Peace in Buddhism: An Analytical Study

 

Ven. Assist. Prof. Phramaha Hansa Dhammahaso, Ph.D.
Assistant to the Rector for Academic Affairs
Director of Office of International Association of Buddhist Universities

 

1. Introduction

         There is conflict and violence in the present world. Immediate examples that come to mind are the current situations in Iraq, Palestine and the south of Thailand.  What we wish to see is solutions to these those problems by peaceful methods, for instance negotiation and mediation, but, even though, sometimes, some groups might attempt to use such methods, in the end, conflict and violence still remain a constant. It is as though neither conflict nor violence will ever die out   in human beings or societies.

          It might be the case that human beings interpret or define peace in different ways. As a result, they also have different thought and actions. This leads us to seek tools for managing conflict and violence in a different ways. From this, I would like to consider the meaning of peace that is ascribed as defined by scholars, especially from the Buddhist perspective.

          Lest this prologue sound unduly negative, let me hasten to add that, as we are all aware, Buddhism is not a monolithic structure, and there are also certain underlying features of Buddhist teachings that may be conducive to the furtherance of peace. What I wish to do in this paper is to explore one of these features by drawing on a particular western concept of peace and providing an introductory sketch of how this might provide a foundation for peace in Buddhism.

2. What is peace?

         In order to answer this question, which refers to the key term in this discussion, first of all, I will begin by defining the expression ‘peace’ itself.

         According to the Webster dictionary, peace means “freedom from war”, which is “to stay without war”[1]. Moreover, Alvin Toffler[2] and Disaku ikeda[3], who were experts in the way of ‘non-violence’, point out that “arising from peace is appearance of war”. However, Johan Kaltung, suggests that ‘peace does not only mean the ‘appearing of war’, but it is a state of ‘non-violence’[4].

         These statements come very close to our concept of the definition of peace. That is “without war or violence, peace will occur”. In other words, following this idea, if we depart from war, we become absolutely peaceful.  

         From a Buddhist perspective, the word ‘peace’ contains two level meanings. Firstly, as an ultimate truth, it means ‘Niravana’: the State of mind that does not have passions, such as desire, ignorance and delusion. In another words, whenever our mind is not under the control of passions, it is calm and peaceful. So, we are able to call ‘true peace’.

         Secondly, in general truth, ‘peace’ means human beings and societies might have conflict with each other, for instance conflict of data, interest, structure and value, but they attempt to choose the best option by negotiation or dialogue without violent action.

         Therefore, ‘peace’ in term of Buddhism has much more to say that “not only when human beings and societies have problems with each other, they do not solve problems by using violence, such as war, beating, killing and so on, but they also have loving-kindness  and compassion with other people in the world.

         In fact, one might define peace as follows: there is a slightly different thing between the western scholars and Buddhism. The former attempts to focus on external peace; whereas the latter is aware of both external and internal peace.

3. Why is peace very essential to human beings and societies?

         There is no less suffering in the world today than there was in the past, and there are no fewer problems. Indeed, it could be said that there are now more problems and greater unhappiness than ever before. This suggests that the solution to our problems, and to those of society as a whole, does not lie in knowledge or control of the external world.

          Furthermore, in the present world, whenever human beings and societies conflict with each other they resort to violence, instead, they should resolve the problem by using reconciliation rather than violence as a tool in order to manage conflict, ‘peace’ is the best alternative way. I, therefore, propose to show why is peace so essential to human beings and societies and how it can be used to manage conflict?

          3.1 Peace brings loving-kindness to human beings and societies

          From a Buddhist perspective, whenever our minds have peace particularly inner peace, it is very easy to build loving-kindness and give it to other people who need help. Loving-kindness means we understand the feelings and needs of other people. We are encouraged to take positive action when we are represented with an appropriate opportunity to help those who are in need.

          Human beings are not independent of each other. That is why human being must love each other. So loving-kindness or Metta is like bridge that builds harmony between human beings and societies.

          Clearly, because of just peace, we are able to have loving kindness and be happy as well as helping other people unconditionally.

          3.2 Peace brings happiness to human beings and societies 

My question in this case is why human beings have so many possessions in their lives, such as money, cars, and houses, but are still unhappy with all this.

           The reason is that they receive every day is not true happiness but false happiness. In fact, true happiness does not arise if our minds do not have peace. Not only can peace can build true happiness but it also brings it to other people who follow us or live beside us.

