Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Plight of our Times

While contemplating what to write about, yet again terrorist attacks claimed lives of children in Manchester, Kabul and Baghdad. Yemen was on the brink of complete collapse and America upheld its stature as the world's biggest arms dealer by signing a multi-billion dollar deal with Saudi Arabia. Peace in Syria was elusive as ever as the world continued to grapple with the idea of Donald Trump as he dismantles the world order and stifles any hope of a better future for our planet.

Then someone dear to me shared this quote from the book Fourth Uncle in the Mountain - The Remarkable Legacy of a Buddhist Itinerant Doctor in Vietnam which perfectly summed up the plight of our times, and took my breath away.

"In the realm of people, Good and Evil tumble in and out and through each other, 
and so weave the stories of nations. 
Many believe the Good will always overpower Evil, 
but I know that Evil has a marked advantage. 

Evil, according to its nature, stalks the earth like a hungry ghost and preys on us when we have lost heart, while Good sails up to heave without leaving much of a trace at all. 

And so there are those among us who must consciously draw the Good back down to earth, where it may take root and grow strong in our hearts and minds, strong enough to subdue Evil."

It is what it is.
 
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