Tao Te Ching Part Thirty One 

“Good weapons are instruments of fear; all creatures hate them.
Therefore followers of Tao never use them.
The wise man prefers the left.
The man of war prefers the right. 

Weapons are instruments of fear; they are not a wise man’s tools.”

Any person seeking peace and harmony with the Tao will abhor weapons and war because their only purpose is disharmony, causing pain and death.

“He uses them only when he has no choice.
Peace and quiet are dear to his heart,
And victory is no cause for rejoicing.
If you rejoice in victory, then you delight in killing;
If you delight in killing, you cannot fulfil yourself.”

To be a peacekeeper sometimes we have no choice but to use them and if and when that’s necessary it’s important not to enjoy their use in killing, or rejoice in winning as eventually all victory is hollow.

“On happy occasions precedence is given to the left,
On sad occasions to the right.
In the army the general stands on the left,
The commander-in-chief on the right.
This means that war is conducted like a funeral.
When many people are being killed,
They should be mourned in heartfelt sorrow.
That is why a victory must be observed like a funeral.”

At a funeral the general stands on the left and commander in chief on the right, this is saying that we shouldn’t rejoice in war and that the fallen and war generally should be mourned in sorrow and treated like a funeral. 

Weapons are an advantage, the ‘high’ of combat and the elation of winning are short lived and eventually hollow for those seeking the stillness and peace that lies deep in the Tao.