Last weekend Tibetan leader and 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, called war ”out of date” and urged people to dream of a demilitarized world. ”Eventually the whole world should be free of nuclear weapons,” he said, but noted that to achieve such a goal, people must first learn ”internal disarmament.”
I’ve been thinking of that phrase all week, trying to understand it. I think I know what he means, that we must seek mightily to find a way to rid ourselves of all the hatred and inner turmoil that roils us and makes us do terrible deeds, like making war and killing others — or even hating others. But ”internal disarmament” is not such an easy thing to achieve — at least for me. True, I don’t want to hurt others or fight wars, but there are times when I have a very difficult time controlling my own internal anger at others who hurt me by their actions, by their selfishness, by their indifference to the suffering of others. I spent the past night sleepless because I felt such anger inside me toward another person I loved who has done some very destructive things that affect both of us. The anger kept builing until finally, out of exhaustion, out of understanding that my anger was making things even worse, I tried to control myself and contain what I felt. I think I understood that the anger was doing much harm to me, making things worse. I just had to stop hating, even with all the hurt I felt.
So the question I have on my mind today, is: How do we achieve ”internal disarmament,” as the Dalai Lama puts it. How do we overcome ourselves so that we can live in peace with both ourselves and others. I don’t know the answer. Can you help me with this? What has been your own experience? WRITE TO ME.

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