“Buddhist
perspective on global peace”
*Venerable Peramandiye Indarathana[1]*
Introduction
By today, the whole world has become a battle field where people live
quarreling, fighting, blaming and doing such wicked things to each other.
Therefore, undoubtedly it is very difficult to find even one person living
spreading loving kindness to all beings not only humans but also even birds and
beats. When considering the teachings of the Buddha, it emphasizes how peace
can be founded not as a religion but as a way of life. Buddhism offers
priceless and valuable teachings which can lead a peaceful life to all beings
Objectives
It
is a well-known fact the today the whole world has become a battlefield where some
religions encourage people to fight with each other rather than teaching what
is wrong what is bad. Of course there are some teachings in which human beings
practice and follow in order to achieve peace and harmony for individuals and
society. Religion is the tool which helps people live in the society without
harming to anyone. Every religion has very important specific gifts which have been
offered to humankind; every religion brings with it a unique viewpoint which
enriches the world. Christianity teaches love and sacrifice; Judaism, the value
of spiritual wisdom and tradition. Islam emphasizes universal brotherhood and
equality while Buddhism advocates compassion and mindfulness. Vedanta or the Hindu tradition advocates the
oneness of existence and the need for direct mystical experience. In order to
achieve global peace among the people we must respect each other. According to
the Chankisutta of the Majjhima Nikaya says that no one can say this is the
only teaching there is no other teaching. The foremost objective of this
article is illustrating the Buddhist point of view of peace and how it is
applicable to the society. And also focuses the Buddhist standpoint of view on
global peace according to the core teachings of the Buddha.
Research
Methodology
The details for this study have
been founded and collected from the primary texts and the related articles in
the field of Buddhist philosophy.
Discussion
SABBE HONTU CA
KHEMINO
SABBE BHADRANI
PASSANTU
MA KANCI DUKKHA
MAGAMI
SABBE SATTA SUKHI
HONTU
Let all beings be happy,
Let all beings live without fear,
Let all beings enjoy peace and happiness,
And be free from all sorrows and troubles,
It’s
true that Buddhism can be characterized as a religion of peace and which has
been promulgating the most important teachings in order to have peace in
individuals and the society. When explaining the way that peace can be achieved,
it is very important to note that here the heart of the Buddha’s teachings lies
in the four noble truths, which is the core teaching of the blessed one. According to the Four Noble Truths the suffering,
the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering and the last explains the
way leading to the cessation of suffering. Here what is most important is that
understanding the eightfold path which explains under the last noble truth. Namely[i]
·
Wisdom -Paññā
Right
view or understanding - sammāditth
Right
thoughts or intentions -sammāsamkappa
·
Morality -Sila
Right
speech -sammāvācā
Right
action -sammākammanta
Right
livelihood -sammāājiva
·
Concentration -samādhi
Right
effort -sammāvāyāma
Right
mindfulness -sammāsati
Right
concentration -sammāsamādhi
Every Buddhist is expected to lead his/her
life according to the Noble Eightfold Path as taught by the Buddha. He who
adjusts his life according to the noble way of living, will be free from
miseries and conflicts he has to face. It leads to have a better life here and
hereafter. People are struggling with the absence of peace within them. And
also As a famous saying goes “man has forgotten that he has a heart, he forgets
that if he treats the world kindly, the world will treat him kindly in return”[ii] As well as people do not
respect each other, therefore problems are growing very fast. The Buddha
admires people who have right speech, right action and right livelihood. Those
are the ethical teaching in Buddhism. If people can build a good relationship
with each other it leads to have a peaceful life. The Buddhist attitudes
towards human relationships are mentioned in Ambalaṭṭikarāhulovādasutta
of majjhimanikāya[iii]
in this manner.
“Rahula when
you wish to do an action with the body speech and mind, you should reflect on
that same bodily verbal or mental thus, would this action that I wish to do
lead to my own affliction, to others affliction, or to the affliction of both?
Is it an unwholesome action with painful consequences, with painful results?
When you reflect if you know this action would lead to your own conflicts, or
the conflict of others, or the conflict of both, with evil consequence, with
painful results, and then you definitely should not do such an action. At the
same time when considering the Kosambhisutta of majjhimanikaya[iv],
Venerable Anurudda, Venerable Kimbila and Venerable Nandiya lived together in a
forest near Kosambi city. One being asked by the Buddha how they live in concern,
seeking spiritual development, the venerable Anuruddha answered ; surely
venerable sir, we are living in concern, with mutual appreciation, without
disputing, blending like milk and water, viewing each other with kindly eyes,
we maintain loving acts, loving words and loving thoughts to each other in
privet and publics. We perform our duties, small or big, quietly. Whenever need
a help we make a sign asking for help from others. We appreciate the
opportunity of living together with such noble companions and considering that;
why should I set aside what I wish to do and do what these venerable wish.
According to above definition it is very clear that living with mutual
understanding of the things that people do no one will hate or irritate each
other. If people can live with right understanding about the nature of people
problems will not be arose. At the same
time to achieve peace within a person, the Buddhist approach is to observe and
reflect upon the conditions in the external and mental operations, and then to
decide on the most appreciate course of action as response to the outer and
inner environments. With the most adequate response, we would not do harm to
ourselves as well as not harbor negative feeling and thoughts toward others.
