Violence in America - What Can Be Done?
I feel fortunate to be living in the United States. It’s a wonderful country filledwith beautiful places and good people. But over the last month or so, there havebeen tragedies that show the problems that undermine our nation.
Back on Saturday May 14th, there was the killing of 10 African Americans who
were at the Tops Supermarket to shop for their groceries. A white male drove
over 200 miles to East Buffalo to target that market because the shoppers werepredominantly black.
The day after that, at a Taiwanese Christian church congregation in Orange
County, a gunman entered trying to blend in and when he aimed a gun at theparishioners, Dr. John Cheng charged at the man and was killed. He was creditedwith saving the lives of others including his mother.
The latest and most heart wrenching tragedy was the shooting that occurredon May 24th at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. There, an 18-yearold gunman entered the school and killed 19 fourth graders and 2 teachers. The
innocent children had so much to live for and the two dedicated teachers losttheir lives trying to protect their students.
As futile as it may be, we offer our condolences to the family and friends of all
people, especially the children, who died in those and other tragedies due to gun
violence. In our schools, unfortunately, children now learn active shooter drills in
addition to the traditional earthquake and fire drills we had in the past.
America is a country that gave its citizens the right to keep and bear arms.
However, as so many have said, assault weapons that were created for use by themilitary are in the hands of so many who use them for the wrong reasons. From
my perspective, there are no right reasons to own such weapons.
I am sure that it isn’t only us who wish for a country in which we can all befriends working for common causes. Christians, Jews, Muslims, all wish for thesame thing. In one of the press conferences following the tragedy, I remember
the Lt. Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, ended his talk by saying, “please, give us
your wisdom.” Wisdom to try to make sense of this tragedy is hopeless perhaps.
But wisdom is what Buddhism would say is lacking in the current state of ourcountry.
I remember years ago seeing the documentary, “Bowling for Columbine.” It
was a Michael Moore film based on the tragedy at Columbine High School inColorado back in April 1999. 13 high school students were killed then.

One of the things mentioned in the movie was that there were more firearms percapita in Canada in comparison to the United States. But gun violence was a tiny
percentage in comparison to that of our country. I remember walking out of thetheater thinking I would like to move to Canada. Japan is also safe in comparison
to the U.S. There is no legal way to purchase firearms there. There is crime. But
without guns, the frequency and degree are so much lower than our country. We
still must deal with COVID, but the worries of violence continues to be a growing
concern.
We can do what we can to foster friendship with people we meet. We can dowhat we can to help people in need. And, although it is a monumental task, ourteachings encourage us to do what we can to make the world a better place inwhich both weapons and wars become unnecessary. That is the wish I believe
Buddhism and all religions have. Living with hope and being able to share ourhappiness with others is so much better than having to live in fear. We feel sobad thinking about the pain and suffering of the Ukraine people, and hope for an
end to the invasion of Ukraine and a return to peaceful and happy lives for its
people.
Amidst all of the challenges that everyday life brings to us, we have the ability
to make our lives and the lives of those around us happier and more meaningful.
Let us continue to listen to the Buddhadharma as we maneuver through our daily
lives.
06/05/2022
Higashi Honganji Los Angels Betsuin
Rinban Noriaki Ito