The Buddha and his message
Lecture on Vesak Day
by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
United Nations, 15 May 2000.
Prologue
To begin, I would like to express my pleasure to be here today,
on this auspicious occasion of the first international recognition
and celebration of Vesak at the United Nations. Though I wear the
robe of a Theravada Buddhist monk, I am not an Asian Buddhist but
a native of New York City, born and raised in Brooklyn. I knew nothing
about Buddhism during the first twenty years of my life. In my early
twenties I developed an interest in Buddhism as a meaningful alternative
to modern materialism, an interest which grew over the following
years. After finishing my graduate studies in Western philosophy,
I traveled to Sri Lanka, where I entered the Buddhist monastic order.
I have lived in Sri Lanka for most of my adult life, and thus I
feel particularly happy to return to my home city to address this
august assembly.
Vesak is the day marking the birth, enlightenment, and passing
away of the Buddha, which according to traditional accounts all
occurred on the full-moon day of May. Ever since the fifth century
B.C., the Buddha has been the Light of Asia, a spiritual teacher
whose teaching has shed its radiance over an area that once extended
from the Kabul Valley in the west to Japan in the east, from Sri
Lanka in the south to Siberia in the north. The Buddha's sublime
personality has given birth to a whole civilization guided by lofty
ethical and humanitarian ideals, to a vibrant spiritual tradition
that has ennobled the lives of millions with a vision of man's highest
potentials. His graceful figure is the centerpiece of magnificent
achievements in all the arts -- in literature, painting, sculpture,
and architecture. His gentle, inscrutable smile has blossomed into
vast libraries of scriptures and treatises attempting to fathom
his profound wisdom. Today, as Buddhism becomes better known all
over the globe, it is attracting an ever-expanding circle of followers
and has already started to make an impact on Western culture. Hence
it is most fitting that the United Nations should reserve one day
each year to pay tribute to this man of mighty intellect and boundless
heart, whom millions of people in many countries look upon as their
master and guide.
The Birth of the Buddha
The first event in the life of the Buddha commemorated by Vesak
is his birth. In this part of my talk I want to consider the birth
of the Buddha, not in bare historical terms, but through the lens
of Buddhist tradition -- an approach that will reveal more clearly
what this event means for Buddhists themselves. To view the Buddha's
birth through the lens of Buddhist tradition, we must first consider
the question, "What is a Buddha?" As is widely known,
the word "Buddha" is not a proper name but an honorific
title meaning "the Enlightened One" or "the Awakened
One." The title is bestowed on the Indian sage Siddhartha Gautama,
who lived and taught in northeast India in the fifth century B.C.
From the historical point of view, Gautama is the Buddha, the founder
of the spiritual tradition known as Buddhism.
However, from the standpoint of classical Buddhist doctrine, the
word "Buddha" has a wider significance than the title
of one historical figure. The word denotes, not just a single religious
teacher who lived in a particular epoch, but a type of person --
an exemplar -- of which there have been many instances in the course
of cosmic time. Just as the title "American President"
refers not just to Bill Clinton, but to everyone who has ever held
the office of the American presidency, so the title "Buddha"
is in a sense a "spiritual office," applying to all who
have attained the state of Buddhahood. The Buddha Gautama, then,
is simply the latest member in the spiritual lineage of Buddhas,
which stretches back into the dim recesses of the past and forward
into the distant horizons of the future.
To understand this point more clearly requires a short excursion
into Buddhist cosmology. The Buddha teaches that the universe is
without any discoverable beginning in time: there is no first point,
no initial moment of creation. Through beginningless time, world
systems arise, evolve, and then disintegrate, followed by new world
systems subject to the same law of growth and decline. Each world
system consists of numerous planes of existence inhabited by sentient
beings similar in most respects to ourselves. Besides the familiar
human and animal realms, it contains heavenly planes ranged above
our own, realms of celestial bliss, and infernal planes below our
own, dark realms of pain and misery. The beings dwelling in these
realms pass from life to life in an unbroken process of rebirth
called samsara, a word which means "the wandering on."
