Great replies!! Thank you. However, unless the "bad guy" is standing right in front of you, you may intend to wound him in the arm, but it ain't that easy. Hand a handgun to a novice and he literally cannot hit a door at twenty feet. It's not like TV.

Let's get real. Would a Buddhist kill a rabid dog that's about to bite his daughter? That is the dimension of this issue, not guys with their finger on the bomb button, young Hitlers, and mosquito larvae. Good grief! What would be the better thing - protecting a few people with your body during a sh...

Nibbana cannot be imagined or described.

I have a small collection of old World War II battle rifles! I am former military and have always enjoyed target shooting from long distances with iron sights. Target shooting is the most intense exercise in mindfulness, outside of meditation, in my life. 20 out of 20 at 200 yards inside a twelve in...

I believe that toughness and self-reliance go hand in hand. Fear is the enemy. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. I was a tough guy (USMC 1970-72) before I became a Buddhist. My most meditative experience ever was a summer spent on the Appalachian Trail. In retrospect, I have a compassio...

My "freeing the mosquito in your bedroom" reference comes from a Vipassana meditation book written by an American (or British?) woman who literally described her act of catching and freeing a mosquito that had invaded her bedroom. My take would be to kill it, but on the other hand I hold s...

Hi - I'm Gerry Stribling from Louisville, KY, and have been a practicing Theravada Buddhist for nine years. I learned the Dhamma from monks during two summers I spent volunteering in Sri Lanka. I just turned 60 and am a former U.S. Marine and something of an adventurer. My mission for the rest of my...