“He who is the author of a war lets loose the whole contagion of hell and opens a vein that bleeds a nation to death.”--Thomas Paine
As everyone now knows, Putin has invaded Ukraine, and it is not going well for him, despite his overwhelming advantage in firepower, as he steadily escalates the mass murder and mayhem he is inflicting on the Ukranian people. The entire world has condemned and isolated him, cutting off Russia from commerce, the performing arts, and sports, and sequestering their finances... As a result, the Russian economy is now in a nosedive, his currency essentially worthless, and his hapless citizens, increasingly destitute, desperate, and disillusioned. Meanwhile the Ukrainian people, despite his relentless and increasing bombardment, are united against him, inspired by their heroic leader Zelenskyy, and are willing to fight to the death no matter how much horror and suffering he inflicts on them.
What worries me most is that Putin has burned his bridges; like Macbeth, he is "...in blood / Stepped in so far, that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er (III. 4.136–8)
He cannot possibly "win" in Ukraine without destroying the entire nation and terrorizing its population, and making yet more enemies around the world (a Pyrrhic victory indeed!). And he'll have his hands full trying to subjugate a population of 40 million who loathe and despise him (as they discovered to their cost in Afghanistan). But on the other hand, he cannot withdraw, without losing face, and hence--in Russia especially--losing power and most likely, his life as well. Furthermore, narcissistic thugs like Putin (and Trump) are incapable of admitting failure, for that is tantamount to the death of their own bloated ego, which they worship as a deity, and which he equates with the tribal deity he shares with his people: "Mother Russia."
His only other option is nuclear war--with which he has already darkly threatened the West, and which he knows (with whatever rational faculties remain in his fevered brain) is tantamount to suicide, not only for himself, but for all the rest of us. And herein lies the true peril of this moment. This could be it--the end of human civilization, the end of most if not all of us, the end of most larger living beings, and the end of Gaia as a habitat for human life. Will it come to this?
Who knows? Anything can happen. But the odds of this unimaginably horrific outcome are becoming more likely by the day. My one remaining hope is that a cabal of his own oligarchic cronies will conceive of a multipronged strategy to dispatch him, before it is too late. As a Buddhist, I am not supposed to wish ill, and especially to wish death, on anyone--but then one of the Jataka tales of the Buddha's earlier incarnations featured the protagonist willingly taking on a karmic debt by murdering a ship captain who was plotting to drown all 200 of his passengers--and this might be an analogous case.
The real challenge here, however, is that up to now, Putin has gained wide popularity in Russia by being a strong leader who restored Russia's economy after the Soviet collapse and thereby restored their global standing, and who weakened and humiliated Russia's historical adversaries in Europe and the US in particular, by scheming to appeal to British nationalism and undercut the EU by organizing the Brexit campaign behind the scenes, and to elect his own "useful idiot" Donald Trump to the presidency, and dividing the nation. (These were all actions for subverting his enemies that would impress Machiavelli!) However, with this bloody and brutal invasion of Ukraine, Putin has stepped over the line (as Hitler did), making the fatal transition from steely, competent authoritarian to paranoid, ruthless, and dangerous thug.
But if anyone dispatches Putin, it must be Russians themselves--for if we in the West were to attempt such a thing, it would simply unite the Russians against us, make Putin a martyr to Russian nationalism, and most likely trigger a nuclear war that will end everything. Nontheless, as a highly intelligent, subtle, and crafty people, some of the high-placed Russian oligarchs might already have considered this option. We can only hope. (I hold out some hope for a Brutus-like figure--a high-placed Russian oligarch who is Putin's trusted confidante, to realize the danger he poses to all civilization and life on Earth, and plot a quick way to dispatch him...)
Otherwise the best we can do is (1) practice Tonglen for the Ukrainian people (breathe in their vast suffering and fears; breathe out solidarity, determination, and hope); (2) even try Tonglen for Putin himself (breathing in the inner fears, resentments, and insecurities that engender his desperate and neurotic lust for power and restoration of empire, and breathing out the wisdom he has abandoned--awakening his dormant Buddha-nature from underneath all the layers of fatuous egocentricity. (3) practice the Gesthemane Prayer (Matt: 26: 36-56):
O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
These are the best antidotes I know for paralytic anxiety about the world.
And if, indeed, all is lost--if our only remaining options are a quick and ugly death by nuclear holocaust, or a slow and excruciating death by global heating, starvation, endemic warfare, and ecocide--
"O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done."
And meanwhile, let us all take care of everyone and every being, and abandon no one and no other living thing. Let us therefore, for now...
Breathe, observe, let go;
Be well, do good work, keep in touch;
Learn Gaia, Teach Gaia, Heal Gaia, and Create Gaia;
and then...
Grow gardens, Grow community, and Grow awareness.
...till death do us part.
