I find this increasingly difficult to continue this discussion without knowing what he said but here goes....
On 22 Oct 2001, at 19:19, Kakki wrote: I recall he > started off with something about people's "energy" right now and how they should > not be channeling it into "revenge" and "retaliation" and should be channeling > it into "compassion", etc. Since he is directing those remarks to an audience of > mostly people who are grieving as a direct result of Sept. 11th isn't he > presuming to know what is in their minds and hearts and isn't he by extension > judging them by indicating that they are full of "revenge" and not "compassion?" > I don't know because I don't know what he said. Isn't it possible that he believed what he said should be regarded to whom it applies whether he knows who they are or not? Surely you won't argue that there are people in this country who are seeking revenge and have expressed it as such. Seeing as how the remarks were televised (right?) they needn't just apply to people in the room. > Why is it about whether *I* agree with him or not? Because you wrote: "Mr. Gere right off called criticized and judged people" Is this your statement or a quote from something you read reporting on the event? If it is your statement then there was something which you heard that led you to characterize his comments as criticism and judgement. That's what his words were through your lens. They may not be judgmental to me. I again suggest that we try to look at what exactly those words were. Maybe there's something we can learn from it together. Please understand that this is not a personal attack and there is no need to be defensive. It's just that in my view it is very strong language to say that someone is "judging." And I don't think it was unfortunate. Hopefully there are other people somewhere wondering what Gere meant by what he said and seeking to open their minds to the Buddhist perspective, if for no other reason than the sake of tolerance. Brenda
