Hitting Back
by Javier C.
For the past two weeks in my ToK class, we have been watching videos and discussing the Dalai Lama’s ideology. Everything we talked about seemed like something we have talked about in the previous classes or was similar in a way. Then my ToK teacher mentioned how odd it was that the Dalai Lama advocated and recommended “hitting back” when confronted by an aggressor. At first it didn’t strike me as odd at all because it seems like common sense, but when my teacher reminded me that Buddhism advocates peace, harmony, and non-violence, that’s when it struck me as odd too. At first it seemed that the Dalai Lama was contradicting himself and showing his human side, but after thinking about it I came to the conclusion that perhaps what he meant by “hitting back” was a counterforce to an aggressive force. The best example I could come up with was one that is taught to me in all of my years studying martial arts. I was taught that the best way to fight was to strike back, not to retaliate, but to block or prevent any further damage inflicted on oneself by disabling the aggressor. Practitioners of any form of martial arts carry a huge responsibility on their shoulders. Just because we have the power and knowledge to hurt someone doesn’t mean we should go looking for trouble. We must not let down our guard either and pretend that no one is going to hurt us so we must build our defense and learn how to use our strikes to defend ourselves with causing so much damage. We must be like those who study ninjutsu. They are thought to affect the opponent with no direct combat that would hurt him or oneself. That is how we should hit back.
