rung three

Weapons are the tools of violence;
all decent men detest them.
Weapons are the tools of fear;
a decent man will avoid them
except in the direst necessity
and, if compelled, will use them
only with the utmost restraint.
Peace is his highest value.
If the peace has been shattered,
how can he be content?
His enemies are not demons,
but human beings like himself.
He doesn't wish them personal harm.
Nor does he rejoice in victory.
How could he rejoice in victory
and delight in the slaughter of men?
He enters a battle gravely,
with sorrow and with great compassion,
as if he were attending a funeral.
-- Stephen Mitchell, Chapter 31, Tao Te Ching

Lao Tzu walked up to me with a pistol.

"I have come to kill you," he said.

"What!?" I said.

He said, "I will not rejoice in it."

"A lot of good that does me," I said.

"I will be sad as if at a funeral," he said.

"So happy that you have taken a step up on the evolutionary ladder," I said.

"Go to rung three," said Jesus to Lao Tzu.

"Rung one is killing and rejoicing in the killing, rung two is killing and being sad about it."

"And rung three?" asked Lao Tzu.

"Rung three is not killing."

"I can do that," said Lao Tzu. "But most humans won't."

"They are drunk," said Jesus. "One day they will sober up."

Lao Tzu's pistol vanished.

They woke me from my dream.