The Buddha and the Terrorist

The Buddha and the Terrorist

The Buddha and the Terrorist

The Buddha and the Terrorist

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Overview

Not every book will change your life, but any book can. Not every discussion will make a difference, but a conversation can change the world.

In this timely retelling of an ancient Buddhist parable, peace activist Satish Kumar has created a small book with a powerful spiritual message about ending violence. It is a tale of a fearsome outcast named Angulimala ("Necklace of Fingers"), who is terrorizing towns and villages in order to gain control of the state, murdering people and adding their fingers to his gruesome necklace. One day he comes face to face with the Buddha and is persuaded, through a series of compelling conversations, to renounce violence and take responsibility for his actions.

The Buddha and the Terrorist addresses the urgent questions we face today: Should we talk to terrorists? Can we reason with religious fundamentalists? Is nonviolence practical? The story ends with a dramatic trial that speaks to the victims of terrorism—the families whose mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters Angulimala has murdered. It asks whether it is possible for them to forgive. Or whether it is even desirable.

No one can read The Buddha and the Terrorist without thinking about the root causes of terrorism, about good and evil, about justice and forgiveness, about the kind of place we want the world to be, and, most important, about the most productive and practical way to get there.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781616202408
Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Publication date: 09/01/2012
Sold by: Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format: eBook
Pages: 144
Sales rank: 949,606
File size: 2 MB

About the Author

Thomas Moore is the author of Care of the Soul.
Satish Kumar was born in India. He was a monk for nine years and then founded the London School for Nonviolence. He is the editor of the international magazine Resurgence and the director of programs at Schumacher College, and he has written two previous books, No Destination and You Are, Therefore I Am.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Encountering the Monster

A long time ago in North India, along the Gangetic plain, Gautama, the Buddha, came to Savatthi and found the town deserted: shops locked, houses closed, and streets empty. The Buddha was seeking food for his midday meal. He knocked at the door of a devoted disciple, the Lady Nandini, who looked out of a window anxiously. Seeing the Buddha, she hurriedly unlocked the door and urged him to come inside. As soon as he was in, she bolted the door again. The Buddha was bemused.

"What's the matter?" the Buddha asked in a puzzled voice. "I see fear on your face. Why are the streets empty of people?"

"Don't you know, my lord?" said Nandini. "A man known as Angulimala has been terrorizing the town and murdering people."

She took a deep breath. She felt worried that the Buddha, unaware and vulnerable, was going about the town without protection. What would happen if Angulimala met the Buddha? Nandini shivered at the thought.

"Who is Angulimala?" asked the Buddha.

"He wears the necklace (mala) of human fingers (anguli) and so he has become known as Angulimala. He is merciless. He is murdering men for their fingers. He is strong, skilled and daring — and he is cunning. He has destroyed villages and towns. Everyone is frightened of him."

A profound seriousness appeared on the face of the Buddha. He remained silent and thoughtful.

Nandini gave the Buddha a bowl of rice soaked in mango juice and honey, but her mind was not on food. She was thinking of Angulimala.

"Please stay here," Nandini begged the Buddha. "Do not go out alone, it is dangerous."

"But my disciples wait for me in the Jeta Grove. I must go."

"No, not to the Jeta Grove! In the forest, between here and the Jeta Grove, hides Angulimala. Please do not go, my lord, at least not through that forest. Angulimala will know no difference between the compassionate Buddha and an ordinary mortal. Take no such risk. He is a wanted criminal. There is a reward of a thousand gold coins on his head."

"Nandini, the Buddha has no fear of death, and the Buddha does not change his plans out of fear. The rice soaked in mango juice was truly nourishing. I am satisfied. Thank you for your gracious gift."

The Buddha turned toward the locked door. But Nandini was reluctant to let him go.

"I am waiting for you to unlock the door."

"Please, my lord, please listen. Do not approach Angulimala. He is very dangerous."

"Gracious Nandini, trust the Buddha, he is fully aware of what he is doing. Free yourself from fear."

"But I fear for your life, Illustrious One," said Nandini.

"Life lived in fear is no life," answered the Buddha. "It might be the job of the King to kill the criminals, but the calling of the Buddha is to transform them, awaken them, and liberate them from ignorance. So, Nandini, do not dissuade me from my duty."

