Air campaign against Houthis under way in Yemen, says Saudi-led coalition as reflected on by Sensei Michael Jinpa
Before dawn broke over Harborview Point this morning, the ocean swells carried an unusually heavy cadence. Sitting in our zendo, we feel how intimately our coastal town links to the wider world. The morning reports confirm an air campaign Yemen. A coalition launched a sweeping offensive. One hundred fighter jets now rain munitions across coastal straits and inland cities. Military leaders calculate these operations in secured shipping lanes and degraded targets. However, in the human realm, they directly cause terror, shatter livelihoods, and inflict unmeasurable suffering.
Zen Wisdom on Conflict and Suffering
Zen teaching begins with radical presence. We confront things as they actually are. We strip away the abstractions that keep us numb. Military spokespeople speak of strategic air protection. They describe neutralizing insurgent infrastructure. Yet, the mind easily forgets that bombs fall on flesh, dust, and homes. Yemen endures years of acute devastation. Cholera, starvation, and grief plague its people. Launching another deluge of fire only deepens an ancient cycle of karmic retribution. We mistake catastrophic force for genuine peace.
During my years as a hospice chaplain, I sat with many people. They wrestled with regret at life’s edge. In those quiet rooms, impermanence revealed itself as undeniable reality. Power and domination then showed themselves as hollow illusions. Not once did I hear a dying person wish they had struck harder. They never wanted more territory. No one wished to silence an opponent with greater violence. What remained, when pretense fell away, was always a hunger for reconciliation, forgiveness, and gentle presence. Why must human societies wait until they are broken? Why do we wait to realize that inflicting suffering never heals our fear?
Connecting Our Lives to Global Events
The Buddhist view of dependent origination reminds us of interconnectedness. No event happens in isolation. The Bab al-Mandab strait lies thousands of miles from our quiet harbor. Nevertheless, the web of trade, fossil fuels, and geopolitics binds our daily routines directly to those contested waters. When conflict flares along those shores, shockwaves ripple into global markets. Fuel prices and defense budgets also rise. We cannot simply turn away. We cannot pretend that violence belongs solely to distant strangers. The underlying causes of greed, ill will, and delusion weave into our shared global life.
When panic and violence escalate, a natural human reflex emerges. We feel aversion. We turn away in despair. Alternatively, we harden our hearts into cynical indifference. However, turning away refuses our shared human dignity. True contemplative practice is not a tranquil escape from world suffering. Instead, it is the courageous willingness to stay awake to it. We must look directly at the reality of Yemen. We must not avert our eyes. We hold the victims, the combatants, and the frightened families in an unwavering field of compassionate awareness. This air campaign Yemen affects us all.
We cannot manufacture peace through the thunder of fighter jets. Security built upon another’s devastation merely postpones fear. It stores up seeds of tomorrow’s retaliation. As long as leaders believe weapons can purchase enduring stability, the wheel of suffering relentlessly turns. Real safety springs only from justice, mutual recognition, and patient labor. We must address the desperate poverty and grievance that fuel armed strife in the first place.
Here at the sanctuary, harbor bells toll for morning practice. We light incense, not as an idle ritual, but as an act of solidarity. We stand with every living being enduring the terror of war today. May we find inner stillness. May we resist the seduction of vengeance. Furthermore, may we have clarity to speak for nonviolence. May the skies above Sanaa, the Red Sea, and every corner of this fragile earth be granted a respite from fear.
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