There was some discussion around this in the media in the early days of the war but not much. What is certainly not mentioned much is the linguistic complexion of Ukraine. Zelensky himself is a native Russian speaker who taught himself to speak Ukrainian. So it’s obviously a more complex situation than Putin bad Ukraine good.
If you try to understand the reasons behind Russian actions please often confuse this with excusing their actions. But any student of history looks at the push and pull of causes and geo political history. Our movies and culture paint us (the west) as the good guy and a little bit of cognitive dissonance to even contemplate that NATO may not be a cuddly toy.
Why does Russia need to exist in opposition to Europe. Putin feels the collapse of the USSR was the greatest disaster and wants a legacy of restoring the Russian empire (see actions in Georgia, Chechnya, and other Moslem republics of Central Asia). If Russia would stand down, so would Europe. Then could proceed more economic integration for the benefit of all, particularly Russian citizens, and further nuclear and other weapons decreases. Please don’t obfuscate the obvious fact that Putin is the aggressor here. I’m frankly surprised at this twist of the facts by a respected dharma teacher.
Between the Maidan coup and the 'start' of the conflict (8 years) over 14000 innocent Russian speaking people in the Donbas region were killed by the Ukrainians whilst the west looked away. The people impacted in this area begged Russia to intervene and protect them. The Russian government took a vote. Putin didn't just decide on his own to invade a neighboring country.
Christopher, you aren't presenting a "Buddhist perspective" here but your private political views which might be correct or incorrect or a mix of both. Other Buddhists might disagree with your views. So presenting your Substack as "Buddhist" and then filling it with political articles is hijacking Buddhism, and people who follow you as a spiritual teacher might be led to believe your political views just because they trust you as a spiritual teacher. This feels like a kind of abuse to me. I'm quite surprised that you aren't aware of what you are doing
Dear Michael, in reading your comment some questions come up for me. I would be curious what your view is on these.
- Should a dharma teachers private view differ from his/her public view? If so, why?
- What qualifies a view as 'buddhist' rather than 'private'?
- Is it possible for a dharma teacher to explore the nature of reality without addressing politics, which is a major aspect of it?
- What is an appropriate way for a dharma teacher to promote 'not killing/not harming' (a very important aspect of the dharma) in a global situation with much killing/ harming? Might some buddhists argue it is a responsibility of a dharma teacher to address such issues?
- In your opinion: What are skillful steps to resolve this conflict in the long term?
- How do you define abuse?
I would appreciate to hear your view on these points if you have the time to respond.
There was some discussion around this in the media in the early days of the war but not much. What is certainly not mentioned much is the linguistic complexion of Ukraine. Zelensky himself is a native Russian speaker who taught himself to speak Ukrainian. So it’s obviously a more complex situation than Putin bad Ukraine good.
If you try to understand the reasons behind Russian actions please often confuse this with excusing their actions. But any student of history looks at the push and pull of causes and geo political history. Our movies and culture paint us (the west) as the good guy and a little bit of cognitive dissonance to even contemplate that NATO may not be a cuddly toy.
Why does Russia need to exist in opposition to Europe. Putin feels the collapse of the USSR was the greatest disaster and wants a legacy of restoring the Russian empire (see actions in Georgia, Chechnya, and other Moslem republics of Central Asia). If Russia would stand down, so would Europe. Then could proceed more economic integration for the benefit of all, particularly Russian citizens, and further nuclear and other weapons decreases. Please don’t obfuscate the obvious fact that Putin is the aggressor here. I’m frankly surprised at this twist of the facts by a respected dharma teacher.
Totally agreed, about Putin, and about Titmuss
Between the Maidan coup and the 'start' of the conflict (8 years) over 14000 innocent Russian speaking people in the Donbas region were killed by the Ukrainians whilst the west looked away. The people impacted in this area begged Russia to intervene and protect them. The Russian government took a vote. Putin didn't just decide on his own to invade a neighboring country.
https://rumble.com/v4glfzc-imagine-ireland-banning-english.-thats-what-happened-in-ukraine-with-russia.html
Christopher, you aren't presenting a "Buddhist perspective" here but your private political views which might be correct or incorrect or a mix of both. Other Buddhists might disagree with your views. So presenting your Substack as "Buddhist" and then filling it with political articles is hijacking Buddhism, and people who follow you as a spiritual teacher might be led to believe your political views just because they trust you as a spiritual teacher. This feels like a kind of abuse to me. I'm quite surprised that you aren't aware of what you are doing
Dear Michael, in reading your comment some questions come up for me. I would be curious what your view is on these.
- Should a dharma teachers private view differ from his/her public view? If so, why?
- What qualifies a view as 'buddhist' rather than 'private'?
- Is it possible for a dharma teacher to explore the nature of reality without addressing politics, which is a major aspect of it?
- What is an appropriate way for a dharma teacher to promote 'not killing/not harming' (a very important aspect of the dharma) in a global situation with much killing/ harming? Might some buddhists argue it is a responsibility of a dharma teacher to address such issues?
- In your opinion: What are skillful steps to resolve this conflict in the long term?
- How do you define abuse?
I would appreciate to hear your view on these points if you have the time to respond.