The problem with guns: a spiritual perspective

Weapons are the embodiments of fear, the wise use them only when they have no choice (Lao Tzu)

There have always been those who consider weapon reliance a shame for the true warrior. Of course, for measures of self-defense, some types of personal weapons are not a shame to use when the odds are definitely not on your side. Examples of weapons that fall in this category are "cold" weapons such as melee weapons. But, firearms (guns) and similar weapons employing explosive and electromagnetic forces can hardly ever be justified. It is safe to say that if a situation involves guns, then that situation is completely distorted from a spiritual perspective. It is a situation that involves a lot of fear, because fear is the fundamental manifestation of unresolved internal conflicts, mainly those dealing with denial of fundamental concepts such as existence, consciousness and life.

First of all, I am not here to tell you that I have a "problem" with guns. I do not have a problem with anything. Everything is possible, and I could find myself in a position that requires the use of guns, although the possibility is very small. Consider that I am here to tell you about the problem with guns strictly from a spiritual perspective, because there are other perspectives to choose from. "But what is spirituality?" you might ask. Well, you, you are spirituality. Try this: instead of asking me, ask yourself the question "who am I," and if you can answer this question on a level of deep and silent understanding, then you will know what spirituality is.

Anyway, let us go for what this post is worth. Below are three main points that explain what is wrong with guns from a spiritual perspective:

1) Lack of integrity

Imagine a point representing your spirit, a point of maximum integrity. Everything that you are is that point. You do not need to define yourself by anything else except by the entirety of your being as that point. Now, suppose you envelop that point with a physical body, and then you shift your perspective to the body so that now you identify yourself with physical integrity instead of spiritual integrity. Even further, compromise your physical integrity as well by acquiring all sorts of habits based on material welfare, which means that now you define yourself through external aspects in addition to your body. In short, your spiritual integrity has been disintegrated and is scattered all over the place.

You are now only able to feel yourself complete through these many pieces of you lying "outside" your spirit. In other words, you are only whole through scattered energy forms outside your direct control. The obvious problem with this is that you can only hope that you will have continued access to these energy forms, because there is no way to be sure. Also, you now have weak spots that can be explored: if someone takes your toys away from you, or disrupts the external conditions of your well-being, you have to make up for the lost energy by either regaining spiritual integrity or by going after other energy forms that you identify yourself with.

Guns, for example, can provide an additional sense of security when they play a role in maintaining people's physical integrity. But, it is only through the spirit that true personal integrity can be found. Physicality is flawed by design, and so, by definition, it implies in lack of integrity. Everything that is physical can be destroyed or broken into many pieces, unlike the spirit which is an indestructible atomic unit. Therefore, when a person is spiritualized, he/she is closer to attain complete peace of mind and self-sufficiency, which are all natural outcomes of a personal integrity based on the spirit.

2) Lack of spiritual development

The main point here is body identity vs. spirit identity, or "I am my body" vs. "I am." (Note: I did not say "I am my spirit" because that still gives the idea that one is contemplating the spirit from an external perspective, and thus not really going inside oneself to assume a spiritual identity.) The consequences of body ID all fall into one: life is deemed as sacred, and you need to protect your body, assets and resources in a attempt to deny the inevitable: death, loss and destruction. People sacrifice their lives in order to live, which is obviously a futile contradiction. From a spiritual perspective, life is just an enriching experience, and not necessarily the first or the last. This has nothing to do with belief in life after death; it is a matter of seeing everything as part of a bigger whole, a plan of Existence. Expand your awareness beyond life and death so that life is no longer too important or too insignificant -- it just is.

3) Lack of respect for life

Some people come from the assumption that they are in conflict with other people, animals, and even the universe itself. But, everything is interconnected, everything is one body. The universe, as the name implies, is one. Therefore, every division is ultimately an illusion as if there are several mirror images (reflections) of something primordial. The mirrors are even distorted, and so the images do not even look like the original "thing." Well, the fact is that you are that thing. By shooting others with your gun, you are really aiming at yourself, because your enemies are mirror images of you. If you see others as enemies you see yourself as the enemy, and so shattering mirrors will not get rid of the root of the problem: you. In short, the problem with conflicts is strictly one of perspective.

What is known as the Law of the Echo, I prefer to see from a multidimensional perspective. I think that our actions are echoed (mirrored) back to us instantaneously, because time is not a variable that is above this law. The echo or comeback can happen after, during or even before the ill intentions and actions of a person, or maybe it is scattered throughout her life as several bits of karma, or it comes as one huge blow collected from several bits of ill intentions. Anyway, it does not really matter: just know that all beings are one with the universe, and what they do with the universe, they do with themselves, and the consequences are always there.

Conclusion

For someone that has shifted their focus and identity from the physical body to the spirit, and consequently from a material world to a spiritual world, there is no need for guns. Instead, the only weapon used in a spiritual world is one's own internal energy (spiritual energy). At most, a gun can be considered an useful tool, but it is still a symbol of lack of spiritual awareness. The bottom line is that everyone has a spirit at the end of what they truly are, but not everyone is directly connected to their spirit, and so they must shine false lights onto their shadow of disconnection in a desperate attempt to obfuscate the feeling of spiritual disconnection known as fear.