"But believe me, my lord, Angulimala is beyond the pale," Nandini pleaded.

"Sweet Nandini, I understand your concerns," replied the Buddha. "But understand that my love, my friendship, and my compassion are not limited to those who are already in agreement with me. I must reach out to those who are possessed with anger and ignorance. Healing the wounded soul is my vocation. I am not worried about my life, or my death — I am worried about Angulimala."

To Nandini, the innocence of the Buddha bordered on naïveté. While she was thinking of ways to dissuade him from confronting Angulimala, she heard his final words:

"Nandini, I am happy to die, if that is what it takes to save Angulimala."

With shaking hands Nandini unlocked the door, yet she was still afraid. She imagined the fingers of the Buddha hanging from Angulimala's neck, and shivered at the thought.

"My lord, be careful, be very careful. Go well."

The Buddha raised his hand in blessing and walked calmly away. Soon he left the town behind.

The Buddha followed the path to the Jeta Grove through the fields alone, unhindered and undisturbed, deep into the cool of the woods. He kept walking, going deeper and deeper into the forest. In the stillness of the trees, the Buddha's steps were the only sound, and the only man to hear them was Angulimala. He wondered, "What is this sound? Who is walking? Who dares to come and invade my territory?"

In the distance he saw a figure in a yellow robe moving slowly. Angulimala shook his head in disbelief, then looked again. The moving figure was coming toward him.

Feeling happy, Angulimala grabbed his sword and stood up.

"Ah ha! I am going to get ten more fingers for my necklace without much effort!" he said to himself.

He brandished his sword and moved toward the approaching figure. Seeing his furious face, the Buddha realized that he must be Angulimala. The Buddha smiled and kept moving. Angulimala was amazed. He had never encountered a person who was not afraid of him and did not run away from him.

"Doesn't this ignorant fool know who I am? Soon he will know," murmured Angulimala.

Within seconds he heard a sweet voice calling, "Angulimala, Angulimala, Angulimala."

"How puzzling! He obviously knows me, knows my name and yet ... and yet?"

Angulimala shouted back loudly, "Who are you? Why aren't you running away from me? Don't you know I am going to kill you without blinking an eye and thread your fingers onto my necklace?"

"Yes, yes. I know who you are. But do you know that I can be killed without blinking an eye?" The Buddha paused for a moment, and then said, "I am always ready to die. Dying harms no one. But killing? How do you feel about killing others, Angulimala? Have you looked deeply into your feelings about killing?"

The Buddha looked at the man in front of him. Blood was still dripping from some of the fingers on his necklace. His bloodstained clothes and sweating body gave off a disturbing smell. Aggression emanated from his heavy black mustache and beard and his long matted hair. His strong and fearsome appearance would have driven away most mortals, but the Buddha stood like a rock.

"I know you can kill me, and maybe you will," said the Buddha. "But when you kill, you kill none other than yourself. Because I am none other than you, and you are none other than me. Whatever you do to me you do to yourself, Angulimala. Let me tell you one thing. You are capable not only of killing. You are also capable of loving, you are capable of compassion. You are capable of change, you are capable of friendship."

The Buddha stopped speaking and smiled.

"I have no friends."

"But I am your friend, Angulimala; that is why I have come to meet you and speak to you."

Angulimala trembled, listening to these words.

"You, my friend? I have given up all friendships. I have abandoned the world."

Buddha was pleased. Angulimala was talking, using his tongue rather than his sword.

"Why have you abandoned the world, Angulimala?"

"Because the world abandoned me."

"Why did the world abandon you?"

"Because my village abandoned me."

"Why did your village abandon you?"

"Because my family abandoned me."

"Why did your family abandon you?"

"Because my mother abandoned me."

"Why did your mother abandon you, Angulimala?"

"Because my mother followed my father; she loved me and yet she abandoned me, because my father abandoned me."

"Why did your father abandon you?" asked the Buddha in a low voice.

"Because I disagreed with him, I disobeyed him, I rebelled against him. I wanted to stand up for myself and follow my own path, but he would not let me. One day I hit him. I was angry with him."

