A lot of people in the so-called “spiritual-enlightened” community seem to be not happy about other people’s rejoicing over the assassination of the long-sought mass-murderer bin Laden. I find this a curious thing and want to share a few thoughts about the subject. Concerning violence and aggression, especially war and decisions coming from our U.S. government, a lot of people are saying that the killing was, in itself, as much as “act of evil” as those perpetrated by bin Laden himself.

For years I myself juggled with my conscience about this very same “spiritual” issue, of aggressively confronting evil and if necessary, eradicating it. Maybe it started by the necessity of saying good-bye to a “friend” who was more negative than needed, or deciding to leave a job whose boss was abusive, etc. It was only in reading and truly imbibing the teachings I discovered in the ancient Indian scripture, the Bhagavad Gita” … “The Song of God” … that light was shed on this subject. Only then, my mind became calm and serene concerning my duty as a human being: to take strong action against evil in order for goodness to thrive. This awareness I was relieved to discover was most handily applied to the issue of our country having gone to war right after 9/11. This awareness offered in the Gita can also be applied to the need of challenging a fellow “spiritual” person who harms anyone else, including myself. Abuse begins with a thought, then manifests as words … until it hurdles into more aggressive actions such as bin Laden’s.

What a bunch of bunk for people seeking enlightenment to confuse taking action against evil with promoting evil themselves!

Nonetheless, I can sympathize about the confusion many are experiencing about the ordering of bin Laden’s killing by Obama, and those who are questioning our President’s rightful and necessary decision of taking such aggressive action against evil.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna appears before Arjuna, a man, on the eve of a battle that is about to begin. Arjuna is very upset because he does not want to kill his enemies, in this case, his very own relatives who have committed grievous injustices against his own family. Lord Krishna appears beside him in the chariot, on the readying battlefield, and speaks directly to this issue of “do I, or don’t I?” That is, being aggressive about eradicating evil, or letting it be? Which, Arjuna asks, is the spiritual choice? True, this scripture is ancient; and true, the issue was political; but we can apply all the lessons that Lord Krishna hands Arjuna, and us, in this heightened arena to our own personal lives as well. The gist of what Krishna told this confused man, Arjuna, was that to take no action and let evil go unchallenged is the wrong thing. The right thing is, when evil has been truly identified (after scrutiny, and all other means have been exhausted to remedy and make reconciliation) the duty of all people who wish to call themselves good (or enlightened wannabes, or spiritually in-tune, etc.etc. in today’s jargon) is to meet evil face-to-face on the battlefield and do your best to wipe out the evil. Yes, the Lord said, “It is your duty to kill evil.”

It is a moral, spiritual, intellectual, and human duty for each and every one of us to identify, challenge, and eradicate evil.

Even if this simply means to say to the fellow we see on the street who is yelling at his little child, “Hey! What are you doing there!”

Most especially this teaching means, in terms of political and moral action, that President Obama made the right, the spiritually-correct decision to send our country’s special forces into Pakistan for the specific purpose of killing the “head” of the snake of evil that is al Quaeda. Perhaps the “body” won’t die totally, but without its head, the snake panics. Wiggles and thrashes about, and more than likely, dies.

Those “spiritual” people who claim that killing bin Laden was just as “evil” as what he had done by ordering the deaths of innocents just because they were born American (and a lot of his fellow Muslims, too, I might add) are clearly confused. People will always express their opinions, but we always have the choice who to listen to, or not. In the end, each and every one of us must make up our own minds about all issues in life: religion, sexuality, health, political alliance (or not).

I choose to follow my inner counsel that has been developed by years of experience, decades of studies, many moments of mediation on truths i’ve been shown by my great teachers and scriptures. Much is revealed to everyone when we get quiet and go within.

I don’t care what others say, I’m totally behind what President Obama had to do. I hail him as a truly courageous and exemplary spiritual (and political) leader for us: people who claim that Liberty and Justice for All is our motto. To those who debunk his choice, claiming he only came down to bin Laden’s evil level, I say: read the Bhadavad Gita and open your minds! See that if we do nothing whenever Evil Personified rears it nasty head, our world will surely be taken over by Fear and Darkness. Only when we are willing to devote our lives for the betterment of our human evolution will the right to live in the Light mean something to each and every one of us. You can see how much it means to me.

I share these thoughts with you in hopes that you may consider them, not to tell you how to think. The process of discerning right from wrong action (called viveka in yogic philosophy) is the journey quite simply called life. We are all on this journey together.

In Light and Love, your pal Lordflea

spiritual warrior