Who Shot the Arrow?
How does one avoid adding to the world's violence? Ruchiraketu examines the work involved.
The victim lives unaware of the danger; the poison glistens on the arrow's point. The bow bends smoothly back as the string is drawn taut, there is a soft twang and the arrow whistles towards its unsuspecting mark. A sharp cry of agony pierces the air as the convulsing victim hits the ground; the poison is seeping into the wounded body....
A friendly hand reaches down to pull out the deadly shaft, but the victim cries out: 'No! Stop! First, I want to know the name of the person who shot it, and what kind of arrow it is, and ...' Has shock confused the victim? Surely the arrow must be speedily drawn before death ends all questions. It is time for action, not enquiry.
We are all inextricably bound up with violence, immersed in a world where millions of animals are slaughtered daily for food or clothing, where gross acts of violence are depicted hourly in the mass media: war, murder, sexual abuse, muggings, vandalism, exploitation of the innocent - an endless and sickening catalogue of cruelty and destruction. And yet, in an escapism which effectively bars any efforts at escape from this round of suffering, we may not acknowledge that this is happening in our world.
For some, an awareness of the violence inherent in human life arises suddenly, with a shock. An unexpected outrage may jolt anxiety and concern into a previously placid life, and innocence and some ignorance are lost. Others wake up to the violence in their lives more gradually, perhaps as they develop a more general awareness. For many, a grim, hostile environment is a grinding reality accepted, semi-consciously, as a dull pain. Life rolls relentlessly on, and in the battle against the 'slings and arrows of outrageous fortune' harsh words and hateful thoughts may be so much the norm that their violent nature is not noticed for what it is.
Whilst spiritual practice enhances awareness and leads to greater joy and happiness, one of the burdens of a more developed consciousness may be a keener sense of pain and the ways in which it is caused: the extent of human involvement in violence may become clear. For, even if we have tamed nature without we have not tamed Nature within.
Our first response to violence is emotional: sometimes excitement or exhilaration, sometimes sadness and frustration, with maybe an angry impulse to lash out. Puzzling over these responses, and realizing that hatred hurts as much as does grabbing a burning coal to hurl at an enemy, we may start asking questions. Why is there violence in the world? What is its cause or source? Who, or what, started it? Who is to blame? Who shot the arrow?
But the only questions worth asking, or trying to answer, are those which lead to an ending of pain. The Buddhist path begins with a realization of the truth of suffering, and is defined by the extent to which it leads to freedom from that suffering. The Buddha, who told the poisoned-arrow story in response to philosophical questions about the nature of existence, tried to help others find the way to the liberation he had discovered. Rather than dealing in speculations about first causes and the like, he pointed to suffering as a fact of experience and taught remedies for its alleviation. His teaching may be summarized as a teaching of conditionality: things arise in dependence upon conditions, and cease when those conditions cease. Applying this teaching to violence, we may seek to understand the conditions leading to violence, and the conditions leading to its cessation.
Many today would accept that we are each a product of certain conditions. How we are and how we act are often seen to be influenced by such factors as our genetic inheritance and psychological conditioning, or environmental factors such as the political or social contexts we live in. To consider these influences may be useful, but it is important not to make the easy slide from conditionality into determinism, with a resulting loss of individual responsibility and initiative. Views like the following, for example, may lead us to feel unable to escape from our more destructive tendencies:
Our animal heritage is still carried in our genes so we will act viciously at times.... If our grandfather had a nasty streak in him - well it's no surprise that we have, too.... As a child the drama of our life was 'scripted' into us by our parents, so we still unconsciously act out patterns beyond our control.... Conditioned to respond in various ways from birth onwards, our path through life is as determined as that of a rat in a maze.... We are only pawns in a game very difficult to understand - a complex play of social forces, at the mercy of governments and multinational companies....
Whilst such views may throw light on some of the conditions which lead to violence in our world, they may also imply that there is little we can do about it. But many of them are just speculations as to 'who shot the arrow'. The Buddha's is an 'Art of the Soluble'. He was concerned with identifying the causes and conditions which we can do something about and distinguishing them from those in the face of which we are powerless. Dwelling on insoluble problems is depressing and saps the will to act. While being aware of the evil in violence it is vital that we passionately believe in peace and act vigorously to bring it about, otherwise we will repeatedly find ourselves in the situation portrayed by Yeats in which:
'Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned.
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.'
By distinguishing between what it is possible for us to achieve and what is not, we pave the way for meaningful solutions and generate the confidence to implement them. While the Buddha described how the world is burning with the fires of greed, hatred, and ignorance, he also showed the way to Liberation. Being unenlightened and ignorant we do not know things as they really are, but we can at least begin to tread the peaceful path towards Reality.
According to traditional Buddhism it is Mara's attacks that we are prey to - the Evil One, with his sons and daughters, who heads a mighty army of malevolent forces. He represents the forces of greed, hatred, and ignorance at work in the world and in our minds. We can protect ourselves by repeatedly acting skilfully: ceasing to do evil, doing good, purifying the heart. Though on the path to Enlightenment we are beset by all sorts of confusions, egotistical motives, distractions, cravings, hatreds, and foolish doubts, through spiritual practice we gradually cause radiant qualities to bloom out of this unpromising soil:
'Mara does not find the path of those who are virtuous,
Who live mindfully, and who are
Freed through Perfect Knowledge.
'As pink lotuses, sweet scented and lovely,
Spring from a heap of rubbish thrown in the highway,
So among rubbishy beings, among ignorant worldlings,
The Disciple of the Perfectly Awakened One
Shines forth exceedingly in wisdom.'
(Dhammapada vv57-9).
It is useful to distinguish between the violence which has its source in the world, and that which begins in ourselves. We cannot control the whole world but we can do something about our responses to it and our interactions with it. Walking through this world we will be cut and bruised by the harsh terrain, and though we cannot make the whole world smooth or cover it in some protective layer, we may achieve an equivalent effect by covering the soles of our feet. If we guard our own minds against Mara's destructive influence, there is a chance that some of our wounds will heal; we may then take steps to make the world a safer place for all. Practising 'wise attention' we take care to ensure that we are not stirring up further greed, hatred, or ignorance. It is only as we become free of the influence of the poison in our own hearts that we can begin to see how best to respond to the violence in the world. As the candle flame of our awareness steadies we may more accurately discern the nature of the leaping, threatening shadows in the world around us.
Distinguishing between our own violent tendencies projected out onto the screen of the world and the world itself, we can work to create a harmony between ourselves and the world which knows no limit -ultimately transcending the distinction between self and other. In the meantime, armed with an attitude of loving kindness, we can set about creating merit through skilful actions. As we make progress on the spiritual path we will develop an aura of positive emotion which will protect us from harmful forces. Dwelling in this aura we will be free to develop Insight - to see for ourselves things as they really are and wake up to the nature of Reality. Until then we will always be in danger of Mara's attacks.
Eventually we can be like the Buddha, as he is often depicted in Buddhist art, on the eve of his Enlightenment. With a peaceful smile on his face, he sits in meditation beneath the Bodhi tree surrounded by a glowing radiant light. All about are forces inimical to spiritual development - Mara with his armies. In their rage they fling weapons and boulders at the calm figure: rocks, trees, whole mountains, along with arrows, spears, javelins, and a multitude of other instruments of war. But the Buddha sits there firmly concentrating, immune from their attacks. As the weapons enter his aura they are transformed into flowers - beautiful symbols of spiritual growth and attainment - which rain gently down. The great being is unconcerned with the arrows or their malevolent source: he is bent on Enlightenment for the sake of all beings.