An Appeal to Buddhist Leaders
Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is an eternal law.” – Gautama Buddha
Buddhism, has a long and great tradition of Ahimsa (non-violence), and peace among “world religions”. At this time, the world is on the brink of World War 3. There is an urgent need for Buddhists to lead a Global call for Peace– through balanced and negotiated conflict resolution in the Middle East. The wars in that region are embedded in a staged “Clash of Civilizations”, involving monotheistic Judeo-Christianity on the one hand, and Islamic formations on the other.
The Buddhist tradition of Critical Thinking, based on Cultivation of Right View (sammadithi) and Right Understanding; through investigation and analysis of the facts and events for oneself may be recalled at this time.
Through study of a subject or problem and development of Right Consciousness a strategy for Right Speech and Right Action to ameliorate a situation, whether local or global, may be arrived at, collectively, this time of global emergency, although individually we may feel weak and unable to do much.
The Buddha’s message of Ahimsa or Non-Violence
“The world is ‘millimeters’ way from nuclear catastrophe” in the Middle East, Russia has warned. Israel’s US-backed attacks on Iran, which are illegal under international law, and counter-attacks by Iran, have already caused nuclear leakage and environmental harm.
The Buddha’s message of Ahimsa and statement that ‘hatred is never appeased by hatred but by non-hatred alone’ is now more than ever relevant
Sadly, the so-called “advanced” industrial and civilized Anglo-European world has supported the genocide by Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza and the extreme human suffering that the Palestinian people are subject to over the past 2 years.
At this time US President Trump, has bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities and threatens to do more harm– after moving troops to safety from America’s Middle East military bases.
The US is using the Diego Garcia military base in the Chagos Islands located near Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean to bomb Iran at this time.
The Middle East and Indian Ocean is the center of global energy supply and a Third World war starting in the region could affect many debt-trapped countries in the Global South, including Sri Lanka—which is the historical repository of the teachings of the Enlightened One who perfected and taught the Nobel Eightfold Path.
Buddhism and Social Justice .
Buddhism has a long tradition of peace-making with Social Justice. Peace-making without social justice is not sustainable and amounts to ‘passification of populations’ rather than genuine conflict resolution. It buries the problem, which resurfaces later. The ends do no justify the means.
Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent resistance to end British Colonial Occupation of India was inspired by Buddhism. So too, South Africa’s Nelson Mandela who led non-violent resistance to end Apartheid in that country was strongly influenced by Buddhism.
With the world on the brink of unprecedented catastrophe is it not time for Buddhist leaders and assemblies / congregations around the world to call for Peace with justice for the Palestinian people and an end to American and Israeli aggression?
Online Religiosity
The setting up and use of extremist religio-cultural networks during the Cold War and intervening years has escalated in recent times, also through the staging of Culture Wars to divide and fragment historically plural and multicultural societies. This weaponization of world religion/s as a strategy of warfare has been conducted by the same forces that promote wars and sell weapons and debt trap countries.
Simultaneously, the legitimacy of global religious traditions of peace have been eroded. In recent times, Israeli networks have set up Zionist Chabad Prayer Houses in Sri Lanka although there never was, and is no Jewish community in the county.
There are on-going attempts to convert people, once again escalate and weaponize Religion/s, also through funding and using extremist religious organizations and groups, and de-stabilize a historically multicultural and multi-religious county to divide and distract citizens.
This constitutes a National Security Threat of the highest order, especially given the history of Islamic State (ISIS), claimed terror attacks at Easter Sunday in 2019 which were staged to trigger “cascades of violence” in multi-faith Sri Lanka.
Here, right understanding of the complexity and geopolitical economic dimensions of the problem and taking Right Action based on Right Understanding is required at this time to address this issue. Burying one’s head in the sand and saying that we “see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil’ is not a good option.
Collective and Community-based Solutions with Right Understanding
Another world war with religious under-tones triggered by illegally nuclear-armed Israel backed by the United States would constitute a global environmental catastrophe. The United States and NATO has 750 military bases around the world to stage war.
While we may feel that individually we have no power to change things collectively we may. Sadly, Asian community culture and the search for collective solutions have been undermined and atomized by individualism and with people increasingly in their post-Covid-19 digital bubbles in the wake of Lockdowns and masking of truth.
Here, the promotion of on-line digital religiosity as a form of ‘passification of populations’ may give us pause. There has been an over-psychologisation and perhaps a Western individualist approach to fundamentally Social and Collective problems that are shared by all and warrant collective action and solutions. Asian Buddhist Societies have historically valued community over individualism, but local communities been eroded by digital colonialism.
Right Action based on Right View and Right Understanding of What the Buddha Taught is needed at this time. We may be individually weak, but together, collectively, we may have the power to make a difference, if not change things for the better.
Avoiding escalation of conflict in the Middle East and World War 3 would require non-violent global resistance based on Right Speech and Right Action arising from Right View and Right Consciousness – from a Buddhist Perspective.
