Non Violence in Day To Day Life

I came upon a quote I thought I might comment on. Don't ask me where or how I came upon it. Once in a while I can retrace my cyber steps but more often than not I have no recollection of how I happened upon something. When I stumble on something, I often times get that spiritual tug that makes me take notice and the realization that perhaps it is something I should write about. I know this blog has a modest following but the counter continues to slowly inch its way up. I am thoroughly enjoying writing down my thoughts, questions, cyber discoveries, ponderings, meanderings and rants. To those who read here...thank you....

So the quote follows:

Nonviolence belongs to a continuum from the personal to the global, and from the global to the personal. One of the most significant Buddhist interpretations of nonviolence concerns the application of this ideal to daily life. Nonviolence is not some exalted regimen that can be practiced only by a monk or a master; it also pertains to the way one interacts with a child, vacuums a carpet, or waits in line. Besides the more obvious forms of violence, whenever we separate ourselves from a given situation (for example, through inattentiveness, negative judgments, or impatience), we "kill" something valuable. However subtle it may be, such violence actually leaves victims in its wake: people, things, one's own composure, the moment itself. According to the Buddhist reckoning, these small-scale incidences of violence accumulate relentlessly, are multiplied on a social level, and become a source of the large-scale violence that can sweep down upon us so suddenly. . . . One need not wait until war is declared and bullets are flying to work for peace, Buddhism teaches. A more constant and equally urgent battle must be waged each day against the forces of one's own anger, carelessness, and self-absorption.
- Kenneth Kraft, Inner Peace, World Peace

Oh my goodness, isn't that the truth?? Non violence does not start with our anti war rhetoric...nope...it starts when someone cuts you off in line...or takes your turn at an intersection....or snaps at you....gossips about you...etc. etc. etc. You get the picture. That is where nonviolence starts. In our everyday, everyway lives. And that is the hard part. Much easier to spout off about the war and the violence in the "hood" or half way around the world. Much harder to react nonviolently in our own living rooms and offices...the grocery store we frequent, the highways we drive on. In our relationships, in our jobs. I wonder what, overall, would make the most impact towards achieving peace on earth...goodwill to men.