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So, what if Osama Bin Laden is dead? If you have heard of the tale of Kisa Gotami, you will know that people die all the time. Kisa Gotami, the wife of a wealthy man of Savatthi learned about mortality when she lost her only son. In a desperate attempt to bring the latter back to life, she had approached Buddha who told her that the son could be brought back to life if she could find white mustard seeds from a family where no one had died. Of course, Kisa Gotami failed in her bid to get the mustard seeds but in failing, she succeeded to see the facts of life - that people die even if you love them. Kisa Gotami's son died of cholera but Osama, the Al-Qaeda boss who claimed responsibility for the September 11 attacks on the United States was shot and killed by US commandos inside a secret private residential compound in Abbotabad, Pakistan in an operation authorized by U.S. President Barack Obama. While the death angered Al-Qaeda and Islamic militants who vowed vengeance, it had also cause jubilation world-wide particularly in America where a big crowd packed Times Square to celebrate (inset). Viewing life as suffering, would you suppose Buddhist should rejoice death the way the Americans did?
So, what if Osama Bin Laden is dead? If you have heard of the tale of Kisa Gotami, you will know that people die all the time. Kisa Gotami, the wife of a wealthy man of Savatthi learned about mortality when she lost her only son. In a desperate attempt to bring the latter back to life, she had approached Buddha who told her that the son could be brought back to life if she could find white mustard seeds from a family where no one had died. Of course, Kisa Gotami failed in her bid to get the mustard seeds but in failing, she succeeded to see the facts of life - that people die even if you love them. Kisa Gotami's son died of cholera but Osama, the Al-Qaeda boss who claimed responsibility for the September 11 attacks on the United States was shot and killed by US commandos inside a secret private residential compound in Abbotabad, Pakistan in an operation authorized by U.S. President Barack Obama. While the death angered Al-Qaeda and Islamic militants who vowed vengeance, it had also cause jubilation world-wide particularly in America where a big crowd packed Times Square to celebrate (inset). Viewing life as suffering, would you suppose Buddhist should rejoice death the way the Americans did?
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