This aimless wandering from birth to birth is driven by our own
ignorance and craving, and the particular form any rebirth takes
is determined by our karma, our good and bad deeds, our volitional
actions of body, speech, and thought. An impersonal moral law governs
this process, ensuring that good deeds bring a pleasant rebirth,
and bad deeds a painful one.
In all planes of existence life is impermanent, subject to aging,
decay, and death. Even life in the heavens, though long and blissful,
does not last forever. Every existence eventually comes to an end,
to be followed by a rebirth elsewhere. Therefore, when closely examined,
all modes of existence within samsara reveal themselves as flawed,
stamped with the mark of imperfection. They are unable to offer
a stable, secure happiness and peace, and thus cannot deliver a
final solution to the problem of suffering.
However, beyond the conditioned spheres of rebirth, there is also
a realm or state of perfect bliss and peace, of complete spiritual
freedom, a state that can be realized right here and now even in
the midst of this imperfect world. This state is called Nirvana
(in Pali, Nibbana), the "going out" of the flames of greed,
hatred, and delusion. There is also a path, a way of practice, that
leads from the suffering of samsara to the bliss of Nirvana; from
the round of ignorance, craving, and bondage, to unconditioned peace
and freedom.
For long ages this path will be lost to the world, utterly unknown,
and thus the way to Nirvana will be inaccessible. From time to time,
however, there arises within the world men who, by his own unaided
effort and keen intelligence, finds the lost path to deliverance.
Having found it, he follows it through and fully comprehends the
ultimate truth about the world. Then he returns to humanity and
teaches this truth to others, making known once again the path to
the highest bliss. The person who exercises this function is a Buddha.
A Buddha is thus not merely an Enlightened One, but is above all
an Enlightener, a World Teacher. His function is to rediscover,
in an age of spiritual darkness, the lost path to Nirvana, to perfect
spiritual freedom, and teach this path to the world at large. Thereby
others can follow in his steps and arrive at the same experience
of emancipation that he himself achieved. A Buddha is not unique
in attaining Nirvana. All those who follow the path to its end realize
the same goal. Such people are called arahants, "worthy ones,"
because they have destroyed all ignorance and craving. The unique
role of a Buddha is to rediscover the Dharma, the ultimate principle
of truth, and to establish a "dispensation" or spiritual
heritage to preserve the teaching for future generations. So long
as the teaching is available, those who encounter it and enter the
path can arrive at the goal pointed to by the Buddha as the supreme
good.
To qualify as a Buddha, a World Teacher, an aspirant must prepare
himself over an inconceivably long period of time spanning countless
lives. During these past lives, the future Buddha is referred to
as a bodhisattva, an aspirant to the full enlightenment of Buddhahood.
In each life the bodhisattva must train himself, through altruistic
deeds and meditative effort, to acquire the qualities essential
to a Buddha. According to the teaching of rebirth, at birth our
mind is not a blank slate but brings along all the qualities and
tendencies we have fashioned in our previous lives. Thus to become
a Buddha requires the fulfillment, to the ultimate degree, of all
the moral and spiritual qualities that reach their climax in Buddhahood.
These qualities are called påramis or påramitås,
transcendent virtues or perfections. Different Buddhist traditions
offer slightly different lists of the påramis. In the Theravada
tradition they are said to be tenfold: generosity, moral conduct,
renunciation, wisdom, energy, patience, truthfulness, determination,
loving-kindness, and equanimity. In each existence, life after life
through countless cosmic aeons, a bodhisattva must cultivate these
sublime virtues in all their manifold aspects.
