This past week, North Korea launched missiles for the second time in a single week. Yesterday, the United States seized a North Korean ship allegedly used to violate international sanctions designed to force North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program. These actions come amid a diplomatic breakdown that has followed the failed summit earlier this year between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over North Korea’s pursuit of a nuclear arsenal that can target the U.S. mainland.
In Venezuela, the humanitarian crisis persists. More than 3 million people—about ten percent of the population—have fled Venezuela as a result of political instability, hunger, inflation, poverty and soaring crime rates. It has been described as the largest exodus in Latin America in a hundred years.
There were two school shootings this past week. In one, two students were killed and four others were wounded after a gunman opened fire in an anthropology class at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In the other shooting, one student was killed and eight others were injured in an attack on an English class at a K-12 school in Colorado.
Three young children died in the past several weeks at the hands of their parents. One beaten and buried in a shallow grave; one burned in a car set ablaze with its doors chained shut; one beaten to death with a slipper for not finishing her homework.
These are just a few of the stories in the news. The sad thing is, there are many, many, many more stories like them that we will never hear about. These aren’t just stories ‘out there.’ These stories are the affect of the ego thought system.
Buddha’s motivation for letting go of ego was the desire to find the end to suffering. His own suffering didn’t motivate him. Personally, he didn’t know suffering. He was motivated by compassion for others.
Jesus said his life was a ransom for many. Could he have had the same motivation as Buddha?
Can we look at the suffering and terror that is caused by the ego thought system, and like them, choose to let go of it?
Please take a moment to listen to this song today. And thanks for any effort that you put into letting go of the ego thought system in your mind. It is a gift to all of us.
