A reminder from Thich Nhat Hanh ...

https://youtu.be/u24OR-FN78w?t=760 (12:40) ... "One day, a leader of the native American community came to me. We met in Vermont, and he invited me to join him in Europe and others to speak about the plight, the suffering of the native Americans, to draw the attention of the world to that suffering. I invited [him] to sit down and have a cup of tea with me, and very slowly I tried to tell him that the first step is not that. The first step is that he go home to his community and help his community to practice these kind of basic things; like the 5 mindfulness trainings: creating brotherhood, sisterhood, awakening ... to free our selves from wrong perceptions, from discrimination. Because, discrimination does not only exist in them. Discrimination does exist in each of us. We have both Hell and Paradise in us. They also [do]. So, if we are capable of touching paradise and transforming hell in us, we will be able to help them touch the paradise in them and transform hell in them. They are no longer our enemies. They are the people we want to help. But, we have to help our self first. It's not a problem of protesting. Because we can see them as victims of their wrong perceptions, of their own ignorance, and fear, and violence. And that is why, to me, it is very very crucial, it is very urgent to go home to ourselves, and to our community, and to begin the real practice. "

Race Riots

I'd like to think of myself as a pretty decent human being. I keep my lawn mowed, raise my kids, and go to work every day. I'm a good husband to one woman. I donate my time and my treasure to the organizations and people I believe in. I try to help people where I can. 

But, here's the deal: 

If you hit me, as much as I might try to turn the other cheek, I might hit you back. If you hit me repeatedly after I've told you you're hurting me, that likelihood goes up.

If you target my children, my friends, my family, the likelihood of me hitting back becomes greater still.

If you kill my children, well ... God knows what I might do.

If you hold my head under water long enough, I'm going to become violent trying to escape.

You would, too, and if you have any sense at all, you know it.

If you make someone sufficiently angry and hopeless, particularly if they're young and male, they're going to flip the table and burn the world down. This is well documented sociology. 

It's human nature. It's not good. It's not bad. It's not any other value judgement you'd like to place on it. It simply *IS*.