Good weapons are instruments of fear; all creatures hate them.
Therefore followers of the Tao never used them.
The wise man prefers the left.
The man of war prefers the right.
Weapons are instruments of fear; they are not a wise man's tools.
He uses them only when he has no choice.
Peace and quiet are dear to his heart.
And victory no cause for rejoicing.
If you rejoice in victory, then you delight in killing;
If you delight in killing, you cannot fulfill yourself.
On happy occasions precedence is given to the left,
On sad occasions to the right.
In the army the general stands on the left,
The commander-in-chief on the right.
This means that war is conducted like a funeral.
When many people are being killed,
They should be mourned in heartfelt sorrow.
That is why a victory must be observed like a funeral.
Man, I haven't read the Dao De Jing in years.
h/t
2 comments:
I don't like to see anyone get killed no matter what they've done. I think that anyone can reform if they choose. However, it seemed to me many more people would have been killed in what he saw as a "holy war". The only alternative I can think would be to have caputured him and brainwashed him.
I was interested to see that a man of peacefulness, the Dalai Lama, stated that although bin Laden deserved compassion and forgiveness as a person, sometimes it is necesary to take countermeasures. The article didn't exactly what type of countermeasures he was suggesting.
Of course. I haven't been particularly vocal here recently, but I trust I've left the impression over the years that bin Laden's violent death was both required and necessary. I'm all for his extirpation, think it took way too long, and believe they erred in dumping his body anonymously into the Arabian Sea - it should have been stuck up on a pike outside of Kandahar in a minefield for the carrion birds to have their way with him in full view of a chastened world.
I just take no pleasure in this grim necessity, and I find its celebration to be unfortunate.
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