Contribution Of Buddhism To The Culture Of Peace

Contribution by religions to the culture of peace is a complex subject which necessitates examination with analytical mind. The intricacy of conflicts has meandered into the field of greater violence culminating into wars which is a pervasive phenomenon. Religious dogma and fundamentalist approach have scarred the earth with ugliest results. Inspite of all our scientific and technological developments the tyranny of war and religious fundamentalism remain unabated.

The theme is to be understood in two conceptual strains. The greater cause of our strain seems to lie with religious traditions which undoubtedly have straggled into many artful consensuses. Their appearance is more exacerbating instead of being a help to man in consequences of what each religious tradition advocates to bring peace through non-violent conduct, justice, compassion, liberty, brotherhood, co-existence and such other virtues. I do not know a religious canon or teacher recommending violence, hatred and division among men, still we find acts committed in the name of religion for conversion, for elimination of rivalries with dogmatic assertion and different claims to truth to establish the superiority of one’s religion for which the beliefs and teachings of others are deprecated.

In fact, history of religious traditions is replete with a record of crime and war. What is the logical behind these historical antecedents and how should we view those who commit violence and crime in the name of religion. Can they be called religious persons? Should we honour those who laid down their lives fighting and perpetuating atrocities for dissemination of their professed religion, or must we think of them to be sinners and not religious persons, deserving open condemnation for committing acts opposed to the basic principles of their religion?

Some contemporary thinkers are of the view that there are many areas in which the interests of the non-religious, the anti-religious and the religious persons are identical. More often than not the anti-religious are less unethical than the religious persons. But this view does not uphold that the religious traditions did not contribute anything to the culture of peace. We have to distinguish between the real religious teachings and the mixed concepts of religious teachings, between the real religious mind and the irrational dogmas and between the real religious faith and the religious fundamentalism. Only in that way, can we establish the fact that violence and crime committed in the name of religious are not, indeed, religious acts and persons who commit them are not religious persons. If such assumption meets the consensus only in that situation we can talk about the contribution of religions to the culture of peace.

Before we look into the contribution of Buddhism to the culture of peace, we should settle what peace is and what its culture is.

In Buddhism, peace is not considered to be mere absence of war or conflict. Peace is a state where the cause of disharmony is eradicated. The Buddha announced time and again that only nirvana is “Peace”. It implies that the cause of disharmony is rooted in the “psyche “of being, in the form of defilements (klessas). So long as defilements are not eliminated, disharmony shall remain. Culture in its true sense is the cultivation of mind is meant removal of defilements and impurities that soil the mind. The true function of culture is to make mind well-cultivated to perform good actions (kusala karmas).

Social orders and political systems are make-shift devices which cause change form one kind of disharmony to another, as if to impart the illusions of relief, which is always fleeting and managing the various frequencies of disharmony and conflicts. Our psyche itself is a repository of thoughts, experiences, illusions, afflictions, desires, attachments, fears and all the rest which is nothing more than a shell of contradictions and conflicts.

We have built a society which is violent. The homo-sapiens are violent, the environment and the culture in which we live is the product of our contradictions, conflicts, pain and brutalities. Yet, we do not realise this stream of misery, conflict and disharmony. Man tries to search for peace within this chaos and find some method to achieve peace within it. This is so because we do not realize the nature of conflict and disharmony which is inbuilt in ourselves, in our psyche, in our being and in our total environment. It needs immense sensitivity to feel the pervasiveness of disharmony in subtle forms of decay, disease, death and rebirth.

Siddhartha had the sensitivity to realize the pervasive nature of misery and he set forth in search of a permanent solution to resolve the problem of pain and obtain sustainable peace. After attainment of Buddhahood he taught his disciples “Siddharama”, the noble law, as he had himself experienced in the process (marga) of Buddhahood. He summed up the entire process of transforming a person from the four noble truths. In his first sermon he told his disciples that the truth of suffering is to be felt, the truth of the cause of suffering is to be eradicated, the truth of the cessation of suffering is to be attained and, therefore, the truth of the path is to be practiced. He tells us that all universal disharmonies is a creation of one’s own deluded mind, and unless and until the delusion (avidya) is eradicated no sustainable peace can be achieved.

