Buddhism and Peace

This is indeed a very apt topic as we live through these perilous times in a world that is troubled by a number of violent conflicts, resulting in death, injury and misery to millions of innocent people.
Perhaps it would be appropriate to preface this talk with a short introduction to Buddhism for the benefit of those who may not be familiar with its teachings and principles - even at the risk of causing some boredom to those of you who already know.

As most of you know Buddhism is based on the teachings and philosophy expounded by Lord Buddha well over 2500 years ago. The word Buddha is not really a name - it simply means 'the one who knows'. His real name was Siddhartha Gautama. Basically he was a human being and he did not claim to be a prophet or a messenger of God. He was however, a very special human being and a great teacher. All his teaching was based on what he himself discovered through his own effort and experience.

More or less the entirety of His instructions to his followers could be found within a single verse from the Dhammapada - which is a well-known and much respected anthology of some of His teachings:
'Sabba papassa akaranan, Kusalassa upasampada, Sacitta pariyo dapanam, etan Buddhana sasanam.' "Not to do any evil; to cultivate good; purify the mind;This is the teaching of the Buddha."

What is evil? In this context the word embraces all thoughts, words and actions that are unwholesome and unskillful - that arise in association with the three unwholesome roots - greed, hatred, and delusion. Greed can manifest in several ways - selfishness, avarice, envy, jealousy, covetousness, and so on. Hate could manifest as ill will, malice, strife, resentment, revenge, pride, etc. Delusion is not understanding the true nature of the world - believing what is not real to be real, the impermanent to be permanent and not understanding the law of cause and effect.

Conversely, good, wholesome and skillful actions are based on the three wholesome roots - non-greed or generosity, non-hate or loving kindness and non-delusion or wisdom.
the ultimate goal of ever Buddhist is enlightenment, which is the total and permanent eradication of greed, hatred and delusion by cultivating generosity, loving kindness and wisdom.

The Buddha gave a very simple yardstick by which one could ascertain what is good or bad wholesome or unwholesome, skillful or unskillful - if an action, this includes thoughts and words as well, does harm to oneself or to others it is bad and unwholesome. If, on the other, it benefits others or oneself such action is good, wholesome and skillful. The Buddha urged his disciples to "use oneself as a standard" when deciding how to treat others - as the old proverb goes, "Do as you would be done by." further he has said," when you know for yourselves these things are unprofitable, blame worthy and censured by the wise; These things when performed and undertaken, conduce to loss and sorrow, then reject them."

Based on these principles one can derive the moral code, commonly known as the five Precepts, or Panca Sila, that all Buddhists should try to abide by. IN The Light of Asia, Sir Edwin Arnold has captured the essence of these precepts as follows:
"Kill not, for pity's sake, lest ye slay.
The meanest thing upon its upward way.
Give freely and receive, but take from none.
By greed, or force, or fraud, what is his own .
Bear not false witness, slander not nor lie;
Truth is the speech of inward purity.
Shun drugs and drinks, which make the wit abuse;
Clear minds, clean bodies, need no soma juice.
Touch not thy neighbour's wife, neither commit.
Sins of flesh unlawful and unfit."

I am sure that all of you could see how these precepts would mould the character and train the mind of one who lives by them. Not only that, if everyone lives by the there would be peace and harmony in society.
Peace and harmony - isn't that everyone wants - For there can be no happiness without peace. Peace is our birthright and we must win it peace based on justice, love, freedom and mutual respect.
Yet what do we see War, terrorism, suicide bombers, fighting, killing - all leading to misery and extreme suffering. Look at what is happening in the Middle East _ the conflict between the Jews and the Palestinians-the tit for tat killings, the ever escalating cycle of violence-will it ever end? In Sri Lanka, how many young lives were lost in nearly 20 years of violence. What happened in America on that fateful 11th of September last year when thousands of innocent people lost their lives? Then we have the reaction to this attack-the so-called war on terrorism, the bombing of Afghanistan and now the imminent attack on Iraq. Is there ever and end? To quote the famous English poetry, John Milton, "For what can war breed, but still endless war."

Yet the history of war is as old as mankind itself. even in the time of the buddha there were wars and there are occasions when he had personally intervened to prevent them. At other times he stood aside knowing that there was nothing He could do.
Historically war is a method to secure wealth, territory, trade etc. by violence and force. Sometimes they have their origins in tribalism, ethnicity or even religion. Yet at other times it is started through real or perceived fear-'let us get rid of Saddam Hussein before he uses his weapons of mass destruction against us!' We watch on helplessly as the leaders of the world's super-powers espouse the necessity of war and try to justify it on seemingly plausible grounds. the sure prescription for peace could be found in the words of the Buddha, proclaimed over 2500 years ago but equally true today as it was then: "hatred is never appeased through hatred in this world; by love alone does it appease. this is an ancient principle". (dhammapada).

In the early sixties, the Prime Minister of China, Mr. Chou en-lai visited India to discuss the Indo China border dispute, which some of you may remember led to violent conflict between those two great nations. At this historic meeting, Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India cited a quotation from the Dhammapada:
'Jayan veran pasavati-Dukkan seti parajayo
Upasanto sukan seti-Hitva jaya parajayan'
"victory breeds hatred.
The defeated live in pain.
Happily the peaceful live,
giving up victory and defeat."

