*from Belief Net*

There is a Buddhist story with some wisdom to offer here, one from the Samurai tradition. The Samurai war-riors were known for two things: skill with a sword, and a high, uncompromising moral code.

This Samurai warrior had tracked down an evil man whose deeds called for death. Finally cornering his foe, the warrior closed in to kill him. Suddenly the man stepped forward and spit in the Samurai's face. The warrior flushed, sheathed his sword, and left. His culture called for him to kill for only the highest reasons. When the man spit in his face, he realized that if he were to kill him now, it would be out of personal rage, not noble ideals.

That story isn't very comforting at all.

Soooo, they'll kill because I'm not a Muslim ("for God"), but not because I've wronged them... That sounds like the present situation, presented more honestly than most. After all, why all the calls to for Jihad to protect Saddam from the infidel, even from Saddam's enemies, such as the Iranians. A benevolent infidel is more evil than the worst Muslim Hitler it seems.

Unfortunately our enemies aren't Sufis, otherwise all we have to do to become safe is to spit on them, then, right?

Neither story has anything worthwhile to offer in terms of wisdom. In both, an evil person, by the standards of the story, worthy of is spared because their actions supposedly change the motives of the hero.

Pardon me, but can you say "Horsepuckey!"? You can? I knew you could.

Look, the actions of these two evil persons could never mitigate the fact that they were evil and needed killing. So all I can draw from these stories is that the so called heros are braindead.

The old saying "if you've got it, flaunt it" does not apply to ignorance.

Both stories become significantly more meaningful when understood in their own context.

In both cases, however, it's important to understand that the issue is one of the warriors' code. That is no trivial thing, as this story from Friday's Winds of War demonstrates. It is the difference between a soldier and a bandit, between a naval officer and an al-Qaeda terrorist. Ultimately, it's something each warrior must struggle with and define for themselves. Foremost among these struggles is the issue of anger and reaction in a person highly trained and equipped for violence.

Stories like this are supposed to be thought provoking, and to stimulate thought beyond the initial reading.

Let's take the Samurai first, and the code of Bushido. On the one hand, the Samurai is enjoined to practice mushin and Zen calm at all times. The folks at Beliefnet are projecting their own culture when they talk about killing for the highest ideals, because that isn't it in any sense we'd recognize. But it is true that the Samurai's zen calm and state of "no mind" or "mirror mind" was broken.

Thing is, our friend the Samurai comes from a duty culture. If the pursuit was his own initiative, then the personal zen of a Samurai may be worth more than any harm this man might bring to those outside his allies and Lord unless he has a specific duty to them for some reason (this is not a culture in which ordinary people count for much). If the prusuit was ordered by a competent authority in the Samurai's jurisdiction, however, the Samurai's duty would take precedence over any individual issues he may have - and his action would be deeply wrong by the Samurai's own code and standards.

If you're an aspiring Samurai, pondering these distinctions would be an important part of your training - since balancing individual imperatives and the weight of duty will be your main preoccupation for the rest of your life.

Now, on to Ali. First of all, there is no stipulation here that his opponent is evil. Duels among military leaders were a commmon prelude or adjunct to battle in those times, and obviously there was already a battle about to happen. We're discussing a "normal," formalized ritual of warfare in this story, not a blanket license to kill infidels. Nor is death absolutely necessary here - the main effect of the duels was for morale purposes, and by vanquishing his opponent that is mostly achived. Still, yes Ali is imposing some cost on himself to do what he sees as the right thing. There are many stories of Ali in which he does so.

Second, and probably more important: it's a Sufi story. Note the first line: "There is great wisdom in acting for G-d's sake and refusing to act for any other reason." They aren't just discussing warfare here, they're discussing one's whole life and the Sufi pursuit of complete mystic union with the divine. Ali, widely seen as a paragon of Islam (think St. Peter + Sir Galahad), provides an illustration on the battlefield where the stakes are truly life and death. Meta-message: so what's stopping you in your life, where the stakes are usually far less?

"why all the calls to for Jihad to protect Saddam from the infidel, even from Saddam's enemies, such as the Iranians."
When did Iranians call for Jihad to protect Saddam? Why do you accuse us of something we had never done. As the World was protesting against the attack on Iraq, there was no significant sign of anti-war movements among Iranians.
Sometimes, the lack of knowledge and the amount of baseless rantings is awful.
The story states Ali's victory over its ego. There's no signs of Islamic fanaticism. If you knew Rumi, you wouldn't be so ridiculous. As you can see in others' comments, these types of stories exist in Buddhism, too.
I feel deep sorrow for your ignorance, Joshua Scholar.

...And by the way, this certainly shows how far you are from reality.
Keep in mind this going-to-become-popular saying: "Iranians Are Not Arabs."

The way of the warrior, can never be understood unless you have a clean heart, and true integratity. Never deceive yourself or others. Never fight unless there is no other alternative. One must always stand for a cause higher than the self. The samurai served their lords not them selfs. Ali served islam not himself. One can not be little matters that involve the warrior code.

Dosa

A warroir can easily become a scholar, but a scholar will have to work very hard to understand the warrior, or become one.

dosa-

Everyone has to work hard to become a warrior. Some people just start earlier than others...

A.L.

A.L.

One must understand that the way of the samurai is death. One must be fully commited to the task to the point that one dies in the battle, and once the task is completed one regians his life agian. During any battle the self should never be a factor, in other words it is a selfless act.
A warrior in battle is in a higher level than the day to day life of a scholar. My point is a true warrior is not selfish and does not react to things in an emotional way.

Dosa