118. The story of man's inhumanity to man seems to be unending. And the story of the violence perpetrated by men against women and children seems also to go on and on. Wise heads down through the years have looked for causes and offered solutions. Philosophers talk of 'the problem of evil' and are misled by their terminology. For a problem is something that in principle can be solved. But the horrors of war and the exploitation of the weak by the uncaring strong are as with us today as they have ever been. This suggests that we here face something that is more than a problem. Recognition of this led the philosopher Martin Heidegger to exclaim that 'only a god can save us'. But the Zen practitioner has no 'god'. Still, he or she must come to realise something of the mysterious fullness of emptiness. That is, the Zen practitioner must enter into the experience of mystery. This mystery must be acknowledged and accepted. Only in surrendering to the mystery that envelops all our living can one catch a glimmer of light at what hopefully is the end of this endless tunnel of human misery.
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