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<\/a><\/div>\n\u201cWe have not sent down the Qur\u2019an to you to be (an occasion) for your distress\u2026\u201d (from the Qur\u2019an, Surah 20).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nSome fearful folks might be burning this holy book today, a book that has guided many a wise people and civilization. Very sad.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m afraid that as we enter this post-peak oil period of globalization, there will be a lot of hatred and intolerance. Our belief in how special we are will be confronted with many ugly truths \u2013 truths, I believe, that might save us if we face them directly.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nJust 50,000 years ago, our relatives \u2013 all of our relatives \u2013 were living in the same band of hunters&gatherers; in northeastern Africa, a group of 2,000-10,000 people.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThis small group of large-brained, bipedal primates was on the verge of extinction. Inexplicably, we were saved by an unknown cultural innovation and then we quickly spread around the planet. Too often we have forgotten that we are one people and one planet \u2013 brimming with remarkable diversity.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nToday we need another cultural innovation. I don\u2019t know what it\u2019ll be, of course, but tolerance and understanding seem like good places to start. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nSeveral years ago, a sincere Muslim friend gave me a copy of the Qur\u2019an that now sits on my desk. I\u2019ve read most of it am moved and impressed that in Buddhist<\/a> terms, this was largely a layperson\u2019s vinaya (precept text) and a remarkable example of what we need now in this period of modernity \u2013 inspiration and guidance for how to make manifest the great earth\u2019s goldenness in the midst of daily living.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nSo I encourage all practitioners of all paths to read the Qur\u2019an today. Our brothers and sisters are being attacked and all of us should all stand together. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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