What motivates the bodhisattva to cultivate the påramis to
such extraordinary heights is the compassionate wish to bestow upon
the world the teaching that leads to the Deathless, to the perfect
peace of Nirvana. This aspiration, nurtured by boundless love and
compassion for all living beings caught in the net of suffering,
is the force that sustains the bodhisattva in his many lives of
striving to perfect the påramis. And it is only when all the
påramis have reached the peak of perfection that he is qualified
to attain supreme enlightenment as a Buddha. Thus the personality
of the Buddha is the culmination of the ten qualities represented
by the ten påramis. Like a well-cut gem, his personality exhibits
all excellent qualities in perfect balance. In him, these ten qualities
have reached their consummation, blended into a harmonious whole.
This explains why the birth of the future Buddha has such a profound
and joyful significance for Buddhists. The birth marks not merely
the arising of a great sage and ethical preceptor, but the arising
of a future World Teacher. Thus at Vesak we celebrate the Buddha
as one who has striven through countless past lives to perfect all
the sublime virtues that will entitle him to teach the world the
path to the highest happiness and peace.
The Quest for Enlightenment
From the heights of classical Buddhology, I will now descend to
the plain of human history and briefly review the life of the Buddha
up to his attainment of enlightenment. This will allow me to give
a short summary of the main points of his teaching, emphasizing
those that are especially relevant today.
At the outset I must stress that the Buddha was not born as an
Enlightened One. Though he had qualified himself for Buddhahood
through his past lives, he first had to undergo a long and painful
struggle to find the truth for himself. The future Buddha was born
as Siddhartha Gautama in the small Sakyan republic close to the
Himalayan foothills, a region that at present lies in southern Nepal.
While we do not know the exact dates of his life, many scholars
believe he lived from approximately 563 to 483 B.C.; a smaller number
place the dates about a century later. Legend holds he was the son
of a powerful monarch, but the Sakyan state was actually a tribal
republic, and thus his father was probably the chief of the ruling
council of elders.
As a royal youth, Prince Siddhartha was raised in luxury. At the
age of sixteen he married a beautiful princess named Yasodhara and
lived a contented life in the capital, Kapilavastu. Over time, however,
the prince became increasingly pensive. What troubled him were the
great burning issues we ordinarily take for granted, the questions
concerning the purpose and meaning of our lives. Do we live merely
for the enjoyment of sense pleasures, the achievement of wealth
and status, the exercise of power? Or is there something beyond
these, more real and fulfilling? At the age of 29, stirred by deep
reflection on the hard realities of life, he decided that the quest
for illumination had a higher priority than the promise of power
or the call of worldly duty. Thus, while still in the prime of life,
he cut off his hair and beard, put on the saffron robe, and entered
upon the homeless life of renunciation, seeking a way to release
from the round of repeated birth, old age, and death.
The princely ascetic first sought out the most eminent spiritual
teachers of his day. He mastered their doctrines and systems of
meditation, but soon enough realized that these teachings did not
lead to the goal he was seeking. He next adopted the path of extreme
asceticism, of self-mortification, which he pursued almost to the
door of death. Just then, when his prospects looked bleak, he thought
of another path to enlightenment, one that balanced proper care
of the body with sustained contemplation and deep investigation.
He would later call this path "the middle way" because
it avoids the extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification.
Having regained his strength by taking nutritious food, one day
he approached a lovely spot by the bank of the Nerañjara
River, near the town of Gaya. He sat down cross-legged beneath a
tree (later called the Bodhi Tree), making a firm resolution that
he would never rise up from his seat until he had won his goal.
As night descended he entered into deeper and deeper stages of meditation.
Then, the records tell us, when his mind was perfectly composed,
in the first watch of the night he recollected his past births,
even during many cosmic aeons; in the middle watch, he developed
the "divine eye" by which he could see beings passing
away and taking rebirth in accordance with their karma; and in the
last watch, he penetrated the deepest truths of existence, the most
basic laws of reality. When dawn broke, the figure sitting beneath
the tree was no longer a bodhisattva, a seeker of enlightenment,
but a Buddha, a Perfectly Enlightened One, who had stripped away
the subtlest veils of ignorance and attained the Deathless in this
very life. According to Buddhist tradition, this event occurred
in May of his thirty-fifth year, on the Vesak full moon. This is
the second great occasion in the Buddha's life that Vesak celebrates:
his attainment of enlightenment.
