I wish I could open his eyes!

As I am writing this, almost four months have passed since the destruction of the World Trade Center. I was not there when it happened. I was still asleep in my Wisconsin appartment. In fact, I did not learn about it till I logged on to a BBS that afternoon.

To the best of my knowledge, none of my friends died in the destruction.

Yet, I have still not recovered from the trauma this destruction has brought up to me.

What bothers me most is that whenever I see pictures of Osama bin Laden, I do not see a power hungry dictator. I do not see a criminal who only thinks about himself. I do not see a raving lunatic.

I essentially see the image of a holy man. A man moved by his religious beliefs. A man who gently but relentlessly explains to his followers why what he did was right.

And that is what I do not understand. How can a spiritual man believe that a deity, especially a monotheistic deity could ever want such a horrible destruction, and demand the taking of so many innocent lives who only died because they happened to be there that morning.

Even though I was not there, I have not been fully myself ever since it happened. I am clearly suffering from the post-traumatic stress disorder.

Unlike many, I do not hate Osama bin Laden. Instead, I wish I could sit down with him and explain to him in a friendly conversation that he is wrong. I do not think of him as evil or a sinner. I think of him as ignorant. What I would like to do is open his eyes, let him see that what he has done was wrong. Then I would let him go free and let him explain to all of his followers how wrong he was. He could then open their eyes in turn.

Alas, as it is, I may be a Buddhist with the bodhisattva vow, but I am not yet a Buddha. My own eyes are not fully open yet, so it is rather unlikely that I could open his eyes even if somehow I got the option of talking to him.

And that makes me sad.

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