The Bowl of Saki Commentary

There are two attitudes to take in the face of opposition: one is to oppose the enemy with all the power at your command. If by the use of force you are unable to win, force should not be used. The reason is not only because of success or failure, although this also is important. The reason is that it is necessary for you to change your own nufs and also the nufs of another. If in strife you break down the nufs of another, and if-when by the power of God vouchsafed to you-this can be done, it is not wrong to use force, and it never has been wrong to use such force. Every prophet has followed this path, and no one can become a prophet unless one will do so.

But there are subtler souls and also sometimes gentle people who cannot be reached this way. Conniving persons who use no force but depend upon cleverness must be combated in another way. It is not wrong to say that loving one's enemies and opposing them are necessarily different in action. In such cases, it is often wise to offer no resistance to evil. Then the enemy becomes like one rushing forward, not seeing the precipice over which they will fall.

There is another attitude to consider in offering no resistance to evil. This means to refuse to accept the opposition of another, to consider them not at all. This was the position of the Buddha, who overcame his enemies by refusing to recognize them physically, mentally, or spiritually. The result was that their thought could not cast any shadow over his mind. By this the Mahatma (that is to say, Buddha) shone through all the opposition. A shade, or physical obstacle, may block sunlight from a room but it cannot stop the sunlight.