For several weeks the newly enlightened Buddha remained in the
vicinity of the Bodhi Tree contemplating from different angles the
truth he had discovered. Then, as he gazed out upon the world, his
heart was moved by deep compassion for those still mired in ignorance,
and he decided to go forth and teach the liberating Dharma. In the
months ahead his following grew by leaps and bounds as both ascetics
and householders heard the new gospel and went for refuge to the
Enlightened One. Each year, even into old age, the Buddha wandered
among the villages, towns, and cities of northeast India, patiently
teaching all who would lend an ear. He established an order of monks
and nuns, the Sangha, to carry on his message. This order still
remains alive today, perhaps (along with the Jain order) the world's
oldest continuous institution. He also attracted many lay followers
who became devout supporters of the Blessed One and the order.
The Buddha's Teaching: Its Aim
To ask why the Buddha's teaching spread so rapidly among all sectors
of northeast Indian society is to raise a question that is not of
merely historical interest but is also relevant to us today. For
we live at a time when Buddhism is exerting a strong appeal upon
an increasing number of people, both East and West. I believe the
remarkable success of Buddhism, as well as its contemporary appeal,
can be understood principally in terms of two factors: one, the
aim of the teaching; and the other, its methodology.
As to the aim, the Buddha formulated his teaching in a way that
directly addresses the critical problem at the heart of human existence
-- the problem of suffering -- and does so without reliance upon
the myths and mysteries so typical of religion. He further promises
that those who follow his teaching to its end will realize here
and now the highest happiness and peace. All other concerns apart
from this, such as theological dogmas, metaphysical subtleties,
rituals and rules of worship, the Buddha waves aside as irrelevant
to the task at hand, the mind's liberation from its bonds and fetters.
This pragmatic thrust of the Dharma is clearly illustrated by the
main formula into which the Buddha compressed his program of deliverance,
namely, the Four Noble Truths:
(1) the noble truth that life involves suffering
(2) the noble truth that suffering arises from craving
(3) the noble truth that suffering ends with the removal of craving
(4) the noble truth that there is a way to the end of suffering.
The Buddha not only makes suffering and release from suffering
the focus of his teaching, but he deals with the problem of suffering
in a way that reveals extraordinary psychological insight. He traces
suffering to its roots within our minds, first to our craving and
clinging, and then a step further back to ignorance, a primordial
unawareness of the true nature of things. Since suffering arises
from our own minds, the cure must be achieved within our minds,
by dispelling our defilements and delusions with insight into reality.
The beginning point of the Buddha's teaching is the unenlightened
mind, in the grip of its afflictions, cares, and sorrows; the end
point is the enlightened mind, blissful, radiant, and free.
To bridge the gap between the beginning and end points of his teaching,
the Buddha offers a clear, precise, practicable path made up of
eight factors. This of course is the Noble Eightfold Path. The path
begins with (1) right view of the basic truths of existence, and
(2) right intention to undertake the training. It then proceeds
through the three ethical factors of (3) right speech, (4) right
action, and (5) right livelihood, to the three factors pertaining
to meditation and mental development: (6) right effort, (7) right
mindfulness, and (8) right concentration. When all eight factors
of the path are brought to maturity, the disciple penetrates with
insight the true nature of existence and reaps the fruits of the
path: perfect wisdom and unshakable liberation of mind.
The Methodology of the Teaching
The methodological characteristics of the Buddha's teaching follow
closely from its aim. One of its most attractive features, closely
related to its psychological orientation, is its emphasis on self-reliance.
For the Buddha, the key to liberation is mental purity and correct
understanding, and thus he rejects the idea that we can gain salvation
by leaning on anyone else. The Buddha does not claim any divine
status for himself, nor does he profess to be a personal savior.
