In the West you have been struggling for many years with the problem of evil. But in the light of non-duality, there is not any problem. You need both right and left to have a branch. Do not take sides, if you take sides, you are trying to eliminate half of reality, which is impossible. For many years, the United States has been trying to describe the Soviet Union as the evil side. Some Americans even have the illusion they can survive alone, without the other half. If we look at America very deeply, we see the Soviet Union. And if we look deeply at the Soviet union, we see America. If we look deeply at the rose, we see the garbage; if we look deeply at the garbage, we see the rose. In this international situation, each side is pretending to be the rose, and calling the other side garbage. Survival means the survival of human kind as a whole, not just a part of it. If the South cannot survive, then the North is going to crumble. If countries of Third World cannot pay their debts, you are going to suffer here in the North. If you do not take care of the Third World, your well-being is not going to last, and you will not be able to continue living in the way you have been much longer. It is leaping out at us already. You cannot leave the job to the governments or the political scientists alone. You have to do it yourself.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Source: Thich Naht Hahn, The Heart of Understanding, Commentaries on Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, 1988 p36
This quote pushes and makes reconciliation more urgent, because it supports that we are clearly living in illusion. The dangerous thing is that we take on the roles of polarity so completely that humans kill and maim to maintain what we believe about ourselves. We do not see our connection to each other, though God shouts to us everyday that peace is possible today if we stop trying to set ourselves over and against our perceived enemy. I vow to live peace, and to challenge the status quo, and to boldly love the other, even when it puts my life in harm's way. We must live courageously.