           Moreover, happiness and suffering are states of mind, and so their main causes cannot be found outside the mind. The real source of happiness is inner peace. If our mind is peaceful, we will be happy all the time, regardless of external conditions, but if it is disturbed or troubled in any way, we will never be happy, no matter how good our external conditions may be. External conditions can only make us happy if our mind is peaceful.

           We can understand this through our own experience. For instance, even if we are in the most beautiful surroundings and have everything we need, the moment we get angry any happiness we may have disappears. This is because anger has destroyed our inner peace.

           Therefore, peace is important for building happiness within human beings and societies. Without peace, our world will be permeated by both conflict and violence, until no one helps, understand or love anyone else.

          3.3 Peace brings solidarity and harmony to human beings and societies

          Solidarity in this sense is like ‘social energy’ that arises from cooperation within human beings and societies to help each other. It means the way in which we are able to find values and agreement in each group. In order to establish solidarity and harmony in societies, we first have to build peace in our minds. Because it leads us to positive behaviours, such as speaking, listening, walking and living.

          Therefore, peace is very important for building solidarity and harmony. If we do not have it, it is impossible for the world to have happiness and cooperation in many activities, such as prevention of terrorism and global warming.

          To sum up, the reasons why human beings and societies should have peace or why peace is so important to them is that world cannot survice without peace. Peace is like a bridge that joins between human beings and societies. Without this bridge, it is impossible for people to talk and share happiness and suffering with each other.  

4. Why do not mankind and society have peace?

          There are many reasons why human beings and societies do not have peace in present world. First of all, we will consider this term as it is understood in Buddhism. 

          We may conclude that, from a Buddhist perspective, the causes of those are multiple. They include desire, arrogance, and delusion.

          4.1 Desire refers to acquisitiveness and aspirations. Acquisitiveness includes the need to ‘possess’ material goods and also people, whereas aspirations concern the wish for status, power and position. Furthermore, the world’s natural resources would be sufficient for all the world’s people, but a greedy person  always wants more, because materialist and capitalist societies do not have unlimited raw materials. Such societies, therefore, will go to great lengths to obtain all the available resources, even though this means depriving other groups.  Failure to negotiate results in conflict.

          We can illustrate this with reference to the following story from Buddhist scripture: the brahmin Aramadanda asked Mahakaccayana, ‘What is the cause of conflict between king and king, Bhramana and Bhramana or wealthy person and wealthy person?’. The latter replied  that whenever human beings grasp tightly, adhere , or are sexually aroused or held by desire[5], they come into conflict. Also, parents and children, siblings and other relatives come into conflict, quarrel and attack each other because of desire[6].

          According to Tipitaka, Koliya and Sakaya, who are relatives of the Buddha, fought  because they wanted water for agriculture, and the kings Pasenadi of Kosala and Ajatasattu  fought because they wanted to control part of the land which is on the border between their countries. When we analyze these two examples, we can see that conflict arose between these people because they were controlled by desire.

          However, in my view, desire in this case covers the need for power, too. Power in itself is neither good nor bad, but in this case,  ‘power’ refers to politics, money and social control. These kinds of power tend to corrupt the mind;  The love of power leads to the desire for even more power and control. When everybody wants power, conflict arises, because nobody wants to be subject to the power or authority of anybody else.

          4.2 Arrogance refers to human beings’ preference for showing themselves that they are better than other people in term of status, personality, property, education, work or knowledge[7]. As a result, somebody who has been insulted sometimes disputes, quarrels and even kills. In this case, the Buddha said that anyone who really likes to say and think that he is better than other people, is highly likely to come into conflict within his society[8].

            A good example of this is the case of the kings of Sakaya who believed that they were  racially superior to all the other kings of Jambudipa. They therefore refused to associate with or marry into  other groups. When the king Pasendi of Kosala, who came from the ordinary people, wanted to marry  a relative of Sakaya, they brought him a slave. Not long afterwards, he had a son, Vithuthapha. The kings of Sakaya did not want to welcome him,when he went to visit them in the Kipilapat. When Vidudabha learnt that he was not their grandson, but the son of a slave, he and his soldiers went to kill all the kings of Sakaya.

               For this reason, the Buddha said that Bhikkhus should not claim that  they are better people because they observe many precepts or have great merit[9].

Whenever people are arrogant, they do not like to listen to or understand each other. In general, active listening is extremely important, because it involves opening one’s mind in order to understand another person’s feelings and needs. However, selfishness obstructs creative thinking, causing an inability to accept a diversity of views.

