Here’s what a great 16th-century poet, Saint John of the Cross, advises:
You might quiet the whole world for a second
if you pray.
And if you love, if you
really love,
our guns will
wilt.
Do the Tao Now
In line with altering the way you look at the world, today change every television channel and radio station that presents an image or audio of the use of force or violence. Then increase that “no tolerance” policy to include movies, videos, and games that have beatings, homicides, and chase scenes.
31st Verse
Weapons are the tools of violence;
all decent men detest them.
Therefore, followers of the Tao never use them.
Arms serve evil.
They are the tools of those who oppose wise rule.
Use them only as a last resort.
For peace and quiet are dearest to the decent man’s
heart, and to him even a victory is no cause for rejoicing.
He who thinks triumph beautiful
is one with a will to kill,
and one with a will to kill
shall never prevail upon the world.
It is a good sign when man’s higher nature
comes forward.
A bad sign when his lower nature comes forward.
With the slaughter of multitudes,
we have grief and sorrow.
Every victory is a funeral;
when you win a war,
you celebrate by mourning.
Living
Without Weapons
The 31st verse of the Tao Te Ching unequivocally states that implements of violence serve evil. Lao-tzu clearly knew that weapons designed to kill are tools of futility and should be avoided if you choose to live according to the principles of the Tao. This includes the design, production, marketing, distribution, and of course, the use of weapons in the business of killing. The Tao is about life; weapons are about death. The Tao is a creative force; weapons are about destruction. Humanity has failed to learn this profound teaching of the Tao Te Ching, which was written when weapons consisted mainly of bows and arrows, spears, hatchets, and the like.
From his position as an observer and a being of Divine wisdom, Lao-tzu recognized that there’s no victory in any activity where killing takes place. Why? Because all people, regardless of their geographic location or belief system, are connected to each other by their originating spirit. We all come from, retain, and return to the Tao. When we destroy each other, we’re destroying our opportunity to allow the Tao to inform us, to flow freely in and through the form we’re in. What appears to our ego to be a victory to celebrate is really a funeral, a time to mourn. Lao-tzu reminds us that taking pleasure in winning a battle is aligned with an ego will to kill. The Tao has only a creative, nurturing, and loving will. On this physical plane, our highest nature expresses itself through the precepts of the Tao, while our lowest nature expresses itself by engaging in the business of killing.
The written history of humankind involves wars as far back as it can go, and we measure our supposed march toward civilization by the sophistication of our weapons. We’ve advanced from simple spears used in close individual combat to bows and arrows that kill from a short distance, rifles and explosive devices that execute from farther away, and bombs that decimate when dropped from the air. We’ve reached the level where we have to invent terms like mega-death and weapons of mass destruction to describe our current ability to annihilate millions of people and other life-forms with one nuclear blast.
The current level of presumably enlightened sophistication means that we have the capacity to destroy all life on our planet with the weapons we’ve amassed. This perilous state has emerged because we’ve ignored the basic tenet of the Tao Te Ching, particularly as stressed in the infinite wisdom of this verse: “Arms serve evil. They are the tools of those who oppose wise rule.”
I believe that Lao-tzu was not only speaking about physical weapons, but also nonphysical behaviors that are just as destructive. These include violent words, gestures, and threats that aren’t a part of humankind’s higher nature. If you change the way you look at your world, you must include noticing your language and your demeanor. Do you demonstrate that you’re a person who values life in all of its costumes? Are you someone who wouldn’t take up any type of arms—be they physical or not—against another, unless alternative means had been exhausted? And then, if forced to injure another, are you able to feel compassion for your so-called enemy? Weapons designed to kill are inconsistent with the very essence of the Tao. Thus, you must make every effort to be peaceful and harmonious with its life-giving energy.
The massive proliferation of guns in our modern society is a giant step away from humankind’s highest nature. So replace defending the right to own and use weapons with the Tao consciousness. Seek instead to aspire to a time when our collective human energy is elevated to such a high status that even the contemplation of killing is impossible. You can begin to do so by changing the way you look at the necessity for weapons. It begins with each and every one 31st Verse of us, and we can start by taking heed of what the Tao Te Ching teaches us. By making this verse your personal calling, you have the ability to save our planet from becoming a lifeless one.
This is what I believe Lao-tzu is saying to you personally from his 2,500-year-old perspective:
Begin to see the use of physical or verbal weapons as unwanted responses.
Change your need to defend yourself to a stance of realizing