He calls himself, rather, a guide and teacher, who points out the
path the disciple must follow.
Since wisdom or insight is the chief instrument of emancipation,
the Buddha always asked his disciples to follow him on the basis
of their own understanding, not from blind obedience or unquestioning
trust. He invites inquirers to investigate his teaching, to examine
it in the light of their own reason and intelligence. The Dharma
or Teaching is experiential, something to be practiced and seen,
not a verbal creed to be merely believed. As one takes up the practice
of the path, one experiences a growing sense of joy and peace, which
expands and deepens as one advances along its clearly marked steps.
What is most impressive about the original teaching is its crystal
clarity. The Dharma is open and lucid, simple but deep. It combines
ethical purity with logical rigor, lofty vision with fidelity to
the facts of lived experience. Though full penetration of the truth
proceeds in stages, the teaching begins with principles that are
immediately evident as soon as we use them as guidelines for reflection.
Each step, successfully mastered, naturally leads on to deeper levels
of understanding, culminating in the realization of the supreme
truth, Nirvana.
Because the Buddha deals with the most universal of all human problems,
the problem of suffering, he made his teaching a universal message,
addressed to all human beings solely by reason of their humanity.
He opened the doors of liberation to people of all social classes
in ancient Indian society, to brahmins, princes, merchants, and
farmers, even humble outcasts. As part of his universalist project,
the Buddha also threw open the doors of his teaching to women. It
is this universal dimension of the Dharma that enabled it to spread
beyond the bounds of India and make Buddhism a world religion.
Some scholars have depicted the Buddha as an otherworldly mystic
totally indifferent to the problems of mundane life. However, an
unbiased reading of the early Buddhist canon would show that this
charge is untenable. The Buddha taught not only a path of contemplation
for monks and nuns, but also a code of noble ideals to guide men
and women living in the world. In fact, the Buddha's success in
the wider Indian religious scene can be partly explained by the
new model he provided for his householder disciples, the model of
the man or woman of the world who combines a busy life of family
and social responsibilities with an unwavering commitment to the
values embedded in the Dharma.
The moral code the Buddha prescribed for the laity consists of
the Five Precepts, which require abstinence from killing, stealing,
sexual misconduct, false speech, and the use of intoxicating substances.
The positive side of ethics is represented by the inner qualities
of heart corresponding to these rules of restraint: love and compassion
for all living beings; honesty in one's dealings with others; faithfulness
to one's marital vows; truthful speech; and sobriety of mind. Beyond
individual ethics, the Buddha laid down guidelines for parents and
children, husbands and wives, employers and workers, intended to
promote a society marked by harmony, peace, and good will at all
levels. He also explained to kings their duties towards their citizens.
These discourses show the Buddha as an astute political thinker
who understood well that government and the economy can flourish
only when those in power prefer the welfare of the people to their
own private interests.
The Parinirvana and Afterwards
The third great event in the Master's life commemorated at Vesak
is his parinirvana or passing away. The story of the Buddha's last
days is told in vivid and moving detail in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta.
After an active ministry of forty-five years, at the age of eighty
the Buddha realized his end was at hand. Lying on his deathbed,
he refused to appoint a personal successor, but told the monks that
after his death the Dharma itself should be their guide. To those
overcome by grief he repeated the hard truth that impermanence holds
sway over all conditioned things, including the physical body of
an Enlightened One. He invited his disciples to question him about
the doctrine and the path, and urged them to strive with diligence
for the goal. Then, perfectly poised, he calmly passed away into
the "Nirvana element with no remainder of conditioned existence."
