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From: Subash@uh.edu (Subash S. Jayawardena)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Re: Buddhist & Gulf war (for s.r.e)
Message-ID: <2086@sun13.scri.fsu.edu>
Date: 5 Feb 91 19:16:15 GMT
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Approved: mayne@nu.cs.fsu.edu

Date: 30 Jan 91 00:58:11 GMT

>As do many Buddhists, I take the Five Precepts daily.  Though this
....
>This raises two types of questions for me.  First, in what ways am
>I causing and approving of others killing by continuing through what may
>be the performance of very ordinary social and civic actions      
>Second, in what ways  can (should?) one not just refrain from certain
>actions contributing to killing (the Gulf War in this case),  
>but rather become involved in positive actions which contribute to 
>the likelihood of non-violence. 

>I think that one of the great stumbling blocks, which Chogyam  
>Trungpa among others has pointed out, is that in attempting to act in
>a manner which we see as counter to hate and aggression, we often
>escalate our activities in such a way that they reflect the same
>anger and aggression.  I sense, very unclearly, that the right
>conduct in this involves being extremely watchful that whatever
>one does not harden into a sort of "monument" to oneself.     

>I would be very interested in learning what other Buddhists
>may feel about this subject in relation to their practice. 

>Jack Carroll       


For me also the first precept I observe as a Buddhist is that of refraining
from killing.  Thinking beyond just refraining from killing, it is advised
in buddhist teaching to practice metta and karuna towards all beings as 
well.  These qualities do not discriminate between country boundaries.
With these thoughts it is impossible for me to justify any war. 

  On the other hand, thinking of the Noble Eightfold path, right thought
involves thoughts of non-hatred and thoughts of non-violence (avyapada
sankappa and avihimsa sankappa).  Therefore, the effort in day to day 
living is to keep the thoughts of hatred and violence (vyapada and himsa)
away from the mind.  Therefore, even when listening to news about war
I have to be attentive and watchful so that I do not let thoughts of
anger or violence harbor in my mind.  For some, this may sound as
an extreme, but in practice this has to be a reality.

The outcomes of a war as I have analysed are bad for both parties. If
one party is defeated lot of destruction, deaths would have occured
to that party.  On the other hand, the effects on the society of the
winning party would be bad too (in addition to the costs and casualties
etc. during the war).  Definitely there are karmic effects.
Furthermore, the stress created in the society would last longer than
the war, creating more social problems.  Some people might think that
it is possible to cure these ills of the society but in reality it
will be very hard if not impossible. (remember the saying it is easy
to kill thousands of people in a war but it is much more difficult to
conquer oneself - the society is a complex structure of millions of 
these hard to conquer selves)

  Furthermore, after listening to comments some people make like
 "Nuke em", "high tech warfare is good" etc., I start feeling worried
 and concerned about future.  But in this sense my buddhist way of
 thinking says worrying is not the solution.  There must be something
 I could contribute to the world at large so that the nightmares may
 not occur in the future.
 
    In the way of looking after my own actions now I have to contemplate
 keenly before I put on my "tech" or "high tech" thinking cap so that
 I do not contribute to future nightmares.
 
   How far buddhists could be active in establishing peace in the world?
 Amount of contributions a person can make towards no-war/peaceful situation
 varies according to the capabilities.  Before the current war started
 I could remember seeing on TV the Japanese Buddhist monks praying in
 Bhagdad for peace (I do not know which sect).  By reflecting upon the
 events that took place I think buddhists and buddhist way of thinking
 could contribute heavily towards peace in the world.  But the efforts
 has to come through positive actions (not through non-buddhistic violence
 and hatred).
 
 Bandula