Theos-Talk Archives (September 2001 Message tt00091)

Here's something that someone just sent me that
is interesting to think about.

-- Eldon

Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 13:14:45 -0400
Subject: Sept 11 & "The Deeper Wound" (Deepak Chopra)

Below is something that Deepak Chopra wrote, that you might enjoy and 
want 
to pass around-

The Deeper Wound

As fate would have it, I was leaving New York on a jet flight that 
took off 45 minutes before the unthinkable happened. By the time we 
landed in Detroit, chaos had broken out. When I grasped the fact 
that American security had broken down so tragically, I couldn't 
respond at first. My wife and son were also in the air on separate 
flights, one to Los Angeles, one to San Diego. My body went 
absolutely rigid with fear. All I could think about was their 
safety, and it took several hours before I found out that their 
flights had been diverted and both were safe.

Strangely, when the good news came, my body still felt that it had 
been hit by a truck. Of its own accord it seemed to feel a far 
greater trauma that reached out to the thousands who would not 
survive and the tens of thousands who would survive only to live 
through months and years of hell. And I asked myself, Why didn't I 
feel this way last week? Why didn't my body go stiff during the 
bombing of Iraq or Bosnia? Around the world my horror and worry are 
experienced every day. Mothers weep over horrendous loss, civilians 
are bombed mercilessly, refugees are ripped from any sense of home or 
homeland. Why did I not feel their anguish enough to call a halt to 
it?

As we hear the calls for tightened American security and a fierce 
military response to terrorism, it is obvious that none of us has any 
answers. However, we feel compelled to ask some questions. Everything 
has a cause, so we have to ask, What was the root cause of this 
evil? We must find out not superficially but at the deepest level. 
There is no doubt that such evil is alive all around the world and is 
even celebrated.

Does this evil grow from the suffering and anguish felt by people we 
don't know and therefore ignore? Have they lived in this condition 
for a long time?

One assumes that whoever did this attack feels implacable hatred for 
America. Why were we selected to be the focus of suffering around 
the world? All this hatred and anguish seems to have religion at its 
basis. Isn't something terribly wrong when jihads and wars develop in 
the name of God? Isn't God invoked with hatred in Ireland, Sri 
Lanka, India, Pakistan, Israel, Palestine, and even among the 
intolerant sects of America?

Can any military response make the slightest difference in the 
underlying cause? Is there not a deep wound at the heart of humanity?

If there is a deep wound, doesn't it affect everyone?

When generations of suffering respond with bombs, suicidal attacks, 
and biological warfare, who first developed these weapons? Who sells 
them? Who gave birth to the satanic technologies now being turned 
against us?

If all of us are wounded, will revenge work? Will punishment in any 
form toward anyone solve the wound or aggravate it? Will an eye for 
an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and limb for a limb, leave us all blind, 
toothless and crippled?

Tribal warfare has been going on for two thousand years and has now 
gotten magnified globally. Can tribal warfare be brought to an end? 
Is patriotism and nationalism even relevant anymore, or is this 
another form of tribalism?

What are you and I as persons going to do about what is happening? 
Can we afford to let the deeper wound fester any longer?

Everyone is calling this an attack on America, but is it not a rift 
in our collective soul? Isn't this an attack on civilization from 
without that is also from within?

When we have secured our safety once more and cared for the wounded, 
after the period of shock and mourning is over, it will be time for 
soul searching. I only hope that these questions are confronted with 
the deepest spiritual intent. None of us will feel safe again behind 
the shield of military might and stockpiled arsenals. There can be 
no safety until the root cause is faced. In this moment of shock I 
don't think anyone of us has the answers. It is imperative that we 
pray and offer solace and help to each other. But if you and I are 
having a single thought of violence or hatred against anyone in the 
world at this moment, we are contributing to the wounding of the 
world.

Love,

Deepak