Three months after the Buddha's death, five hundred of his enlightened
disciples held a conference at Rajagaha to collect his teachings
and preserve them for posterity. This compilation of texts gave
future generations a codified version of the doctrine to rely on
for guidance. During the first two centuries after the Buddha's
parinirvana, his dispensation slowly continued to spread, though
its influence remained confined largely to northeast India. Then
in the third century B.C., an event took place that transformed
the fortunes of Buddhism and set it on the road to becoming a world
religion. After a bloody military campaign that left thousands of
people dead, King Asoka, the third emperor of the Mauryan dynasty,
avidly turned to Buddhism to ease his pained conscience. He saw
in the Dharma the inspiration for a social policy built on righteousness
rather than force and oppression, and he proclaimed his new policy
in edicts inscribed on rocks and pillars throughout his empire.
While following Buddhism in his private life, Asoka did not try
to impose his personal faith on others but promoted the shared Indian
conception of Dharma as the law of righteousness that brings happiness
and harmony in daily life and a good rebirth after death.
Under Asoka's patronage, the monks held a council in the royal
capital at which they decided to dispatch Buddhist missions throughout
the Indian subcontinent and beyond to the outlying regions. The
most fruitful of these, in terms of later Buddhist history, was
the mission to Sri Lanka, led by Asoka's own son, the monk Mahinda,
who was soon followed by Asoka's daughter, the nun Sanghamitta.
This royal pair brought to Sri Lanka the Theravada form of Buddhism,
which prevails there even to this day.
Within India itself Buddhism evolved through three major stages,
which have become its three main historical forms. The first stage
saw the diffusion of the original teaching and the splintering of
the monastic order into some eighteen schools divided on minor points
of doctrine. Of these, the only school to survive is the Theravada,
which early on had sent down roots in Sri Lanka and perhaps elsewhere
in Southeast Asia. Here it could thrive in relative insulation from
the changes affecting Buddhism on the subcontinent. Today the Theravada,
the descendent of early Buddhism, prevails in Sri Lanka, Myanmar,
Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos.
Beginning in about the first century B.C., a new form of Buddhism
gradually emerged, which its advocates called the Mahayana, the
Great Vehicle, in contrast with the earlier schools, which they
called the Hinayana or Lesser Vehicle. The Mahayanists elaborated
upon the career of the bodhisattva, now held up as the universal
Buddhist ideal, and proposed a radical interpretation of wisdom
as insight into emptiness, or shunyata, the ultimate nature of all
phenomena. The Mahayana scriptures inspired bold systems of philosophy,
formulated by such brilliant thinkers as Nagarjuna, Asanga, Vasubandhu,
and Dharmakirti. For the common devotees the Mahayana texts spoke
of celestial Buddhas and bodhisattvas who could come to the aid
of the faithful. In its early phase, during the first six centuries
of the Common Era, the Mahayana spread to China, and from there
to Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. In these lands Buddhism gave birth
to new schools more congenial to the Far Eastern mind than the Indian
originals. The best known of these is Zen Buddhism, now widely represented
in the West.
In India, perhaps by the eighth century, Buddhism evolved into
its third historical form, called the Vajrayana, the Diamond Vehicle,
based on esoteric texts called Tantras. Vajrayana Buddhism accepted
the doctrinal perspectives of the Mahayana, but supplemented these
with magic rituals, mystical symbolism, and intricate yogic practices
intended to speed up the way to enlightenment. The Vajrayana spread
from northern India to Nepal, Tibet, and other Himalayan lands,
and today dominates Tibetan Buddhism.
What is remarkable about the dissemination of Buddhism throughout
its long history is its ability to win the allegiance of entire
populations solely by peaceful means. Buddhism has always spread
by precept and example, never by force. The purpose in propagating
the Dharma has not been to make converts, but to show others the
way to true happiness and peace. Whenever the peoples of any nation
or region adopted Buddhism, it became for them, far more than just
a religion, the fountainhead of a complete way of life. It has inspired
great works of philosophy, literature, painting, and sculpture comparable
to those of any other culture. It has molded social, political,
and educational institutions; given guidance to rulers and citizens;
shaped the morals, customs, and etiquette that order the lives of
its followers. While the particular modalities of Buddhist civilization
differ widely, from Sri Lanka to Mongolia to Japan, they are all
pervaded by a subtle but unmistakable flavor that makes them distinctly
Buddhist.