Before taking any external action to realize peace, the first step for any
Buddhist would be to look at ourselves and the events happening around us
carefully and honestly.
According to the sakkapaññasutta of
majjhimanikāya[v]
Once Sakka, the king of Devas asked the Buddha, venerable sir, all classes of
beings who wish to live in peace without enmity and conflicts, but in fact
there are conflicts and violence between beings. Then the Buddha answered;
conflicts have their roots in desire (chanda), selfishness (maccariya),
jealousy (issa) and they are rooted in ignorance, greed and hatred. The
problems ought to be treated by rooting out its root, not by mere treating of
symptoms. The Buddha is the true exemplar of peace. Chapter 12 of the Lotus
sutta tells the story of Devadatta, one of the Buddha’s disciples. In one place
it says; “The attainment of perfect enlightenment and the widespread saving of
living- all this is due to the good friendship of Devadatta”. This is really
amazing words of the Buddha. Here the Buddha himself says that it is because of
his friend devadatta that he attained Buddhahood and is thereby able to save
the whole of mankind. If people can understand these teaching taught by the
Buddha, the world will be a really wonderful place, and a heaven which people
have never seen. According to the Dhammapada says” Hatred is never
appeased by hatred in this world; by non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This
is the eternal law. Another most important point is equality. This is also a
very important and discussable concept in Buddhism. Buddhist approach explains
equality properly. People have been thinking of equality and inequality in the
world since the very primitive time of human civilization. As a matter of fact
unfortunately they could not establish peace and equality among themselves.
According to the Buddhism equality depends upon people with mutual respect each
other. Confucius says “One who respects other will get respect and one who
loves other will get love”. It is impossible to be established by enforcement.
If the people can live with perfect and complete mutual respect among the
people, we will be able to make a world of equality. We should show respect to
others’ words and activities. And also people should have the ability of
respecting others’ opinions and viewpoints. It is stated in the Caṅkisutta
of Anguttaranikāya[vi]
no one can say “I see this, I know this, this is alone true and all others are
false”. At the sametimes we should not
discriminate others, we should overcome the sense of discrimination by
practicing pity, kindness and compassion. When we are functioning in the
society, we have to face for lots of problems, but it is not the proper way
escaping them or avoiding them. We should be able to face them with the shelter
of pity and equality. When we realize that others position is ours and we all
are truly equal, the unchanging or permanent peace surly comes to the world.
When the Devadatta[vii]
made attempts to attack the Buddha for many times, the Buddha overcame all of
those attempts with compassion, pity and sympathy. These teaching are much
important in establishing peace in the world. As well as another key point is,
we should develop cultural and religious tolerance and liberty mind in
developing peace. If someone tolerates towards the family members, friends and
people around him, he will be able to lead his life peacefully. It is mentioned
in vepacittisutta of sanyuktanikāya in this manner. “Yo ha balavāsanto dubbalassa titikkhati,
Tamāhu paramaṃ khantiṃ niccaṃ khamati dubbalo” For surely he who, being strong, Forbears the
ones who are more weak, Forever enduring
the weak , That is called the highest patience. According to the
teachings of the Buddha, the Buddha has promulgated the Five Precepts, Four
Noble Truths and Eightfold Path, these all teachings are universal. All human
beings can practice these teachings in order to have a peaceful life. There are
many teachings in Buddhism, in order to spread peace around the world. These
main concepts are enumerating in the teachings of the Buddha. They are Five
Precepts, Seven Un-destroyable elements, Ten Royal Qualities and Ten Qualities
of chakkavatti king.
Conclusion
Eternal peace is the dream of all human
beings. The present world is full of violence and horror.
According to the teachings of the Buddha,
what is most important is, changing oneself is better than expecting the
changing of others. Without peace within oneself who cannot seek it from
others. If people can endowed with these teachings it brings peace to the
world. This article explains the Buddha’s fundamental teachings that contribute
to peace-building and peacekeeping in the world. A Buddhist worldview based on the principle
of dependent origination, its analysis of the causes of conflicts and violence,
and the open communication and participatory decision-making procedures in
social organizations, would inform and provide useful paths for theoretical approaches
and research-based applications in peace studies. The true value of
nonviolence, compassion and altruism advocated by Buddhism would also inspire
all people on the path of peace. Given
the will, the insight, the perseverance, and the proactive creativity to
realize the infinite possibilities latent in the dependently originated
reality, peace, from the Buddhist perspective, is realistic and achievable;
and, aiming at making a more just and humane world, peacemaking is an imminent,
common responsibility mandated by the interdependent nature of our existence
and therefore to be shared by every one of us.
References
Rahula Walpola, (2006). What the Buddha
taught. Nadimala: Buddhist Cultural Center
Nezu Masuo,(1993).A Buddhist Approach
to peace. Tokyo. Kosei Publishing Co.
Dhammananda
K Sri, (1998).What Buddhist Believe. Malaysia. Buddhist Missionary
Society
Dammindi Phamthi minhhoa.(2003).Buddhist
Principles on Social Relationships. University of Kalaniya
Olendzki Andrew.‘Vepacittisutta calm in the face of anger ’2005[online]
Available http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka.
(Sep 8, 2015)
