Newtown Shootings

[plwk]

Barely has the last Oregon incident happened, now we have Newtown....

Twenty schoolchildren were slaughtered by a heavily armed gunman who opened fire at a suburban elementary school in Connecticut yesterday, killing at least 27 people including himself in the one of the worst mass shootings in US history. The 20-year-old gunman, who law enforcement sources identified as Adam Lanza, opened fire on a classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, which serves children from ages 5 to 10. More here



Timeline of deadliest U.S. mass shootings

Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta Jinapañjara Gāthā

[poto]

It's a shame that we don't have a more comprehensive mental health system in place to help prevent these one-off events.

Also, I'm always very put off by the sensationalism in the media coverage. As horrible as these events are, I can't help but to feel the way the media presents it only furthers collective dissonance on the matter of violence in our society.

[polarbuddha101]

"Having killed what
do you sleep in ease?
Having killed what
do you not grieve?
Of the slaying
of what one thing
does Gotama (the Buddha) approve?"
[The Buddha:]
"Having killed anger
you sleep in ease.
Having killed anger
you do not grieve.
The noble ones praise
the slaying of anger
— with its honeyed crest
& poison root —
for having killed it
you do not grieve."
— SN 1.71

I'll list the deeds that bring remorse,
that are far from the teachings.
Listen!
An angry person kills his father,
kills his mother,
kills Brahmans
& people run-of-the-mill.
It's because of a mother's devotion
that one sees the world,
yet an angry run-of-the-mill person
can kill this giver of life.
Like oneself, all beings hold themselves most dear,
yet an angry person, deranged,
can kill himself in many ways:
with a sword, taking poison,
hanging himself by a rope in a mountain glen.

Doing these deeds
that kill beings and do violence to himself,
the angry person doesn't realize that he's ruined.

This snare of Mara, in the form of anger,
dwelling in the cave of the heart:
cut it out with self-control,
discernment, persistence, right view.
The wise man would cut out
each & every form of unskillfulness.
Train yourselves:
'May we not be blotted out.'

Free from anger & untroubled,
free from greed, without longing,
tamed, your anger abandoned,
free from fermentation,
you will be unbound.
— AN 7.60

Sad stuff.

[Thanavuddho]

Even if you have a view that everything is meaningless, why would you shoot down small children?

[Kusala]

Rest in peace...

[David N. Snyder]

[daverupa]

I took one candle away; it now represents the number of children who die, worldwide, every two minutes or so.

[Reductor]

For all the kids dying, and for those that love them.

[Mawkish1983]

Right now I feel nothing but pure, raging, caustic anger at the killer. Anger of such intense magnitude that it has completely overwhelmed my senses. THEY WERE CHILDREN. NOW THEY ARE CORPSES.

[Swearing removed after typing]

[Dan74]

Right now I feel nothing but pure, raging, caustic anger at the killer. Anger of such intense magnitude that it has completely overwhelmed my senses. THEY WERE CHILDREN. NOW THEY ARE CORPSES.

[Swearing removed after typing]

That's probably something similar to what the killer harboured for a long time. In our case we have the blessing of the Dhamma to see it for what it is and let go. But someone who can't, who doesn't, becomes that anger, that rage and the only meaning of their existence is naturally, revenge.

[poto]

Right now I feel nothing but pure, raging, caustic anger at the killer. Anger of such intense magnitude that it has completely overwhelmed my senses. THEY WERE CHILDREN. NOW THEY ARE CORPSES.

[Swearing removed after typing]

If anything I try to feel compassion for both the victims and the killer. The killer in this case seems to be obviously mentally ill, and having a number of family members with mental illnesses, maybe I can empathize more easily. If there is any anger in me, it is directed at our dysfunctional mental health system and the media for their biased sensationalism.

I sometimes fail to understand why people are so outraged when these things happen closer to their homes, yet don't seem to care when it happens to dark skinned people in a far away land. Every day there are events as horrific as these shootings taking place around the world, but with far less media coverage.

The following link is part 1 of 5 videos showing what's going on in Syria right now. The Assad regime is murdering far more children than the gunman in Connecticut. I must warn you it's very graphic and disturbing, so if you have a weak stomach, don't watch it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWSOIXS5o3c

Of course, the difference between the CT shooting and Syria is our leaders have the power to put a stop to Assad's slaughter. Although, that may well give rise to a worse regime... which seems to be the current political logic for not intervening overtly.

[Mawkish1983]

If there is any anger in me, it is directed at our dysfunctional mental health system and the media for their biased sensationalism.

The killer made a choice. He slaughtered those children.

I sometimes fail to understand why people are so outraged when these things happen closer to their homes, yet don't seem to care when it happens to dark skinned people in a far away land.

I sincerely hope this statement is not directed at me.

Of course, the difference between the CT shooting and Syria...

This topic is about the killings in Connecticut, not Syria. My anger was genuine and I should not have to mask it.

[daverupa]

My anger was genuine and I should not have to mask it.

The Dhamma does not advise masking it, either, but neither is anger a brahmavihara. This can be difficult, obviously and of course - but this is precisely where the Dhamma is usefully applied, is it not?

[ancientbuddhism]

Adam Lanza was made of the same five aggregates; by delusion could go any of us. A candle should be lit for him as well.

[Mawkish1983]

neither is anger a brahmavihara. This can be difficult, obviously and of course - but this is precisely where the Dhamma is usefully applied, is it not?

Did I say otherwise?

A man picked up weapons, murdered his mother and then walked into a school to kill teachers and twenty children. Twenty children are now dead because of the actions of one man. My inability to extend metta to the killer is completely irrelevent to those twenty dead children. I practice Buddhism as well as I can, but I CAN not and WILL not pretend to be sanctimonious and rightious about employing the dhamma when I feel overwhelmed with rage. I suspect my reaction of blinding, searing anger is a common one.

[Mawkish1983]

Adam Lanza

I will not be lighting a candle for a man who kills twenty innocent children. I feel it would be an insult to their deaths and akin to spitting in the face of the families and friends who are now mourning and grieving; the parents who sent their children off to school to prepare for their futures, to learn that their futures have been cruelly, senslessly, needlessly cut short by the choice of one man. No, I will not be lighting a candle for him.

[David N. Snyder]

I suspect my reaction of blinding, searing anger is a common one.

It is a product of dosa.

[Mawkish1983]

It is a product of dosa.

Yes, I feel aversion towards a man who can walk into a school and open fire, killing twenty children. His actions should not be met with candles for the killer, sympathy for the killer and diverted blame away from the killer. Were he still alive, I wouldn't have given him a cuddle and said, "there there, it's not your fault, we are all just aggregates, all subject to delusion". No way! HE MADE A CHOICE, HE KILLED TWENTY INNOCENT CHILDREN.

You are DAMNED RIGHT my reaction is a product of aversion! You are DAMNED RIGHT I'm aversed to the murder to twenty innocent children!

[ancientbuddhism]

Adam Lanza

I will not be lighting a candle for a man who kills twenty innocent children. I feel it would be an insult to their deaths and akin to spitting in the face of the families and friends who are now mourning and grieving; the parents who sent their children off to school to prepare for their futures, to learn that their futures have been cruelly, senslessly, needlessly cut short by the choice of one man. No, I will not be lighting a candle for him.

After the Virginia Tech incident there was a vigil at a local vihara where I lived. The students that initiated the vigil were from the college and Buddhists from Sri Lankan families. When I was asked to give a Dhamma talk I was pleased to notice that they included a candle for Seung-Hui Cho.

[Mawkish1983]

I need to be off the internet for a while.