Throughout the centuries, following the disappearance of Buddhism
in India, the adherents of the different schools of Buddhism lived
in nearly total isolation from one another, hardly aware of each
other's existence. Since the middle of the twentieth century, however,
Buddhists of the different traditions have begun to interact and
have learnt to recognize their common Buddhist identity. In the
West now, for the first time since the decline of Indian Buddhism,
followers of the three main Buddhist "vehicles" coexist
within the same geographical region. This close affiliation is bound
to result in hybrids and perhaps in still new styles of Buddhism
distinct from all traditional forms. Buddhism in the West is still
too young to permit long-range predictions, but we can be sure the
Dharma is here to stay and will interact with Western culture, hopefully
for their mutual enrichment.
The Buddha's Message for Today
In this last part of my lecture I wish to discuss, very briefly,
the relevance of the Buddha's teachings to our own era, as we stand
on the threshold of a new century and a new millennium. What I find
particularly interesting to note is that Buddhism can provide helpful
insights and practices across a wide spectrum of disciplines --
from philosophy and psychology to medical care and ecology -- without
requiring those who use its resources to adopt Buddhism as a full-fledged
religion. Here I want to focus only on the implications of Buddhist
principles for the formation of public policy.
Despite the tremendous advances humankind has made in science and
technology, advances that have dramatically improved living conditions
in so many ways, we still find ourselves confronted with global
problems that mock our most determined attempts to solve them within
established frameworks. These problems include: explosive regional
tensions of ethnic and religious character; the continuing spread
of nuclear weapons; disregard for human rights; the widening gap
between the rich and the poor; international trafficking in drugs,
women, and children; the depletion of the earth's natural resources;
and the despoliation of the environment. From a Buddhist perspective,
what is most striking when we reflect upon these problems as a whole
is their essentially symptomatic character. Beneath their outward
diversity they appear to be so many manifestations of a common root,
of a deep and hidden spiritual malignancy infecting our social organism.
This common root might be briefly characterized as a stubborn insistence
on placing narrow, short-term self-interests (including the interests
of the social or ethnic groups to which we happen to belong) above
the long-range good of the broader human community. The multitude
of social ills that afflict us cannot be adequately accounted for
without bringing into view the powerful human drives that lie behind
them. Too often, these drives send us in pursuit of divisive, limited
ends even when such pursuits are ultimately self-destructive.
The Buddha's teaching offers us two valuable tools to help us extricate
ourselves from this tangle. One is its hardheaded analysis of the
psychological springs of human suffering. The other is the precisely
articulated path of moral and mental training it holds out as a
solution. The Buddha explains that the hidden springs of human suffering,
in both the personal and social arenas of our lives, are three mental
factors called the unwholesome roots, namely, greed, hatred, and
delusion. Traditional Buddhist teaching depicts these unwholesome
roots as the causes of personal suffering, but by taking a wider
view we can see them as equally the source of social, economic,
and political suffering. Through the prevalence of greed the world
is being transformed into a global marketplace where people are
reduced to the status of consumers, even commodities, and our planet's
vital resources are being pillaged without concern for future generations.
Through the prevalence of hatred, national and ethnic differences
become the breeding ground of suspicion and enmity, exploding in
violence and endless cycles of revenge. Delusion bolsters the other
two unwholesome roots with false beliefs and political ideologies
put forward to justify policies motivated by greed and hatred.
While changes in social structures and policies are surely necessary
to counteract the many forms of violence and injustice so widespread
in today's world, such changes alone will not be enough to usher
in an era of true peace and social stability. Speaking from a Buddhist
perspective, I would say that what is needed above all else is a
new mode of perception, a universal consciousness that can enable
us to regard others as not essentially different from oneself. As
difficult as it may be, we must learn to detach ourselves from the
insistent voice of self-interest and rise up to a universal perspective
from which the welfare of all appears as important as one's own
good. That is, we must outgrow the egocentric and ethnocentric attitudes
to which we are presently committed, and instead embrace a "worldcentric
ethic" which gives priority to the well-being of all.
