Fear...

I have been reading a book called "The Raft is not the Shore" this week.  The book is a conversation between two people - a Buddhist monk and a Catholic priest (both peace activists).  They talk of the subjects of the times (published 1974) - life, death, prisoners, exile, religion, government, etc.  

The interesting part (to me) is how although this book was written over 30 yrs ago, it still fits with what is going on today and I hardly know I am reading something of the past.  

This morning I am reading on government and religion.  Here are a few points I find interesting...

"Because the tactic of power politics, of the military, is to create fear so that people are paralyzed and cannot move, cannot change, cannot unite, cannot be truthful, cannot be in command of their own existence and their community.  But if you break through this huge mirage, this myth, there is no one in the armor."...

"I think fear does two amazing things; maybe they are just aspects of one thing.  First, it creates the impression that a person is facing a god, usually a god of war or god of violence; fear makes the adversary look superhuman.  Secondly, it creates a new psyche in one's self - a very disrupted, distracted, terrorized person, the opposite of a stable, self-aware person.  Two aspects, one fear.  If one's soul is so enslaved as to bow to the god, one is already destroyed.  ...the other great weapon they have, besides fear, is hatred."

And so I continue to read, wanting more than ever to be at peace inside my own self  and with the world around me.