Peace
Jan. 2005
I can remember the first piece I wrote for this column. It was in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks and the Afghanistan war.
The theme then was “Peace and Security” and in my column I tried to present the Buddha’s recipe for peace and security in the world. Basically, it was that there can be no peace and security without equitable distribution of wealth and that only non-violence can end violence.
A long time has gone by since then and it seems no-one was listening! Violence has increased all over the world; we have had another war; and security - let alone harmony - seems further away than ever. Not only have we failed to heed the truth that only non-violence can end violence, but the old-testament maxim “an eye for an eye” seems to have gained in popularity and even altered to the extent that it now seems to be more like “one hundred eyes for one eye”. I am just stating the facts as I see them. We know that the American death count in the Iraq war stands, as I write, at about one thousand, but the latest estimates put the Iraqi death count at one hundred thousand. But, the last thing I want to do is to write another political column dealing with war and peace and security. Obviously, since the policy makers are not listening to the Buddha’s advice, we have to listen to it ourselves and look within for the peace and harmony that is so strikingly absent from the world in general.
If we can achieve peace and harmony within, then hopefully in time that peace and harmony will influence those closest to us: our families, our friends, and maybe, maybe, eventually, our communities. Let us all try to find peace and harmony within our own hearts. There we will find as the great late Thai meditation master Ajahn Chah put it, “Our Real Home”.
The Buddha encouraged people to let go of resentment and the wish for vengeance. Today, we hear a lot of people talking about justice, but what about Mercy? Has everyone forgotten about Mercy? Wasn’t it said that justice ought to be tempered by Mercy? - and after all - who are we to determine what is just? If we really believe in the All Mighty God of the Bible and the Koran, then it is surely God and only God who can decide what is just, and if instead we believe in the law of karma, then surely the effects of evil actions will mature in good time, so why worry about the actions of others.
The Great Bodhisattva Nagarjuna said in his letter of friendly advice, ”I was abused by them; imprisoned by them; defeated by them; they have taken away my property; harbouring enmity in this way causes quarrels, but whoever gives up harbouring enmity sleeps peacefully”. Wouldn’t we all like to sleep peacefully?
If we look into our own hearts, we will find that it is mostly petty insignificant things that make us angry and resentful. Even when our imagined grievances are serious, what do they really amount to? We are all bound to die one day anyway! We have no idea when that day may come! It may be tomorrow or even today! Then, we will have to leave behind everything that we consider precious: our own bodies, our loved ones, our homes, our property, our good name. Since one day all these things have to be left behind, why worry about them now? Why strive and struggle to defend them against perceived threats? Why not just protect our own minds against our worst enemies: egotism, greed, pride, envy, anger and all the rest.
The great Mahayana Master Shantideva said in his guide to the practice of the Bodhisattva that it is extremely difficult to cover the whole surface of the earth with leather, but merely by covering our feet with leather we can experience the whole surface of the earth as if it were covered with leather. In the same way, it is extremely difficult to remove delusion, greed, anger, violence and conflict from the whole world, but merely by removing them from our own minds, we can experience the whole world as if it were free from these afflictions. Isn’t this the best - indeed the only - course of action for those of us who really wish for peace and harmony in these troubled times?
Let us look within; Let us be watchful of our own minds our own thoughts. When we see unwholesome thoughts arising - thoughts that are loaded with greed, anger or resentment, let us abandon them immediately. Why would we want to hold on to thoughts that only bring us misery? But when we see wholesome thoughts arising - thoughts of good will, love and compassion - let us nurture them because they are the source of our own happiness and the happiness of others.