JOIN USGrowing up in the United States, I was taught that war was necessary; it was waged to protect us from our enemies and to save other nations who were at risk. Hollywood romanticized it and set it to music.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama explained, “Frankly, as a child, I too was attracted to the military. Their uniforms looked so smart and beautiful. But that is exactly how the seduction begins. Children start playing games that will one day lead them into trouble. There are a plenty of exciting games to play and costumes to wear other than those based on the killing of human beings.”
The Living Buddha said, “We should think carefully about the reality of war. Most of us have been conditioned to regard military combat as exciting and glamorous—an opportunity for men (and women) to prove their competence and courage. Since armies are legal, we feel that war is acceptable; in general, nobody feels that war is criminal or that accepting it is a criminal attitude. In fact, we have been brainwashed. War is neither glamorous nor attractive. It is monstrous. Its very nature is one of tragedy and suffering.”
Meanwhile, I loved our patriotic parades with marching bands and waving flags and disabled veterans riding in open cars saluting the crowds.
I never doubted that survivors of wars were our greatest heroes. Now I feel differently. When the god-king of Tibet said, “War also strongly resembles a fire in the way it spreads,” I resonated with his words. “If one area gets weak, the commanding officer sends in reinforcements. This is throwing live people onto a fire.
But because we have been brainwashed to think this way, we do not consider the suffering of individual soldiers.
“Again, if we as adults were not so fascinated by war, we would clearly see that to allow our children to become habituated to war games is extremely unfortunate. Some former soldiers have told me that when they shot their first person they felt uncomfortable but as they continued to kill it began to feel quite normal.”