“I am afraid wars will come again,” when I hear this words from my American friend, I am so surprised.
American, is the most globally competitive nation in the world, according to the latest Global Competitiveness Report conducted by the World Economic Forum. It means the best competitive indicate in market size, innovation ecosystem, and stability among 140 economies. The similar unsafe feeling also happens in Germany, more and more Germans have wanted to immigrate to another nation since their leadership announced that she no longer seek re-election, which is the third most globally competitive nation in the new report.
What happens in the world?
When the stable system looks unstable, when the truth also becomes “false news”. We have to ask how the leadership effect on the world and what leadership we need in this world.
That’s why I choose the book named”Learning True Love, How I Learned and Practiced Social Change in Vietnam”. The history has passed over 30 years, but do we really get the valuable lessons from the war?
“War is not the way to peace. Peace is the way to peace” when I saw the words of the author from the book. I can feel so powerful in these stories. Through this book, I came to know of the struggles, pains that the ordinary Vietnamese suffered during the difficult years. Moreover, how many bodhisattvas’ like the author, Sister Chan Kong, Master Thich Nhat Hanh and many many others practice the engaged Buddhism in the war.
I also can learn the different kinds of leadership from this book, as well as I seek for.
First is the ethical leadership, even when they face the challenges that someone killed their friends, they also had the deep compassion to said that “We cannot hate you, you who have thrown grenades and killed our friends, because we know that men are not our enemies. Our only enemies are the misunderstanding, hatred, jealousy, and ignorance that lead to such acts of violence. Please allow us to remove all misunderstanding so we can work together for the happiness of the Vietnamese people. ” Today, we also face all kinds of risks as a journalist, but who are the enemies, what we fight against. It’s the big topic we have to answer.
The communicational leadership is also the excellent quality in this book. As the story we saw above, when the other students and friends were so angry for the grenades and death of their friend, how can we pass our compassion and love to them, how we really to understand and practice the engaged Buddhism in the war. I think this is the inside power to make them tough and insist until now.
Finally, democrat leadership is also necessary, especially in the organization. It means we need to share the power, not power over. Because it not only allows everyone to use their wisdom but also enhances the understanding and cohesion of beliefs.
Last but not least, let’s see Thich Nhat Hanh, the teacher of the author, talked about Compassion on the Vietnam War.
