creating enmity

.

Surely that thing which you fight you become. If I am angry 
and you meet me with anger what is the result? 
More anger. You have become that which I am.
 If I am evil and you fight me with evil means then you also become evil,
 however righteous you may feel. If I am brutal and you use brutal methods 
to overcome me, then you become brutal like me. 

And this we have done for thousands of years. 
Surely there is a different approach than to meet hate by hate.
 If I use violent methods to quell anger in myself then
 I am using wrong means for a right end, 
and thereby the right end ceases to be. In this there is no understanding;
 there is no transcending anger. Anger is to be studied tolerantly
 and understood; it is not to be overcome through violent means.
 Anger may be the result of many causes and without comprehending
 them there is no escape from anger.

We have created the enemy, the bandit, and becoming ourselves the enemy
 in no way brings about an end to enmity. We have to understand the cause
 of enmity and cease to feed it by our thought, feeling, and action. 

This is an arduous task demanding constant self-awareness and intelligent pliability, 
for what we are the society, the state is. The enemy and the friend 
are the outcome of our thought and action. We are responsible for creating enmity 
and so it is more important to be aware of our own thought and action
 than to be concerned with the foe and the friend, for right thinking 
puts an end to division. Love transcends the friend and the enemy.

~ J. Krishnamurti

from The Book of Life

art by Picasso