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jamgonRe: Ole Nydahl and Diamond Way BuddhismHi folks,
Been following this thread for a while now. I've just come across this video on youtube:[www.youtube.com]When you are being confronted by someone aggressive first try to disengage by not taking the bait - act as if you want "nothing to do" with them.
If you are being physically attacked try to use non-violent means of defence. If pepper spray is legal in your country carry it with you and use if directly threatened. This will prevent serious harm done to the attacker (if you can fight) or yourself (if you cannot).
What an eminently sensible, practical piece of advice, in response to a direct question! Very Buddhist, too - avoid or minimise harm.
There is just one harm-avoidance strategy missing in Lama Ole's explanation - do not go where you are likely to get into trouble. This used to be easier to implement when it was enough not to visit countries or suburbs where one was likely to be harrassed, abused, attacked. But these days even the centres of the European cities can be dangerous:
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so this strategy is of limited usefulness.
Peace
Yes, we know cities can be dangerous places, but why would anyone assume they were being targeted on religious grounds?
In the comments section to the link you provided and it seems some other people have also assumed that it is about Islam. In the video, both the person asking and Nydal also fail to question this assumption.
There is even an exchange between someone anonymous who says,
- "This is happening in hart of BRUSSELS? Islam is really on the move. That is for sure! There are two things you can do; Go into submission or beat these primitives a lesson! Don't count on your government, they have no idea! And buy pepperspray!"
The person who posted the video responds by saying,
- "Hi! Thanks for your comment! You can not just ascribe it to 'Islam' though: I have muslim friends who don't treath women like this, so there must be more to it... Hopefully I can tell you more in a few weeks! ;) Greetings, Sofie"
It seems quite clear that automatically linking the issue of being threatened in the street to a religious issue like DWB does shows a willful prejudice and ignorance based on a false generalization which creates an unnecessary division in the whole society.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/2012 07:09AM by suenam.