From the global canvas of war to the subtlest inner conflicts of a single individual all is the outcome of one’s delusion. Owing to delusion and past impressions accumulated in immeasurable time the person’s mind becomes incapable of perceiving the true nature of things. Due to it one conceives I as an independent inherent existent entity. Thus delusion confuses our conceptions in relation to such inherent existences of I. That further creates the conception of others which generates division between self and others. This division is the cause for attachment and hatred present in one’s mind. Thus mind can never be free from conflict and disharmony. No amount of effort and methodology can attain freedom from the conflict and disharmony unless the basic cause of delusion which is ignorance (avidya) is eradicated. As such the Buddha did not attach much importance to social and political systems. He was convinced that no system which is based on the conception of division and inequality between self and the other can thrive to bring about sustainable peace among the sentient beings. Surely, none among the religious and non-religious beings having a rational mind would accept the defilements, such as hatred and attachment to be as good things. These are held to be cause of misery which should be eradicated. But the problem is that most people do not even know the right way and method of eradicating misery.

A truly cultural mind can develop through the practice of four highest state of mind (catura pramana), viz. loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. These four highest states of mind are most significant for the attainment of peace for all the living beings of the world.

Also Buddhism has laid emphasis on the cultivation of mind of Bodhisattva (a being on the path of Buddhahood). A bodhisattva practices various perfections (paramitas) of generosity, morality, renunciation, forbearness etc.

Also I must emphasize that in no religion person can guarantee an environment congenial to the development of culture of peace. I sometimes feel the organized aspect of all religions is not always favorable to peace. The organized system often encourages bigotry and this has to be abandoned in the interest of culture of peace.

The Buddha said, ‘hatred never ceases by hatred in this world; by love alone does hatred cease’. This is an eternal law. He taught us if hatred is encountered by hatred that brings in greater animosity. The logic is simple as anyone can see. It is an clear as crystal that a fire cannot be extinguished by another fire; it can be put out only by a thing which possesses the opposite property of the fire e.g. water etc. likewise hatred cannot be eradicated by hatred; it can only be eradicated through opposite nature which is ‘love’ and ‘compassion’. So the Buddha made it the basic requirement for his followers accept the following norms:

1. Do not abuse others, though you have been abused by them.

2. Do not be angry to others, though you have been enraged by them.

3. Do not beat others, though you have been beaten by them.

4. Do not find faults in others, though you have been faulted by them.

The above is placed under ‘four wholesome injunctions for monkhood (Cattvarsramanakara dharma). In the same way the Buddha teaches us in a metaphor that it will not be possible to wrap the whole earth with leather to protect one’s feet from piercing thorns, but covering one’s feet with leather made shoes it is verily possible to save the feet from foot injuries. He further tells us that one cannot conquer all the enemies. This kind of teaching cultivates the culture of peace and non-violence.

The Buddhist teachings does not expect any conflict, any violence, any way or any aggression justifiable on the basis of nationalism, self defense or any such hypothesis. Only in exceptional cases is violence justifiable and that is for the protection of others. For that, too, it needs the cultivation of deep-rooted compassion and total sense of selflessness and self-sacrifice.

Since the main and the ultimate object of Buddhism is to attain permanent and absolute peace i.e. “nirvana”, every Buddhist teachings contributes to peace culture: not only on the attainment of nirvana, but even at the stage of practicing its path one cultivates the culture of tolerance, non-violence and service for others. The entire Buddhist teaching is summed up in “three trainings” viz; the training concerning morality, the training concerning meditation and the training concerning wisdom.

The training concerning morality (adhisilasikas) makes one refrain from all kinds of physical and vocal violence which strain the physical and vocal bodies to remain in peace and harmony.

The training concerning meditation (adhisamadhisiksa) makes the mind free from all thoughts of violence and the mind remains in peace and tranquility.

The training concerning wisdom (adhiprajnasiksa) tarins the mind to perceive the reality as it is and inculcates the mind to eradicate every sort of defilement so that the cause of all violence and disharmony is completely eradicated leading to the stream of consciousness flowing toward attainment of the peace-nirvana.

Buddhism has paved the way to implement the concept of peace throughout the past and has envisioned the minds of countless men and women who achieved peace in their lives. This contribution to the minds of the individuals is reflected in historical events. If you turn back to the time of Buddha you will find the example of the ruthless killer named Angulimala who was converted into a peace loving follower of the Buddha. At a time when sword had been the arbiter of justice many wars and conflicts which were surfacing were subsided and men found peace instead. Ashoka, the great is one of the most glaring instances of history whose life was astonishingly and dramatically transformed; from a tyrant conqueror whose lust for power was dreaded he turned to become a peaceful ruler who not only established peace in his own realm but encouraged peaceful co-existence with all neighbor states for considerable time.

Even in the contemporary world situation, there are several most tortured and exploited people who did not follow the path of violence and terrorism mainly due to the influence of Buddhism.

It is now being increasingly felt that the path shown by the Buddha should be shared by all who as humans are capable indeed to the language of peace. It is the onerous talk of all religious minded persons to come together to revitalize their own religious teachings, know each other and share in peace, the source of human values.