Buddha closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and then spoke in a soothing voice. "Angulimala, were you so overcome with anger that you saw yourself separate from your father? Was this feeling of separation the cause of the quarrel between you and your father? Is it not true, Angulimala, that before you abandoned your father you abandoned your sense of connection? Is it not true then that you are yourself the cause of all abandonment? Angulimala, I am your friend and I want to help you to recognize the cause of your pain and your problems, to recognize your sorrow and suffering, and to recognize that there is no one else responsible for your actions other than yourself."

Angulimala stood speechless. No one had ever confronted him like this.

Angulimala remembered his childhood, one of deprivation. He remembered the days when he was humiliated by the high-caste youngsters; when his father was despised and denounced by men of superior birth. At the time he knew of no other way to deal with his anger than to take it out on his father. But what could his father do? Poor man, he was also a victim of his birth and circumstances. For Angulimala to blame his father and his family was no solution to the conditions of his community. He wished he had met earlier a man like this monk, this Buddha, who was able to listen and guide him out of his lonely battle against himself.

After a few moments of reflection, he said, "I never thought of my life in this way. When I abandoned my home I did so in search of freedom and dignity for myself, for my family, for my people. I met a magician, a dispenser of power which, he said, 'resides on the edge of the sword.' I said to him, 'I want to be powerful, what shall I do?' In response the shaman put a charm on this sword and gave it to me. He promised, 'If you kill one hundred men with this sword, and wear a garland of a thousand fingers, you will be able to impose your will upon others and you will rule the world.' Ever since I have been on a mission to kill, to make myself invincible. Now you come along and tell me something totally different. Are you a shaman?"

"I want you to find power within yourself. That inner power is greater than power over others. You and your people suffer because the king and the caste-ridden society impose power over you. Now you wish to impose your power over others. You have a love of power as strong as that of your enemies. Try the power of love. The power of the self is greater than the power of the sword. The power of love grows from inside, whereas the power of the sword is imposed from the outside. Like a tree grows from a seed, the power of love grows from the self; seek your power within and be your own light."

Angulimala found himself perplexed. He said, "The power of the sword is immediate and clear. But I know nothing about the power of the self."

The Buddha smiled at Angulimala's apparent confusion. "The power of the sword is dependent on the weakness, submission, and powerlessness of others. The power of love empowers everyone: it is self-organizing and self-sustaining. All beings, human and other than human, are naturally equipped with this intrinsic power, and it is released through the relationship of mutuality, reciprocity, friendship, and love. All efforts of control over and conflict with others end in tears, frustration, disappointment — or war."

"But why should I believe you?" Angulimala interjected. "How do I know that what you say is true?"

"I say this to you, Angulimala, because I have experienced it," replied the Buddha.

"How did you experience it? What makes you so fearless, that you are not afraid of anything, even death, that you are able to come to me knowing that I may kill you? Who are you?"

"I am the awakened one. I am the Buddha."

"From which sleep are you awakened?"

"From the sleep of separation, of ignorance, of anguish, the sleep of wishing to control others, to have power over others. I was born a prince, with plenty of palaces, a thousand horses, a thousand elephants, a thousand soldiers, a thousand servants. I would have been a king. I could have conquered neighboring nations to become an emperor."

"Then what happened?"

"Then one day I went out of my palace. I saw an old man, I saw a sick man, and I saw a dead man, and I realized that in spite of my palaces and my soldiers and my diamonds, I could not escape from sickness, nor from old age, nor from death. So what was the good of all that power and wealth? So, like you, Angulimala, I too abandoned my father, my mother, my wife, my child, my kingdom. But not in anger, not to seek power over others, but to realize the power within, the power of the spirit, the power of love and compassion, the power of friendship," explained the Buddha.

"How can you be a friend of someone who is about to kill you?" protested Angulimala.

"I am the friend of everyone. I am not a prophet, I am not a guru, I am not a saint; I am a friend of all living beings, a friend of all humans irrespective of their qualities, their status, their wealth, their caste. I am a friend of those who are considered to be good, but I am also a friend of those who are condemned as bad. I particularly enjoy being a friend to those who are deprived, excluded, and poor. It is easy to be a friend of the great and the good, but I cherish friendship with those who are labeled as murderers, terrorists, and criminals. I want to console them. They are not bad, they are just asleep, ignorant, and disconnected. Friendship is the way of connecting and waking up."

