The Buddha and the Terrorist

June 5, 2006
Kumar (You Are, Therefore I Am
) neatly reworks an ancient allegory of Buddha's conversion of a bloodthirsty killer. In the northern Indian city of Savatthi, a renegade Untouchable called Angulimala murders people indiscriminately and cuts off their fingers (his name means "Wearer of a Finger Necklace"). Apprised of the danger, Buddha insists that he must also console "those who are possessed with anger and ignorance" and seeks him out. With Buddha's gentle instruction in the forest, Angulimala recognizes the futility of violence in dealing with his profound sense of abandonment and separation from loved ones. He takes the name Ahimsaka ("Nonviolent One"), becomes a monk and lives by the Four Noble Truths. The king and relatives of Angulimala's victims nevertheless cry out for vengeance. Skillfully, Kumar demonstrates the transformation necessary in the consciousness of a society bent on punishment rather than persuasion, or as the king says: "What one person, the Buddha, has achieved, my entire army could not." In a foreword, Thomas Moore draws parallels between this parable and the Gospels, the Tao De Ching and the Sufi "way of love." More a pamphlet than a novella, this short piece hits its mark with studied grace.

August 1, 2006
Peace activist and spiritual thinker Kumar retells a story from the Buddhist scriptures to show that there is a better way to defuse terror than "meeting fire with fire." The Buddha meets up with a man who has been terrorizing the countryside. Named Angulimala for his horrific practice of wearing a necklace of severed fingers, the killer is stunned by the Buddha's willingness to listen to his story. Born into a low and much-despised caste, Angulimala has turned misery into murderous rage. Transformed by the Buddha's teaching that compassion, not vengeance, is the way to battle injustice, Angulimala becomes a monk known as Ahimsaka (the Nonviolent One). Now the king and the victims' loved ones must decide whether to execute the former terrorist for his crimes or recognize that he has repented and become a force for good. Introduced by Thomas Moore, this classic Buddhist tale seems a simple offering in the face of today's rampant terrorism, but nonetheless it presents a crucial alternative to the unending cycle of bloodshed and retaliation.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)