We have been in these same trenches against Nature for a very long time. Human survival has necessitated that we conquer Nature, that we rise above the constraints of natural law to become the dominant species, and we most certainly have attained that goal. I wondere if Lucy the early primate could even grasp that at some point, her decendents would reign unchallenged over the lions and hyenas that threatened her life daily. It seems unlikely.
We have been assured of the end of war, the end of disease, the end of famine, the end of many of humankinds most plaguing issues, many times along our path. These problems continue to haunt our species despite these assurances. We continue to arm ourselves to the detriment of all other possible uses of national treasure, despite the lack of a clear need for the weapons we squander our wealth on.
In the last chapter Sensei chides Einstein for his theory, yet in so doing Sensei departs from his non-discrimination in my mind. Perhaps he was not so far from Einstein's thinking as he might think...The act of defense is already an attack. Weapons for self-defense always give a pretext to those who instigate wars. The calamity of war comes from the strengthening and magnifying of empty distinctions of self/other, strong/weak, attack/defense.
“A human being is a part of a whole, called by us “universeâ€