Dharma Talk by Dr.Reeves - Tuesday's Devadatta

"Tuesday's Devadatta"
September 16, 2001

The magnitude of what happened in the United States on Tuesday, September 11, is beyond imagination. Nearly five thousand people are still missing, more than ten thousand were injured and hundreds of thousands were directlyeffected. We do not yet know the exact number of victims.

He asked us to think of children returning home to no parents, parents going to bed knowing their children are probably dead, wives and husbands returning home to no spouse, friends dead, friends missing, friends in grief.

The dead are not only Americans but people of more than 30 countries. All of us are related to these people in a variety ways. Some of us will discover in incoming weeks that people who have been close to us died in this tragic incident.

Our response was predictable-disbelief, shock, grief, fear, sadness, anger, even hatred. All are forms of suffering.

Most Americans, at least, now feel more vulnerable, no longer safe, feel as though their home is no long a place of safety. Although Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japanese in 1941, it is in Hawaii, felt to be a long way from the mainland, the United States has not been attacked for nearly two centuries.

Deep in human, or Western, nature there seems to be a need for revenge, retaliation, striking back, inflicting pain and punishment on those who have offended or wronged us. This is usually called "justice." In America, the "criminal justice system" is for the purpose of punishing criminals, as a way of getting even.

It is likely, however, that Tuesday's terrorists believed deeply that they were working for justice, giving their own lives for what they believed to be justice. One of the saddest things to see on television news was of some people in Palestine cheering the attacks on the World Trade Center Buildings and Pentagon. What was in their experience that led them to such a reaction to the killing of thousands of innocent people?

Now, others want to punish Arabs, or even Muslims, everywhere as potential "terrorists," and bomb the extremely poor country and people of Afghanistan into oblivion. Too often this is the nature of "justice." An eye for an eye, says the Bible. Justice looks back to correct wrongs or get even by inflicting punishment. These days, religious people all over the world are being encouraged to subscribe to Western notions of the "justice."

This is not, however, the Buddhist way. Buddhists are asked, even in the midst of enormous suffering, to look back in order better to understand causes and conditions giving rise to suffering. They have to ask not only who, but why?

But Buddhists are also asked to try to look forward-asking for, seeking for, a way ahead, a better world and a world of peace. Not to right the wrong, but to create the good.

This creates both a challenge and a problem for Buddhists. The problem is, how can there be peace in a world in which so many seek justice through punishment and retaliation, people who have no interest in causes or reasons, only in striking back? It is clear that Buddhists have an enormous healing ministry to perform.

Dr. Reeves next reminded us of the story of "Devadatta" in Chapter 12 of the Lotus Sutra.

Devadatta, the cousin of Shakyamuni, was known throughout Buddhism as the embodiment of evil, almost as a kind of devil. He tried to kill Shakyamuni at least three times and later tried to split the community of monks.

In the Lotus Sutra, however, Devadatta is thanked for teaching Shakyamuni. The beginning of the chapter is a story about a former life of the Buddha. Shakyamuni was once a king who learned the dharma from a wise man who was Devadatta in a former life. Because of Devadatta the king could become enlightened and became the Buddha. Thanking him, Shakyamuni announced that in a future age Devadatta too would become a Buddha.

It is impossible now for us to be thankful for Tuesday's devastation, the tragedy and loss is too great, but we can learn from it. We might learn that violence produces more violence. Retaliation does not cut the chain of violent retribution. We might learn that we should look into the causes and conditions creating the attitudes which enable someone to kill thousands of innocent people, along with oneself. The terrorists obviously were not pursuing their own selfish interests or desires. They apparently thought they were doing justice. If we are to work to create a better future we need to understand their motivation.

We Americans might learn that great profits from arms sales to Israel and others may not be so profitable after all. Selling weapons has been a big business for the United States.

However optimistic we may have been, we should have learned that the way to peace is a long and difficult one. Maybe Wonderful Voice Bodhisattva (妙音菩薩) in Chapter 24 of the Lotus Sutra was correct when he asked Shakyamuni Buddha about people of this world:

"Are your ailments and troubles few? Is your daily life and practice going smoothly? ... Are the affairs of the
world tolerable? Are the living beings easy to save? Are they not excessively greedy, angry, foolish, jealous
and arrogant? .... Don't they have wrong views and inadequate goodness? Are they not unrestrained in their
five emotions?"

Dr. Reeves concluded this talk by suggesting four things Buddhists can do now in response to this tragedy.

First of all, we can express sympathy-sympathy for the victims, their friends and loved ones; sympathy for those who have worked so hard to rescue or treat or comfort victims; and sympathy, too, for those who are now and will suffer from acts of vengeful retaliation.

Second, we can reflect on what contributed to the Tuesday's tragedy. We might ask ourselves, for example, whether by blindly supporting American policies on the Middle East Japan has also contributed to Tuesday's tragedy?

Third, we need to work to spread the dharma. Too few Buddhist voices are being heard in America today. Buddhism is becoming more and more popular in the West, but this week I haven't heard a single Buddhist voice on American television or radio.

Finally, we might cooperate with those who seek peace. Many Christians, Muslims, and Jews are, in a sense, practicing Buddha-dharma without knowing it. Through a variety of international agencies we can try to support them, encourage them in many ways. The same Bible that says, "an eye for an eye" also says, "turn the other cheek." We need to join the peacemakers of every religious tradition, promoting interfaith cooperation and encouraging them to work together to build a more peaceful world.

"Bodhisattva" means one who seeks to be enlightened by working for others. But another meaning of "bodhisattva" is one from whom we can learn, just as Shakyamuni learned from Devadatta. May Tuesday's tragedy be Tuesday's bodhisattva for all of us?