I Will Not Kill
Join Piero Falci for a two-session workshop on Mindful Communication & Nonviolence in Dialogue.
I don’t know for sure what life is, or who we are, or what we are doing here, but I like the idea that we are spiritual beings having human experiences. For me, all life is sacred.
It is difficult for me to articulate this, but I feel that I am not in a position of depriving anyone from learning what they need to learn during their passages through Earth. I will not deprive anyone from having the experiences they are meant to have. I will not kill.
I will teach love. I will teach that we inter-are. I will teach the sacredness of all life, and that we are all in this together. I will teach and practice compassion. I will teach and practice nonviolence.
I may be killed, but I choose not to kill.
Physical life is temporary and transient: it will eventually end, for you, me, and all beings. Once we understand a little better who we really are—that we are, at the same time, mortal and immortal, human and divine, separated and united, many and one—then we can better understand what moved the greatest martyrs, saints, and sages. They allowed themselves to be killed, without ever killing, because they came to the realization that life is more than what we think it is, or even more than what we can imagine. Life is a mystery.
Once we experience such a spiritual awakening, we become able to see beyond what we were able to see before, and then we see that the mystery many of us call God is in everyone. This realization makes violence, aggression, and killing inconceivable and unacceptable, because if we are hurting others we are, in the final analysis, hurting God.
The other realization is that since we are in God and God is in us, we don’t need weapons for protection: we are protected by God. And if we are to face abuse, suffering, and even experience physical death, we understand that this is all part of the human experiences we, spiritual beings, have to live in order to learn the lessons we are meant to learn during our passage as human beings through this physical dimension.
It may sound that I am advocating the cowardly stance of remaining passive when facing injustice, threat, and aggression, and allowing the violent ones to walk all over the defenseless. This is not the case at all. I am advocating that we should be bold, stand up, resist, defend ourselves and others, speak truth to power, and engage in the work of creating a just society, and do all this, and a lot more, without ever using violence. We should do what we can without ever being afraid of bringing our physical life to an end, while also protecting our lives because we, too, are part of the humanity that we want to protect.
Whenever I witness the loss of lives through war, crime, and other senseless acts of violence—that many times are motivated by greed, hatred, ignorance, inequalities, lack of justice, despair, and the compulsion to take justice in one’s own hands as the last resort—what comes to my mind is a scene in the movie Gandhi. In that scene, a meeting is taking place in a large auditorium and some participants start to advocate the use of violence as a means to stop the abuse and discrimination they are being subjected to by the authorities. The idea begins to gain followers, and people in the room begin to raise their voices and express their desire to use force and lash out against the government that passed unjust and discriminatory laws, and the law enforcement agents who implement them. This goes on for a while until Gandhi stands up and says, “For this cause, I, too, am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill.”
I guess he had reached a higher understanding. I think he spoke as an enlightened being would.
Pat Carrithers wrote, “Those four words form the basis of my pacifism: ‘I will not kill.’ And it is amazing to me how many people respond to that with questions and arguments, presenting me with hypothetical situations where I should, would, could, or must kill for some higher reason. I always respond, ‘I will not kill,’ and this makes them angry.”
I face similar questions as the ones described by Pat Carrithers. When asked about what I would do in such hypothetical situations—for instance, someone threatening the lives of my loved ones—I say that I would try to stop the attacker from killing using as much nonviolence as possible, or using the minimal amount of violence possible. In an extreme situation I would sacrifice my life if this could save another life, but I would not kill. In all honesty, it is a difficult question and I hope I will never face such a situation. All I know is that these words impacted me profoundly: “For this cause I am willing to die, but there is no cause I am willing to kill for.” He also said, “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it: always.” These, for me, are words coming from someone who stands on a higher ground.
Here’s my desire and my vision:
I would prefer to live in a world without fear, without greed, without hatred, without ignorance, without poverty, without oppression, without racism, without slavery, without discrimination, and without exploitation.
I would prefer to live in a world without weapons, without violence, without terrorism, without aggression, without retaliation, without revenge, without countries, without borders, and without war.
My world, the one I am creating, is a nonviolent world, where compassion and cooperation reign, and where everybody can live with dignity and thrive. I know this is possible.
Join me! Let’s create a whole new world!
Heaven is here if we want it to be!
Piero Falci teaches Mindfulness Meditation and Mindful Living, leads Insight Meditation Silent Retreats, and organizes Silent Peace Walks. Piero is an educator who believes that the inner work that leads to personal awakening and transformation is indispensable to create a wholesome world. He is a promoter of peace who believes in advancing the idea that Heaven is here if we want it to be. His latest book is "A Better Life in a Better World: Can Mindfulness Save Us from Ourselves?" For more information, visit his website www.pierofalci.com