Celebrating death?

I'm back from my hiatus and the first and most prominent thing on my mind is the state of peace and humanity in the world.  I am feeling a sense of sadness and disappointment amidst the celebration of Osama Bin Laden's death - and a deep level of concern for where we humans, in 2011, place our hearts on the grand scale of human compassion.  Is it really okay to celebrate the death of another human being?

Celebrating the death of Bin Laden - once I heard the news of both his killing and the wave of American response - struck me instantly as just a wrong thing to do.  Why would we metaphorically dance on someone's grave?  Spit on it, sure, I get that.  It's an expression of anger.  But can celebration be an expression of anger?  Celebration comes from feelings of joy and happiness and love.  This is just not something that computes for me - and whats worse, it feels wrong and lacking in some sort of alignment to what is truly divine within each of us.

I've learned with time and much spiritual work that my initial non- ego-created response to something always contains a level of truth that comes from something far greater than my own mind.  I - and I think many others - tend to "revise" our positions after we have our initial response to a situation (and I am referring to our initial solar plexus-located intuitive-level response).  That revision is done in consideration of social norms, learned beliefs and opinions which are all external creations.  Once our egoistic minds become engaged in the process of categorizing, judging and assigning labels to a situation - often to a degree that the response is no longer that inner truth that we can rely on - I believe that we become misguided and get off track.  And it just so happens that I think that is what has happened in this situation.

It turns out that my initial intuitive response to the news of Bin Laden's killing is precisely in line with my very conscious belief in peace for human kind.  As we have had a couple of days to live with this new information about Bin Laden's death, I have found myself feeling a great sense of concern for humanity.  It makes me sad that there is so much pain, fear, death and destruction in the world - and amidst all that, I'm also sad that humans are capable of celebrating the death of another human being.  To be relieved, satisfied, or even glad about the "loss" of a human being - one most humans have every reason to despise - is one thing, but this act of celebration and how that is tied to a kind of patriotism is rather upsetting to me.

Celebrating death, in my heart, feels sad, lonely and misguided.  Death is not something to be celebrated.  In this case, this death will not be mourned by most people, but joyous singing and dancing in the streets in celebration?  It just seems wrong.  What does that say about us?  Bin Laden killed so many people -- that he is gone should give us pause to honor the lives of all who have died and suffered because of this man. We should pay little regard at all to him and focus all of our consciousness and emotion on the love that still surrounds the innocent lives lost both here in the US and around the world.  (Americans are not Bin Laden's only victims.)  I think, instead, we should bond together in our commitment to end the violence and bring more love and peace to the world.  Let's honor the souls lost to senseless violence rather than celebrating the death of one man.

The way we respond to ANY situation in life is a reflection on us - not the person or situation we are responding to.  It's kind of entry-level spiritual work I'm talking about.  Forgiveness is not for the person being forgiven but for the person that forgives.  The way I react to someone who treats me badly says something about me, not about the person mistreating me.  And the way I respond to the news of death - especially of someone connected to so much violence and hatred and destruction - speaks to who I am at the core.

I'm simply uncomfortable with bringing happiness to this situation.  Rather, I'm left feeling a deep desire to heal the world, to give more love to others and to have reverence for the entire course of human action.  Many, many people died at the hands of this Bin Laden and his followers.  What, exactly, in this situation is there to be happy about?  Bin Laden is gone but he is just one person - there is an entire army of misguided human beings who have obeyed and tortured and died for him.  Do we really think that will change now that he is dead?  Is anyone really breathing a sigh of relief?  Does anyone really feel safer now?  What, exactly then is being celebrated?

The spiritual teachers from whom I seek guidance - Jesus, Buddha, the Dalai Lama, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, MLK, Mother Theresa - would never celebrate the death of another human being.  Nor will I.