             4.3 Delusion is a form of ignorance, which can be compared to a shadow over the mind that prevents us from seeing things as they really are. Thus, good and evil can become confused; advantages can be perceived as disadvantages (and vice versa) [10].

             The Buddha said, ‘Whoever holds extreme opinions quarrels very easily[11] and has difficulty avoiding disputes[12]’. On another occasion, the Mahakaccayana asked the Buddha what the cause of conflict between monks was. The Buddha replied that whenever monks refuse to accept different views from their own, cling tomaterial things or are sexually aroused or  controlled by desire, conflict very easily arises[13].

             According to the Tipitaka, conflict arose between Vinayadhara Bhikkus and Dhammadhara Bhikkus in Kosambi, even though they had been good friends before, because they had different views on the interpretation of the Vinaya,.

                Summarizing the above, most conflict arises from desire, arrogance and delusion, all of which the Buddha counselled against, because they prevent clear thinking and impede effective social and professional relationships. Whenever a human being can be brought to understand this, inner peace becomes possible, and this is the basis for true happiness in human society.

5. How can we find true peace?

                What I wish to do now in this paper is to open this discussion with an important question for present world: How can we find the “true peace”? Turning now to a consideration of the meaning of “true peace” discussed above, I see evidence that the Buddha or his followers, at least down to the modern time, have been greatly concerned with the question of “how we can find true peace”.

                Of all the religions in the world, the Buddhism is one of the religion based on “peace”[14]. There is at least one dimension how we can find true peace. One of these is to do meditation. From this, there are two significant reasons why meditation is a very important thing for seeking “true peace”.

               Firstly, when our mind focuses or concentrates on breathing in and out all the time, we will be in the present moment which means we  will be aware and understand everything as it is[15].

               Secondly, our mind is aware of one thing at one time continuously. After a short time, we will seek the true happiness that is hidden in our mind. Generally, whenever our mind is calm and peaceful, we will find true happiness. In other words, true peace and happiness are exactly the same. We could also use the term ‘Niravana’[16]. ‘Niravana’ is true peace and happiness.

               From this, we can explain that “true peace will arise from doing meditation. In other words, meditation will make our mind calm and peaceful. So, we cannot seek true peace outside our mind, but we have to find it in our mind by doing meditation.

               Let me conclude by stressing some of the methods how we can use to find the true peace. From a Buddhist perspective, the way leading to “true peace” is to do meditation.

               In my opinion, it is not difficult to seek true peace, because it stays in our mind. We do not have to spend more time looking for it elsewhere. Therefore, in order to achieve it more effectively, we should start to do meditation right now, otherwise, we might wait for it another hour, week, month, year or so on.

               As we all know, we might die at any minute. We absolutely never know when we will pass away. Therefore, the most important thing we should do right now is to be aware every minute while we are breathing in and out. In fact, we might say that whenever we forget our breathing, unfortunately, we are living like somebody who is going to die any minute.

 

 

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[1] ‘Webster’  New College Dictionary Boston, (New York:  Houghton muffin company, 1995),  p. 808.

[2] Alwin Tofler, War and Peace in 21 century, (Bangkok: Nanmee book, 2,000), p. 252-256.

[3] Santi Isarovuthakul translated, True peace volume 2, Speech of Disaku ikeda, (Bangkok: Songsiam, 1991) p.267.

[4] Johan Gultung, “Violece Peace and Peace Research”,  in Journal of Peace Research . Vol.6 VI, 1969, p. 171.

[5] Ang.Tuka.  (Thai) 20/38/83.

[6] Khu.chu.  (Thai) 30/136/443-444.

[7] Khu.chu. (Thai) 30/103/351-353. comepare in khu.ma. (Thai) 29/178/508-501.

[8] Khu.ma. (Thai) 22/77/231.

[9]Khu.ma. (Thai) 29/153/420.

[10] Khu.ma. (Thai) 29/115/341.

[11] Khu.ma. 29/82/243.

[12] Khu.su. (Thai)  25/803-807/694.

[13] Ang.thuka.a. (Thai) 2/38/48.

[14] United Nation announce Buddhism as “religion of peace” in 1998.

[15] Tich Nath Hanh, Waking: the way of mindfulness, (Bangkok: Rurnkeaw, 2543), p.4.

[16] Bhikkhu Nanaponika, The heart of meditation, (Bangkok: Siam, 2538), p.23.