By Scott Kalechstein,
Written on September 11th and 12th, 2001
"If I understand what Gandhi is saying, nonviolence requires something
far more difficult than merely turning the other cheek; it requires
empathizing with the fears and other feelings that provide that impetus
for people to attack us. Being aware of these feelings we have no desire
to attack back because we can see the human ignorance leading others to
attack us; instead, our goal becomes to provide the education for our
attackers which will enable them to transcend their violence and engage
in cooperative relationships with us."
- Marshall Rosenberg
On September 11, 1906, Mahatma Gandhi launched the first mass campaign
of nonviolent struggle the world had seen, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
I am writing this exactly ninety-five years after Gandhi’s actions, the
day of the terrorist attacks.
I feel sad, shocked and tremendously shaken up by this. At times I also
feel quite calm, as if I was the center of a hurricane, an Eye of peace
in the tumultuous storms around me. My focus has been to breathe in the
suffering of those in pain and breathe out my love and blessings to
them. A Course In Miracles teaches us over and over that all perceived
attacks are a call for love in disguise, and that miracles happen when
that love is given. Today I am sending love. Today I am asking the
question of God: How can I relate to this event in a way that brings
healing to the world? And the answer comes in a gentle, powerful and
earth-shaking whisper: Extend compassion and empathy to everyone
involved. And everyone is involved. Nobody on earth can pretend they are
separate from this event. It is that big. What potential for joining and
healing, movement and evolution!
Rather than just labeling the terrorists as evil, can you imagine the
consciousness of those who would give rise to such behavior? Can you
begin to empathize with the pain that would inspire people to hate that
way? I can. And I believe we must, if healing is to come to our world.
It is said that if we could read the secret history of our enemies, we
would find sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all our hostility. I am
not saying we should accept violence because these people have suffered
so deeply. Empathy is not an excuse to condone terrorism. It is a way to
create the climate for healing so it is not repeated.
Those who have experienced horror after horror and know not how to
grieve, to process the layers of their pain, find their un-cried tears
hardening into bullets and warfare. All energy moves to expression.
If at all possible, I believe these people must be caught and prevented
from taking further actions of terrorism. And if force is needed to
undertake such prevention, so be it. But force as a means to punish or
to regain power only continues to feed the problem. In Gandhi’s words:
“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
My hope is that we all allow ourselves to be shaken up by this, shaken
out of our comfort zones that tower us Americans above the suffering and
poverty that most of the world experiences. Perhaps all ivory towers of
separation have to come crashing down for the healing of separateness in
our world.
If healing is to come, it will come through the consciousness of
oneness. I am one with the hearts of all the people affected by these
events. I am one with the people who lost their mates, the children
whose fathers and mothers didn’t come home. And I am one with the
tortured hearts of those who took these actions. We are all in this together
Here is a question I am pondering: How do these terrorists reflect a
part of my consciousness? Is there a part of me that believes that
acting out my anger is justified, and that sometimes it is necessary to
violate someone to make my point or express my frustrations? Have I ever
thought that inflicting pain on someone would wake them up, teach them a
lesson, or accomplish something of value? Do I ever feel so hurting and
helpless that the best I can do is throw a tantrum? Of course! My
actions may not ever be as dramatic as what has been acted out on this
day, but I do own the shadow part of my consciousness that has
contributed to such events.
The United States has a shadow too. We stampeded across this country
through the genocide of the Native Americans, and we have contributed to
violence all throughout the world since then. To the extent that this
shadow is disowned and denied, a large part the world feels compelled to
hate us and some even attack us. Just like an individual recovers from
an addiction, we as a nation need to hit bottom, come out of denial,
make amends for those whom we have inflicted violence upon, and own our
weaknesses as well as our strengths. My hope is that the twin towers
crumbling down can serve as our national bottom.
Are the terrorists evil and is our country an innocent victim? Are
things ever that black and white?
I would like to quote the words of Michael Moore, who made the movie
Roger and Me and has been a prominent political and social activist:
“WE created the monster known as Osama bin Laden! Where did he go to
terrorist school? At the CIA! Don’t take my word for it -- I saw a piece
on MSNBC last year that showed that when the Soviet Union occupied
Afghanistan, the CIA trained bin Laden and his buddies in how to commits
acts of terrorism against the Soviet forces.
We abhor terrorism -- unless we’re the ones doing the terrorizing.
We paid and trained and armed a group of terrorists in Nicaragua in the
1980s who killed over 30,000 civilians.
We have orphaned so many children, tens of thousands around the world,
with our taxpayer-funded terrorism (in Chile, in Vietnam, in Gaza, in
Salvador).
Will we ever get to the point that we realize we will be more secure
when the rest of the world isn’t living in poverty so we can have nice
running shoes?
Let’s mourn, let’s grieve, and when it’s appropriate, let’s examine our
contribution to the unsafe world we live in.
It doesn’t have to be like this…
-Michael Moore mmflint@aol.com
Everyone will project his or her issues onto this experience. Some will
see cause to hate and fear. Some will be motivated to love. Some will
perceive the end of the world. Some will see it as the beginning of the
New Age. Many will perceive streams of miracles and blessings showering
onto earth. It’s all there- the dark, the light, fear, love, victims,
villains, deaths, beginnings, despair, hope, wounds, healings, tragedy
and miracles… I would like to close with the words of someone who
emailed her experiences on Manhattan.
I'm sure you have seen the footage by now on TV. What you
haven't seen and heard is the amazing way the people
of this city stepped in to help each other in ways
that make me so happy and proud to live in this city
and in this country and even in this world. The people
of New York are an amazing and resilient breed and it
was breathtaking to witness the kindness, patience and
generosity of each person helping each other do what
they needed to do to be safe and to get home.
It is now the morning after and there is a strange
calm over the city. Virtually everything is closed and
people that are out are not talking. They are quiet.
The streets are deserted. There is no looting or
anything bad going on here right now. There is only
people showing up to help, people quietly moving
around, still helping each other in every way they
can. Many are still in shock, many are looking for a
way to help, as am I.
If you want to help here, please take time to pray,
whatever that looks like for you. Please visualize
peace not only here but throughout the world. Please
take some time to send love and all your blessings to
the people who have lost loved ones. Please send
prayers of light and strength to all those who are
working around the clock to find survivors and to
treat those who made it out alive but were injured.
Send them healing energy. And here's a tough one,
please send blessings even and especially to those
people and countries that have done this. To some of
you that may sound crazy but one of the greatest gifts
we can give to our world right now is to send love
into the hearts of people who harbor hatred. They
clearly need it and we have the power to give it.
Please find it in your heart to do so.
I send you light and love as I know that this experience has affected you as
well.
I have you in my prayers as well.