by Rabbi Machael Lerner
Editor, Tikkun Magazine
As the editor of a progressive Jewish and interfaith magazine that has often articulated views that have prompted condemnation from both Right and Left, I had good reason to be scared by the murders of fellow journalists in Paris. Having won the 2014 "Magazine of the Year" Award from the Religion Newswriters Association, and having been critical of Hamas' attempts to bomb Israeli cities this past summer (even while being equally critical of Israel's rampage against civilians in Gaza), I have good reason to worry if this prominence raises the chances of being a target for Islamic extremists.
But then again, I had to wonder about the way the massacre in Paris is being depicted and framed by the Western media as a horrendous threat to Western civilization, freedom of speech and freedom of the press, I wondered about the over-heated nature of this description. It didn't take me long to understand how problematic that framing really is.
When right-wing "pro-Israel" fanatics frequently sent me death threats, physically attacked y house and painted on the gates statements about me being "a Nazi" or "a self-hating Jew," and called in bomb threats to Tikkun, the magazine I edit, there was no attention given to this by the media, no cries of "our civilization depends on freedom of the press" or demands to hunt down those involved (the FBI and police received our complaints, but never reported back to us about what they were doing to protect us or find the assailants).
Nor was the mainstream or Jewish media particularly concerned about Western civilization being destroyed or freedom of thought and association undermined when various universities denied tenure to professors who had made statements critical of Israel, or when the Hillel association, which operates a chain of student-oriented "Hillel Houses" on college campuses, decided to ban from their premises any Jews who were part of Jewish Voices for Peace. Nor was the media much interested in a bomb that went off outside the NAACP's Colorado Springs headquarters the same day as they were highlighting the attack in Paris. Colorado Springs is home to some of the most extreme right-wing activists. It was a balding white man who was seen setting the bomb, some reports claim, and so the media described it as an act of a troubled "lone individual," rather than as a white right wing Christian fundamentalist terrorist. Few Americans have ever heard of this incident.
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Wednesday, January 14
Monday, January 5
Any philosophy worthy of its title should not be a mere intellectual exercise but should have practical application in enabling man to live an enlightened life. A philosophy which makes no difference to the quality and style of our life is no philosophy, but an empty intellectual construction.
- Ramakrishna Puligandla , Fundamentals of Indian Philosophy
- Ramakrishna Puligandla , Fundamentals of Indian Philosophy
Sunday, January 4
정토회 수행문
모든 괴로움과 얽매임은 잘 살펴보면 다 내 마음이 일으킨다.
그런 어리석은 사람들은 이 괴로움과 얽매임이 밖으로부터 오는 줄 착각하고 이 종교 저 종교, 이절 저절, 이 사람 저 사람을 찾아다니며 행복과 자유를 구하지만 끝내 얻지 못한다.
그것은 안심입명의 도는 밖으로 찾아서는 결코 얻을 수 없기 때문이다.
언제 어디에서 일어난 어떤 괴로움일지라도 안으로 살펴보면 그 모든 괴로움의 뿌리가 다 마음 가운데 있고 그 마음의 실체가 본래 공한 줄 알면 모든 괴로움은 저절로 사라진다.
그런데도 사람들은 자신이 일으킨 한 생각에 사로잡혀 옳다 그르다 모양짓고 그 모양에 집착해서 온갖 괴로움을 스스로 만든다.
한 생각 돌이켜서 이 사로잡힘에서 벗어나면 모든 괴로움과 얽매임은 즉시 사라진다.
그런 어리석은 사람들은 이 괴로움과 얽매임이 밖으로부터 오는 줄 착각하고 이 종교 저 종교, 이절 저절, 이 사람 저 사람을 찾아다니며 행복과 자유를 구하지만 끝내 얻지 못한다.
그것은 안심입명의 도는 밖으로 찾아서는 결코 얻을 수 없기 때문이다.
언제 어디에서 일어난 어떤 괴로움일지라도 안으로 살펴보면 그 모든 괴로움의 뿌리가 다 마음 가운데 있고 그 마음의 실체가 본래 공한 줄 알면 모든 괴로움은 저절로 사라진다.
그런데도 사람들은 자신이 일으킨 한 생각에 사로잡혀 옳다 그르다 모양짓고 그 모양에 집착해서 온갖 괴로움을 스스로 만든다.
한 생각 돌이켜서 이 사로잡힘에서 벗어나면 모든 괴로움과 얽매임은 즉시 사라진다.