I found this at Facebook (no link to original) and it's worth pondering.
At the end of the talk someone from the audience asked the Dalai Lama, "Why didn't you fight back against the Chinese?" The Dalai Lama looked down, swung his feet just a bit, then looked back up at us and said with a gentle smile, "Well, war is obsolete, you know " Then, after a few moments,his face grave, he said, "Of course the mind can rationalize fighting back...but the heart, the heart would never understand.Then you would be divided in yourself, the heart and the mind,and the war would be inside you."
When Spirit and Power clash, there are no easy answers. Undoubtedly, the Chinese response would have been brutal and resistance would have been futile. But situations vary as with the "engaged Buddhism" of Thich Nat Hahn and his fellow monks in Viet Nam and the present-day non-violent resistance in Syria. Thus, it seems to me, that sometimes we must open to the inner war between the heart and the mind and resolve it as best as we can. I presume that that is exactly what the Dalai Lama and his advisers did.
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