Memorial Day, part three: a world without war

AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas

The previous two articles in this three-part series about Memorial Day focused on honoring the heroes we lost in the past, and cherishing every moment of life in the present. Concluding the series is this article that looks ahead to a future where no more lives will be lost to war. Here is what the Dalai Lama contributed to a book called Peace is Possible: 

"Although it is important to respect others’ natural rights, we tend to lead our lives in the opposite way. This is because we lack love and compassion. Therefore, even in relation to the question of human rights violations and concern for human rights, the key point is the practice of compassion, love and forgiveness. Very often, when people hear about love and compassion, they have a sense that these are related to religious practice. It is not necessarily so. Instead, it is very important to recognize that compassion and love are fundamental to relations between human beings."

Much has been written about the art of war. We are only beginning to study the science of achieving and maintaining peace through listening, empathy, and compassion. Ideally, we would have mastered this skill within our individual families, neighborhoods, and cities before we all started interacting with each other globally, but perhaps our global interconnectedness is actually a positive trend toward peace. We are learning that one part of the web cannot be compromised without the entire web feeling the pain. Perhaps this will help us better understand what the spiritual Teachings have told us for centuries:

• "Ashes fly back in the face of him who throws them.” – Nigerian proverb
• “Like the Lion who sprang at his image in the water, you are only hurting yourself, O foolish man.” – Rumi, Muslim poet
• “Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself.” – Tao Te Ching

As we honor those whose lives were lost to war, we can make a contribution to a more peaceful world by being more compassionate ourselves. We can judge less and listen more. We can spend more time thinking about peace than conflict. When one individual after another starts to make that choice, peace is indeed possible.