{"id":693,"date":"2012-09-11T13:08:01","date_gmt":"2012-09-11T18:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=693"},"modified":"2012-09-11T13:08:01","modified_gmt":"2012-09-11T18:08:01","slug":"poem-dropped-sword-shield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2012\/09\/11\/poem-dropped-sword-shield\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: I Dropped My Sword and Shield"},"content":{"rendered":"

One day I dropped my sword and shield<\/span>
\nAnd as it turns out, it freed more than my hands<\/span><\/p>\n

It is not unusual for me to want to see someone hurt; this is the metaphorical sword.\u00a0 It is not unusual for me to want to protect myself and limit my vulnerabilities to others; this is the metaphorical shield.\u00a0 On a good day, I find freedom in heaping compassion on all living beings, and opening myself to the reality that me and the so-called other are actually one.\u00a0 It has been said that resentment is like taking poison and expecting another to die.\u00a0 Resentments hurt me first, and then often go on to hurt others.\u00a0 It has also been said that hurt people hurt people.\u00a0 However, it is possible for me to break that cycle. And when the cycle of hurt is broken, I am the first one freed.\u00a0 To live this way requires a lot of vulnerability, that is, dropping my shield.\u00a0 While our culture often lifts up the virtues of the warrior, I believe that a willingness to experience hurt without passing that hurt on to others takes more courage than hurting others.\u00a0 Punishment as a lower form of justice.\u00a0 Also, by offering a break in the cycle of hurt it serves as an invitation to others to break the cycle.\u00a0 The point is not to visit the karma of violence upon another but to escape that karma.\u00a0 This is a higher form of just us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One day I dropped my sword and shield And as it turns out, it freed more than my hands It is not unusual for me to want to see someone hurt; this is the metaphorical sword.\u00a0 It is not unusual … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101,9,15],"tags":[339,198,516,428,115,402,349,94,615,601,350,53,163,514,203,549],"class_list":["post-693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anti-war","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-compassion","tag-courage","tag-culture","tag-experience","tag-freedom","tag-justice","tag-karma","tag-poetry","tag-punishment","tag-reality","tag-resentment","tag-short-poems","tag-violence","tag-vulnerability","tag-war","tag-willingness"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: I Dropped My Sword and Shield | Anti-War, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! 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