"But I find it hard to be a friend to those who exercise power over me. I feel angry," Angulimala said.

"That is why I have come to you, Angulimala," said the Buddha. "I want to hold your hand. Will you come with me? I will take you across the river of sorrow and suffering. I will take you to the shore of liberation. I want you to know that your anguish can end; your anger and alienation are not forever. Change is the eternal law of life. Will you embrace transformation? You can have my head and my ten fingers, or you can have all of me and my friendship. The choice is yours. This is the moment of decision."

These challenging words were unbearable. The sword had already dropped from the hand of Angulimala. He began to sob. He could not understand how a high-caste prince could listen to somebody who was born into a low caste, committing the sin of killing every day. Angulimala wondered: "How could this son of a king, a high priest of religion, talk to me and offer friendship to me, when he knows that any association with me can only bring him trouble?"

Full of doubts, Angulimala stood there confused. The Buddha's soothing words of peace, his deep eyes full of promise and longing, shook Angulimala to the core. He was touched by the presence of the Buddha as if under a magic spell. As the hesitant Angulimala stood there in stunned silence, he saw the Buddha turning around and walking away.

When the Buddha started to walk away, Angulimala picked up his sword and followed. His body moved, even though his mind was still uncertain. The Buddha walked faster, and Angulimala was left behind. He increased his pace to catch up with the Buddha, but could not. Then he ran. He thought, "I used to be able to catch a galloping horse or a running deer, but I am now unable to catch up with this monk who appears to be walking at his normal pace. What is the matter with me?"

"Stop, monk, stop," he shouted. "Don't leave me behind."

"I have stopped, Angulimala," the Buddha replied. "I stopped ages ago, but have you? And will you?"

"While you are walking faster than me, you say you have stopped. What do you mean? How have you stopped when you are still moving?"

"I stopped a long time ago," Buddha said. "It is you who have not stopped. I stopped trampling over other people, I stopped desiring to control and dominate people, but you think freedom lies in killing and overpowering others. True stopping is to stop interfering in other people's lives for your own ends. You are rebelling against the oppression of others, but you yourself are oppressive — you are frightening and terrorizing towns and villages. How can terror bring freedom?"

"Human beings do not love each other," Angulimala replied. "The rich are cruel to the poor. The high castes are vicious and deceitful to the lower castes. Why should I love them? I will not stop until I have killed them all."

"Angulimala, I know you have suffered at the hands of the higher caste, the rich and powerful. There is cruelty in the world but cruelty cannot be dissolved by cruelty, oppression cannot be ended by oppression. Fire cannot be put out with more fire. Try to overcome cruelty with compassion, hatred with love, and injustice with forgiveness. Stop traveling on the road of hatred and violence. That is true stopping. Stopping leads to calming, calming to resting, resting to healing; healing of self as well as healing of others."

The Buddha looked into the eyes of Angulimala and said, "You are deluding yourself if you think that once you have killed one hundred people and taken control of other people's lives you will be happy. Are you happy now?" asked the Buddha.

"No, I am not happy," confessed Angulimala.

"Then how can you predict that you will be happy in the future, when you are sowing the seeds of unhappiness in the present? How can you sow thistles and expect roses? Now is the moment to live fully, and live in happiness. If there is no happiness today, how can you expect to be happy tomorrow? Happiness is born of kindness. When you are kind you are happy, and when you are happy you are kind."

(Continues…)


Excerpted from "The Buddha and the Terrorist"
by .
Copyright © 2004 Satish Kumar.
Excerpted by permission of ALGONQUIN BOOKS OF CHAPEL HILL.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Table of Contents

FOREWORD Holy Terror by Thomas Moore,
INTRODUCTION The Story of Angulimala,
ONE Encountering the Monster,
TWO The Conversion of a King,
THREE Freedom from Fear,
FOUR Spiritual Simplicity,
FIVE Seeking Revenge,
SIX The Triumph of Forgiveness,
SEVEN From Death to Life,
AFTERWORD by Allan Hunt Badiner,
CONTRIBUTORS,
ABOUT ALGONQUIN,

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