Question to Deepak: Do you believe a law enforcement officer can take and keep the vow of non violence successfully? I completely agree there are individuals who have no business in the LEO profession. We are all human and have flaws no matter what profession. I felt this calling for a very long time, and I have put this career choice aside for a long time. With out getting into a long drawn out history of failures at a art career, lets just say I feel the universe has been telling me something. "Making a living as artist isn’t gonna happen."
Early this year I have made the choice to pursue a LEO career. I’m very close to succeeding. Part of the reason why I’ve waited so long before making this choice was I did not want to be motivated by dark purposes. I do intend to restrict, stop those who wish to express themselves in way that will cause pain and suffering to another. Especially the innocent. NO one has any right to freely express themselves by acting out physical violence on another person, or animal. When one’s own shadow emerges to inflict harm another, checks and balances must be in place. Otherwise the shadow grows and this has been demonstrated over over again since man walked the earth up to today. (i.e. Holocaust, Rwanda, Serbia & Darfur to a large scale) I fully realize I will never be able to stop the pain and suffering of everyone on my own. But I hope to be of service to make a positive difference in a least s few peoples lives. A victim of a brutal crime often leaves a residue of hurt that often is passed from the perpetrator to the victim, then the victim some times becomes the perpetrator. As with a child of sexual abuse. It also trends that way on the cultures of society. Yes there is truth that eye for eye, and violence begets violence have proven to continue the cycles war, hate, and suffering. But becoming extreme pacifist has never proven to rid the world of war, aggression, or hate. or VIOLENCE. Never. Look as recently as Tibet a few months ago. I do want peace, but I can’t passively let violence have it’s way on the innocent, and for those who want peace.
Answer from Deepak: Yes, a law enforcement officer can certainly take the vow of nonviolence. Law enforcement and criminal justice are fields where the principles of nonviolence are sorely needed. Think of the term “peace officer.” The guiding principle of law enforcement is really keeping the peace, and your point about protecting innocent members of the public from the violent or dangerous behavior of others is a noble calling. There are as many ways to express peacemaking as there are people. Choosing peace is not passively letting violence, on the contrary it is actively engaging in the difficult work of transforming the situation into peace. It is the polar opposite of letting the cycle of violence continue.
The vow of peace is really a statement of the loving intentions of your heart. This vow can be expressed in just about every profession as long as you are acting from a place of compassion, creativity and kindness.
Love,
Deepak
Pretty interesting situation.
That reminded me of Lord Krishna, who said to Arjuna in battlefield,
" Fight cuz it is your duty as a warrior, you fight for welfare of masses not for ur selish purpose and you wont incur sin."
Well,Law enforcement Officers perform their duty on completely guided pattern as designed by government for safety of people , not for their own selfish motives.
There is a particular predeisgned plan for them ,even to what they ought to do or not to do for one particular situation as sketched by Law enforcing bodies.So it cant be deemed as a violence.
War is heinous but if an enemy comes and stands on ur door to kill ur innocent countrymen, soldiers' vow to peace has to go through path of combat certainly.
It is condemnable to initiate an offence /attack on others but defending yourself and innocent people around us becomes our mandatory situational duty even if takes an unconventional track.
How astute, Shweta!
Krishna's advice to Arjuna is totally germane to the question.
I've been reading the Gita for years, but only lately am I beginning to grasp the most elementary of its precepts with the help of Dr. Chopra and Baba Ram Dass, among others.
It should be required reading for LEO's, shouldn't it?! JD
Once again thank you for answering my question
I will take the vow. In some way I already did.
I agree, it is certainly possible. I see a beautiful example of this in someone near and dear to my heart, who spent years as a "street cop" in the crummiest part of town, working the night shift. She now plays a slightly different role in law enforcement, but continues to act from a place of compassion and creativity.
When I rode along with her one night, the main thing that stood out to me was her respect for each individual, no matter where they came from, no matter how bad off they were. It touched me to see her kindness along the way.
She is able to eliminate the need for force most of the time in her interactions with the 'suspect'. One situation did call for force that night, but even in that, as in many other similar situations of protecting others from violence, she was able to handle it very appropriately, and with that same respect.
I know that some law enforcement officers do bring violence to the job because that is where they are "at", as some in other professions.
I do think it may get much more challenging, in the near future, for law enforcement persons to remain in a place of loving intention on the job. What if they are ordered to harm innocent citizens? Some officers are already disturbed at new developments in what is required of them.
If and when it comes to that, the answer to the question -
"Do you believe a law enforcement officer can take and keep the vow of non violence successfully?" might have to change.
Blessings!
Ann