting concept to isolate and examine beyond our emotional knee jerk reactions to it.
I think of violence as the experience of an assault on anythings personal space.
We can not really breath without being violent by this definition.
I can only judge violence by whether it results in compassion, love and wisdom or if it results in greed, hate and ignorance.
My Zen background tends to view it in terms of whether it solidifies or intensifies the ego or whether is softens and dissolves it. The precepts are good gauges to measure this by.
However, when I speak of myself as being a different breed of person, I mean not to separate us intrinsically, but to separate us physically, that which we are. Even following that "absolute" truth, it does nothing to challenge my vow to live for all sentient beings, which I hereby take.
I finally just read the wikipedia article on Bodhisattvas.
It pretty much explains everything that I feel in much better words than my flawed grammar can articulate. Reading this nearly brought a tear to my eye. I took the Shepherd's vow in my heart, long before I even knew what it was. I just looked this up today. Before, when @zombiegirl said it, I said nothing in return, because I was uneducated in what it was. I looked it up in the dictionary afterward, and smiled. Then just this morning, looked it up in more detail and nearly cried. This is me.
I will dedicate the rest of my life (this life, the next, and the next after), even if in loneliness, perfecting myself for the sake of others. Traveling the world in peace, though prepared for war should it arise (in order to defend the freedoms of those who would need it), balanced, until all life-forms are able to reach nirvana.
My personal desires are nothing; my greatest attachment is the world.