In recent times we have seen the emergence of war s a profit-making industry in its own right for arms manufacturers who have acquired great economic and political influence in the so-called developed world. They lead us to believe that if we want peace we should prepare for war. Thus countries are encouraged to purchase and stockpile huge arsenals of more and more sophisticated weapons - sufficient to destroy the whole planet may times over. We are told that these weapons of mass destruction will never be used and that they are only there as deterrents. Would not it be much more skillful to spend the billions and billions of Pounds spent on weapons to alleviate the poverty and suffering that we witness in the poor countries particularly in Africa? Would not that be a better way to promote peace, harmony and happiness and to prevent conflict and war? The Buddha has said that it is not right to earn one's living by producing or dealing with arms.

As human beings we occupy this planet we call Earth - a tiny speck in the vast universe. We have grandiose ideas that we are making progress. We aspire to conquer the universe and tame nature to do our bidding! It is true that we have made great scientific and technological advances to satisfy our ever-escalating material and sensual needs. Sadly none of these developments have brought us peace or happiness because we have not paid due attention to the development of our minds. If we want peace, if we want happiness, this is where we should concentrate our efforts. We must all individually establish peace in our own hearts before we carry other message of peace to others and to the rest of the world.

A few days ago some of us were horrified to hear that a large quantity to toxic industrial effluent had leaked into the River Dee. We are greatly concerned a bout this and other ways in which our air, land, waterway and the sea get polluted. Quite justifiably we worry about global warming, vehicle emissions and so on. We have big conferences and draft treaties to reduce environmental damage caused by our own greed but many of us seem not even to be aware of the pervasive moral pollution that is taking over our society. More than protecting the environment from external pollution we need to protect our hearts and minds from this cancer of moral degeneration.

We live in a world that believes economic progress is the be all and end all. The level of our happiness seems linked to stock market indices and interest rates. At our peril, we tend to ignore the importance of spiritual development. Economic security is certainly important because without it spiritual and moral progress would not be possible but these two aspects must go hand in hand and there much be a balance between our material and spiritual aspirations.

When we talk of world peace, we as representatives of various religions have an important role to play. Sadly our history is littered with conflicts that have had their origins in the religions themselves. Just a few days ago we heard he tragic news when gunmen stormed a Hindu temple complex in the Indian state of Gujarat killing 29 worshipers and wounding several more. In recent times we have witnessed the conflicts between roman Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, between Hindus and Muslims in India and between Muslims and Christians in Pakistan and the Far east. Looking further back in history the crusades between 1095 and 1270 were launched by European armies raise at the request of the Pope, and were directed against he Muslims who controlled some of the Christian holy sites in the Middle East. These are but a few examples of many such conflicts caused by fundamentalism and religious intolerance.

Some of you would have heard of Emperor Asoka of India who fought many wars and conquered many kingdoms to form a vast Empire, 23 centuries ago. However, he later realised his folly, regretted his actions and embraced Buddhism. He erected pillars throughout his Empire and engraved what have become famous as Edicts of Emperor Asoka. In one of these Edicts he has stated the Buddhist standpoint with regard to religious tolerance with these words:
"One should not honour only one's religion and condemn the religions for this or tht reason. S doing one helps one's own religion to grow and renders service to the religions of others too. In acting otherwise one digs the grave of one's own religion and also does harm to other religions. Whosoever honours his own religion and condemns other religions does so indeed through devotion to his own religion, thinking: 'I will glorify my own religion.' But on the contrary, in so doing he injures his own religion more gravely. So concord, indeed, is commendable. Let all listen, and be willing to listen to the doctrines professed by others."

If we are to have enduring peace, all of us, particularly the leaders of the powerful countries, should think peace, speak peace and act peace. Nations must work for their welfare and development but should not ride roughshod over the needs and aspirations of weaker and poorer countries. There must be peaceful co-existence without interference in each other's internal affairs, sovereignty and territorial integrity. There is a need to identify and remedy situations that lead to strife, dissatisfaction and a sense of injustice - for these are the forerunners of conflict and violence. the qualities of loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity, so highly recommended by the Buddha, should rule our hearts and minds. Then we would not be living in this atmosphere of mutual suspicion, fear, jealousy, arrogance, greed, hate and delusion that is leading us steadily towards the brink of total extermination of the human race. In conclusion let us listen to the words of the Buddha:
"Often one must reflect up one's mind thus: 'For a long time this mind has been defiled by greed hatred and delusion. Mental defilement make beings impure, mental cleansing purifies them."

Hopefully I have managed to give you some food for thought.
Thank you for listening.
Sukino va khemino hontu - Sabbe satta bhavantu sukhitatta.
May all beings be happy and safe - may they have happy minds.

By Ven. Katumuluwe Sumanajothi
Ketumati Buddhist vihara,
Manchester, United Kingdom ........ ( From - Special English Article - Budusarana)