Wednesday's Good Deed

Have you done meditation? There is a saying in Zen Buddhism, "When your mind is peaceful, the world is peaceful." Think about it. Our mind is in a constant struggle of what we want and what we need, what we think the world is and what the world really is, and who the person we think we are and the person other perceive in us. This inner struggle is the cause of many global and local conflicts. Many people are oblivious of this struggle within themselves and attribute the cause of the problems outside of themselves. Thus, the conflicts persist. Only when people resolve the conflicts within themselves, the ongoing conflicts can be resolved.

Some people may regard this as total nonsense, arguing that the conflicts on the earth is caused by irrefutable greed and hatred by some people (i.e., the evil ones). However, how can we sure we are on the "good" side? Is it not possible that it is our greed and hatred that cause the conflict? When we claim the "rights" over something, the entrenchment of others on our "rights" would elicit protection of our self-interests (in other words, greed and hatred). There is never going to be an ending in arguing who has the rights on something over others. Instead, the solution should be both sides reflecting upon their claim of rights and share things with each other.

That's where meditation comes in. Meditation helps us to achieve three Cs: Calm, Concentration, and Clarity. By doing meditation, one can examine his/her own needs and desire and hopefully resolve the conflict within him/herself. Only by resolving this inner conflict, one can resolve the interpersonal conflict. And only then, we would achieve a more peaceful society.