Shortly after patting myself on the back for working through last night’s experience, I learned about today’s mass shooting at the Navy Yard in Washington DC. 13 people are dead, including one shooter. This type of story hits hard and comes in the same waves of emotion every time. First, I am shocked. Then, I am angry. And finally, I despair for all of humanity.
I’ve tried a few different approaches to deal with my tendency toward despair. I used to avoid the news at all costs, and I would lash out at anyone who shared an unhappy news story with me. Then I took the opposite approach and decided to read everything I could about the most violent and horrifying news stories. I thought I could somehow learn so much that I would know how to avoid tragedy or deal with it when it happened to me. Both of these methods failed. Now, I am on a path of nonviolence. I wholeheartedly embrace the notion that hatred does not cease by hatred but only by love. And so, on a day like today, it is only fitting to look for a Bunny Buddhism quote inspired by one of the most peaceful leaders of all time: Gandhi.
Gandhi said, “Man’s nature is not essentially evil. Brute nature has been know to yield to the influence of love. You must never despair of human nature.”
(Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/mahatma_gandhi_5.html#KchIj9sztTSKZmzQ.99)
And so today’s bunny quote will be:
“We must not despair for all bunny kind when a few lost bunnies stray from the path.”
I hope it will serve as a reminder that one act of violence does not mean we are all doomed. In the midst of tragedy, let us remember there were millions of people who did not act out in violence today. And let’s look at pictures of bunnies…because bunnies are, after all, snuggly little symbols of nonviolence.
