Terrorism & Transcendence

[Guest guest]

With heavy hearts and deepest sympathies for the victims and families of

Tuesday¹s attack, the organisers of Saturday¹s Festival of India in Spanish

Fork, Utah, will proceed as planned. The festival is not a frivolous or

superficial event for recreation only.

The classic battle between Rama and Ravana (re-enacted annually at this

festival) was a struggle between good and the kind of aggressive evil which

caused such terror and destruction.

As described thousands of years ago in the epic Ramayana,, Ravana stole

others wives, murdered the innocent, and threatened the pillars of genteel

society. From the island fortress of Sri Lanka, Ravana¹s cohorts would sally

forth to harass and destroy.

Ravana was the emblem of lust anger and greed. His twisted ambition led

him to kidnap the wife of Rama, an incarnation of God, who was goodness

personified.

Finally, Rama, with the aid of a monkey army, crossed the ocean, besieged

and leveled Ravana¹s protective walls, annihilated his followers, and killed

the demon himself with an arrow like a thunderbolt.

We hope no less a fate will come to those terrorists who killed thousands

of unsuspecting citizens last Tuesday, Sept. 11th. Should the secular

authorities fail, the Lord says, ³Vengeance is Mine.²

In the last scene of the Ramayana pageant, everybody assists Rama in

destroying the 20¹ high effigy of Ravana. We try to not only eliminate the

external Ravana, but to banish whatever there is of Ravana in our own

hearts.