Comments on: Humane Educator’s Paradox http://zoeweil.com/2008/06/02/humane-educators-paradox/ This blog is dedicated to promoting ideas and resources for doing the most good and the least harm to ourselves, other people, animals and the environment. I call this principle MOGO, short for most good, and I welcome your comments and suggestions for how we can create a world in which the MOGO principle guides all people, governments, and businesses. Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:13:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Mayim http://zoeweil.com/2008/06/02/humane-educators-paradox/#comment-156 Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:39:10 +0000 http://zoeweil.wordpress.com/?p=69#comment-156 My method of delivery is as important as the information I am delivering. Pema Chodron has repeatedly told the story of the man who was watching TV with the volume off. He saw people with angry faces yelling, and then another scene with other angry faces yelling, and then another scene with other angry faces yelling, and when he saw all of those different scenes, with all of the different people with angry faces, yelling, to him they all looked exactly the same, just angry faces, yelling, but when he asked someone who the different people had been, the different groups of people who all looked identical to him, he found out that one group was the Klu Klux Klan, one was the government officials in Washington, and the other was GreenPeace!

He was saying that the GreenPeace activists, who are supposed to be affirming life, were employing the same methods as the people who tortured and killed Jews and blacks.

We need to start inside of ourselves. As insinuating as the situations in the world are, we cannot drive out darkness by choosing to be more darkness. It doesn’t work. Only light can drive out darkness.

If we respond with anger, that will only make the situation worse. Yes, the situations are terrible, but responding to barbaric behavior with equally barbaric behavior is only going to make the overall situation worse in the long run.

If I cannot respond calmly, then I must walk away, seclude myself, or find peace inducing company to calm me down. Play peace inducing music, or meditate, and then, once I am calm, and able to deal with the situation in a peaceable manner, then I can go back out into the world and continue my activism in a more peaceful manner, because if I respond while I am upset, then I will end up making the situation worse, instead of better, and it is also likely that I will get myself in trouble as well, which would be a great pity, because we need as many morally minded people as we can get to fix the world. (This synopsis is based largely on the thoughts of Thich Nhat Hanh)

]]>