In Reply to: Re: Some answers posted by susie on July 20, 2006 at 19:28:22:
Well, this teaching pretty much sums up my beliefs about self defense, but it doesn't address the question of defending the innocent. In a way it does, though, because if you practice a nonviolent way of life, you are never in a position where you might feel compelled to defend another person (such as a child).
In our local paper today, there was a story about a man who killed a 2-year-old boy in the process of raping him. The man was the boyfriend of the child's mother, who was asleep at the time of the assault. If I were to have walked into the living room at the time he was raping the child, there is no doubt in my mind that I would go after him with a cast-iron skillet or a large, sharp knife. But if I am serious about practicing nonviolence, why would I be in the same house and under the same roof with such a person to begin with? I think this is what the Rinpoche's teaching implies.
I know that I am not completely nonviolent, so there remains in me a fear that allows me to justify violence in the defense of others. For me, a sign that I'm making progress with my mental health is the capacity to go for very long periods of time where I do not think about killing someone (including myself). I used to fantasize about killing my ex-husband quite a lot, and I told myself this was because I had an overactive imagination. It took me a long time to realize that I was very angry and that I needed to get out of the relationship. Knowing the power of denial and repression where my own mind & survival instincts are concerned, I recognize that I am vulnerable to become violent under certain circumstances.