Such a worldcentric ethic should be molded upon three guidelines,
the antidotes to the three unwholesome roots:
(1) We must overcome exploitative greed with global generosity,
helpfulness, and cooperation.
(2) We must replace hatred and revenge with a policy of kindness,
tolerance, and forgiveness.
(3) We must recognize that our world is an interdependent, interwoven
whole such that irresponsible behavior anywhere has potentially
harmful repercussions everywhere.
These guidelines, drawn from the Buddha's teaching, can constitute
the nucleus of a global ethic to which all the world's great spiritual
traditions could easily subscribe.
Underlying the specific content of a global ethic are certain attitudes
of heart that we must try to embody both in our personal lives and
in social policy. The chiefs of these are loving-kindness and compassion
(maitri and karuna). Through loving-kindness we recognize that just
as we each wish to live happily and peacefully, so all our fellow
beings wish to live happily and peacefully. Through compassion we
realize that just as we are each averse to pain and suffering, so
all others are averse to pain and suffering. When we have understood
this common core of feeling that we share with everyone else, we
will treat others with the same kindness and care that we would
wish them to treat us. This must apply at a communal level as much
as in our personal relations. We must learn to see other communities
as essentially similar to our own, entitled to the same benefits
as we wish for the group to which we belong.
This call for a worldcentric ethic does not spring from ethical
idealism or wishful thinking, but rests upon a solid pragmatic foundation.
In the long run, to pursue our narrow self-interest in ever widening
circles is to undermine our real long-term interest; for by adopting
such an approach we contribute to social disintegration and ecological
devastation, thus sawing away the branch on which we sit. To subordinate
narrow self-interest to the common good is, in the end, to further
our own real good, which depends so much upon social harmony, economic
justice, and a sustainable environment.
The Buddha states that of all things in the world, the one with
the most powerful influence for both good and bad is the mind. Genuine
peace between peoples and nations grows out of peace and good will
in the hearts of human beings. Such peace cannot be won merely by
material progress, by economic development and technological innovation,
but demands moral and mental development. It is only by transforming
ourselves that we can transform our world in the direction of peace
and amity. This means that for the human race to live together peacefully
on this shrinking planet, the inescapable challenge facing us is
to understand and master ourselves.
It is here that the Buddha's teaching becomes especially timely,
even for those not prepared to embrace the full range of Buddhist
religious faith and doctrine. In its diagnosis of the mental defilements
as the underlying causes of human suffering, the teaching shows
us the hidden roots of our personal and collective problems. By
proposing a practical path of moral and mental training, the teaching
offers us an effective remedy for tackling the problems of the world
in the one place where they are directly accessible to us: in our
own minds. As we enter the new millennium, the Buddha's teaching
provides us all, regardless of our religious convictions, with the
guidelines we need to make our world a more peaceful and congenial
place to live.
About the Speaker
Bhikkhu Bodhi was born in New York City in 1944. He received a
B.A. in philosophy from Brooklyn College (1966) and a Ph.D. in philosophy
from Claremont Graduate School (1972). In late 1972 he went to Sri
Lanka, where he was ordained as a Buddhist monk under the late Ven.
Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Mahanayaka Thera. Since 1984 he has been
editor of the Buddhist Publication Society in Kandy, and since 1988
its president. He is the author, translator, and editor of many
books on Theravada Buddhism. The most important of these are The
Discourse on the All-Embracing Net of Views (1978), A Comprehensive
Manual of Abhidhamma (1993), The Middle Length Discourses of the
Buddha (1995), and The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (due for
publication in October 2000). He is also a member of the World Academy
of Art and Science.
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