To me life is just a drop of water on a floating lotus leaf. A little wave can take the droplet back to the larger body of water anytime. Other droplets on the leaf may follow but never the same one again. That droplet has gone forever.
Most people realize life is uncertain and so uncertain that one can die anytime, anyplace without any alert, warning or notification. This uncertainty, in fact, can make us ideal and good people. The primary criterion of good people is not to kill anyone. However, even with this truth, still people kill each other.
We see everyday there is killing of someone by someone, even in our small city of Columbus. I know killers won’t read this column but there is a chance I’ll reach someone with those tendencies. Famous writer, Arthur Ward rightfully said one time, “Before you react, think”. Or I can say, before you kill, think a hundred times because your life will no longer remain same. Life sentence or death sentence!
The recent alleged tragic killing of sophomore student, Mollie Tibbetts by an illegal immigrant in Iowa broke many hearts. Those who have daughters of her age can’t think of such a tragedy. What a promising life destroyed in vain. The feeling is indeed much too painful. In fact, any killing — when you read in the newspaper or hear from TV channels — hurts.
The other day, in a virtual game competition in Jacksonville, Florida, the loser killed other competitors. The U.S. Constitution writers could have never imagined a competitor carrying a gun and using it if he lost. I just wonder, is saving a life not that important compared to carrying or possessing gun?
The news tells us about the rise of 3D-printed guns. What impact will that have on society? When happens when everyone has access to inexpensive firearms? Someone could get mad for one comment and just use it. In fact, we could increasingly become a no-talk society, resorting to the use of guns to settle disputes.
Killing is an animal instinct. Most of the animals do not have rationality. Survival is the motto for the fittest. Do animals have a God? Is there any heaven or hell for animals? What about plants? They are alive too.
All religions say God created everything and only humans were given super intelligence with rationality embedded into their brain. The plants and animals dedicate their lives to human survival. Humans thus kill plants and animals and let them reproduce for human consumption and survival.
But too often, men kill women, women kill men, friends kill friends, mothers kill baby, teenagers kill parents, even strangers kill strangers. There is another kind of killing by law enforcing agents, which sometimes become controversial. And then there are terrorists who go on killing sprees, just killing innocent people including children! If there is Satan in the world, he is seen in the ones who kill innocent people.
But I wonder why there are everyday killings here. Nobody in this country goes hungry. Humans are not a burden to one another. We all have the opportunity to live quality lives in the U.S.
Is it anger? But not all killings are connected to anger. There are so called cold-blooded killings too.
What benefits does the killer get? There is no immortality so we’ll all eventually die anyway. There’s no need for a killer to kill someone early!
Lord Buddha spent most of his life in spirit control through meditation. Only the spirit can travel as light runs and in death the spirit flies out from the body. According to Buddhism and Hinduism, that spirit enters into someone else and comes back to earth, which is called reincarnation.
Lord Buddha said, “All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.”
Jiben Roy, a native of Bangladesh, teaches chemistry and pharmaceutical sciences at Mississippi University for Women. His email address is [email protected].
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