U Nu - Stages of the struggle against oppression

" Do not return fire for fire"

" This person insults me, oppresses me, overpowers me, steals my property," says the one who harbors hatred in his heart, and who is enmity with him, and whose enmity never ceases.

Those who do not harbor anger or resentment in their hearts, saying, "This person slanders me, oppresses me, overpowers me, steals my property," their enmity ceases.

In this world, enmity is never extinguished by retaliating; it is only by not retaliating that enmity is extinguished. This cessation of enmity through not retaliating is the ancient and traditional nature.

Fools , not considering that they will live forever in this world, and yet they will die, quarrel and fight. But wise men, realizing that they will live forever and die, do not imitate fools and settle disputes.

Dhammapada

The path of the heart is the truest path. Therefore, it is the best path. I want to explain why it is the truest and best path.

(1) In the battle of the heart, one side must fight with anger, the other side must fight with love. This path is the path that God loves. Therefore, this path is right.

(2) The battle of the heart is a battle that can replace the evil tradition of deciding with weapons. Therefore, this path is the right one.

(3) This path of struggle for the heart can be widely embraced by the entire mass of people who love democracy. Therefore, this path is correct.

(4) The main purpose of the battle of the hearts is not something else. It is to change the minds of the people on the other side. As long as the people on the other side do not change their minds, the battles will never end. It will be one battle after another. If the people on this side do not do anything in return and are arrested, tortured, and killed, the people on the other side are not statues of iron and stone. One day, or another, they will change their minds. The day that they change their minds will be the day that democracy will triumph.

For example, consider the pheasant. They always mate with a male and a female. If a bird hunter shoots either the male or the female, the other pheasants do nothing to the bird hunter. The dead pheasant falls to the ground next to it and dies. Seeing this, the bird hunter changes his mind. He never shoots birds again.

This is the right path because a battle of the heart can change the other party's mind. (We will protect democracy with this right battle of the heart.)

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A person who is going to fight for the soul needs to know about courage. Some people think that courage comes from being able to let others down. This is wrong. True courage comes from being able to let others down for the sake of achieving truth.

If we compare a man who has the courage to slap an unarmed person with a sword and power, and a man who dares to say that such a slap is wrong, and who also dares to turn the other cheek if he still feels angry and wants to hit you again, the first man is a fool, the second man is a brave man.

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While we are fighting, we should be prepared for the dangers that the crazy police will come and attack us. We should also be prepared to resist these dangers. Terrorism is not just about armed rebellion. It is also about ambushing and killing someone. When we are a little bit hurt, we tend to listen to the words of those who are trying to attack us. Be careful about that. This kind of ambush is called terrorism in English. This kind of thing is done by cowardly people, people who do not believe in their own abilities, people who do not believe in the power of the people, and people who are out of ideas. Once you do this, it is very difficult to stop. So, we must try not to even think about doing this kind of terrorism. This kind of thing happens all the time, and it is not over.

(From U Nu's "May Day Speech")

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