TERROR

In the light of recent terrorist attacks, it seems that in the modern era we humans have managed to create armies of severely disaffected people who threaten to destroy the appearance of civility we so painstakingly constructed. Exposed, now, is the dark underbelly of our species, where fear, hatred, vengeance and murderous intentions thrive. Perhaps not coincidentally, on what might appear to be the upside of human endeavor, in the "civilized" world, materialism and greed combine to threaten the very planet we live on.

Useless to look to our military power for the solution to these problems. Current circumstances expose the limits of its effectiveness to anyone with a clear mind. Not all the smart bombs in the world are smart enough to root out the malady that besets us.  Instead, we need to look to ourselves, to our own humanity.  We need a radical redefinition of what it means to be a human being, on a planet that teems with ever vaster numbers of our species, all hungry, all in need of shelter and the basics of good health--clean water, not least, but rather the most needful of all. We need a radical new understanding of how we can all live together in this narrow space.

Is there some Buddha now being reborn, who can lead us into this new enlightenment?  I personally hope so.  But even if there were, would anybody listen?  Christians, some of them at least, await the return of Christ.  I don't think that's going to happen before they learn to practice what their "savior" taught. Do Muslims await the return of their prophet? I have no knowledge on this subject, though surely no sane person could believe he would condone the vile, barbaric actions of fanatics who justify them in his name.

Given how we have managed to distort the teachings of our religions, I'd argue that we can no longer look to them to help us out of the global crisis we have created on our own, without the help of any God.  It behooves those of us who live with the daily comforts of the civilization we have built to look more closely, and more critically, into our own hearts and minds, to understand ourselves a little better than we do, and to be more honest about the state of our own health.  We many find that the malicious virus of the terrorists by now infects us all.