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Responding to War with Peace
How Can We Act Wisely To Disarm Structural Violence Such As Nuclear Weapons And Nuclear Power?
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Questions and Answers
Questions and Answers
Thich Nhat Hanh
· August 28, 2008
· Nottingham, United Kingdom
· Audio Only
Thich Nhat Hanh opens a session of questions and answers, inviting young people to ask the first five questions after listening to the bell and mindful breathing, then welcomes questions from the rest of the sangha.
- Have you reached enlightenment, and if so, how?
- Why are we here on earth, and why do people believe in God?
- What’s it like in Plum Village?
- What do you do to defend yourself?
- Why do monks wear brown robes when they could choose other colors?
- A friend at school isn’t nice to me—how should I respond?
- When are you happiest?
- Do lay practitioners following the Five Mindfulness Trainings show more focus and strength in their Buddhism than monastics, given worldly distractions?
- How can we act wisely to disarm structural violence, such as nuclear weapons and energy policies?
- In the Fourth Mindfulness Training, can “utter words that can cause the family to break” include an exception “unless it is in their best interest” for toxic or abusive couples?
- How can I act wisely on global warming when governments and institutions aren’t preventing enormous suffering quickly enough?
- How can I take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha on a daily basis?
- As a sculptor in the West, should I make Buddhas and Bodhisattvas or let the natural world or global issues speak through my art?
- As a medical student, how can I best help those who are suffering or approaching death and manage my own distress?
- A friend who found God tells me I’m going to hell—should I speak up or remain silent?
- As a yoga teacher, what’s the best way to prepare the body for practice to prevent stress?
- How do you transform hurt from embracing it to letting it go when the person who hurt you refuses any communication?
- In the Third Mindfulness Training, what do the terms “love” and “long-term commitment” mean, and why use “long-term commitment” instead of “marriage”?
- As a single parent whose children have no memory of their deceased father, how can I help them connect with and keep alive his memory?
- Is there a danger for a musician or artist in expressing deep emotion that may water negative seeds in listeners’ store consciousness?
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How Can We Transform Despair and Continue Acting for Peace When We Feel Too Few to Stop an Unjust War?
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Responding to War with Peace
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How Can We Transform Despair and Continue Acting for Peace When We Feel Too Few to Stop an Unjust War?
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"Questions and Answers"
• September 22, 2007
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In
the
last
eighteen
months,
the
UK
government
has
decided
to
renew
the
nuclear
weapons
in
Britain.
And
more
recently,
they've
also
decided
to
heavily
invest
in
the
nuclear
energy
pathway
rather
than
renewables.
I'm
really
grateful
for
the
practices
to
disarm
myself.
But
if
you
could
give
us
some
advice
on
how
to
help
act
wisely
to
disarm
the
structural
violence
that
seems
to
be
gaining
more
and
more
strength
as
the
the
effects
of
destruction
are
getting
larger
and
larger
at
this
time.
Thank
you.
I
think
this
is
the
problem
of
mindfulness
and
enlightenment.
We
may
try
to
do
something
in
order
to
promote
more
collective
mindfulness
and
enlightenment
on
the
matter.
If
the
government
is
able
to
continue
with
that
program,
it's
because
not
enough
of
us
who
are
awake,
who
are
mindful
of
the
situation.
And
if
we
can
make
many
more
people
aware
of
the
fact,
and
when
they,
when
we
express
ourselves
as
a
majority,
the
government
would
not
continue
to
do,
to
go
on
with
that
program.
So
I
think
this
is
the
matter
of
peace
education.
There
are
those
of
us
who
have
already
been
already
enlightened
on
the
matter:
nuclear
power
and
so
on.
But
there
are
still
so
many
who
are
busy,
who
don't
pay
enough
attention
on
that.
So
we
should
practice
in
such
a
way
that
that
kind
of
awareness,
enlightenment
become
collective.
And
when
it
has
become
collective
and
powerful
like
that,
then
we
can
change.
We
can
tell
our
leaders
to
go
in
another
direction
concerning
energy
and
so
on.
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