OVERVIEW

 

THE BUDDHIST 
BENEFITS OF SOCIAL HARMONIZATION

Conflict and violence have caused many problems for human beings since ancient times, and have stained the annals of humanity. While the human heart is always resting with the desire to live in peace, harmony and love for one's fellow human beings, the means to satisfy this wish have proven far and away impossible. In international relations, the war followed successively as the screenings of the film, with only brief interruptions in which aggressive forces began to form new alliances and quietly took over. earth. Social systems are constantly being torn apart by class struggles in which the elite seek to seize many privileges and classes of dependence that gain more and more security. Whether it is a conflict between master and slave, Between the feudal lords and the peasants, between the aristocracy and the common people, between capitalists and workers, it seems that only faces are changed and the underlying motive of the power struggle remains. the same. Communities, too, are constantly threatened by internal conflicts. Power competitions among opponents, dissenting opinions, and competing interests among members can make Introduce them to new rounds. As each war, division, or dispute reaches its height, hope again arises that reconciliation will follow, that peace and solidarity will eventually win. However, these hopes quickly became frustrated, the event is repeated so. It seems that only the faces are changed and the momentum of the power struggle remains the same. Communities, too, are constantly threatened by internal conflicts. Power competitions among opponents, dissenting opinions, and competing interests among members can make Introduce them to new rounds. As each war, division, or dispute reaches its height, hope again arises that reconciliation will follow, that peace and solidarity will eventually win. However, these hopes quickly became frustrated, the event is repeated so. It seems that only the faces are changed and the momentum of the power struggle remains the same. Communities, too, are constantly threatened by internal conflicts. Power competitions among opponents, dissenting opinions, and competing interests among members can make Introduce them to new rounds. As each war, division, or dispute reaches its height, hope again arises that reconciliation will follow, that peace and solidarity will eventually win. However, these hopes quickly became frustrated, the event is repeated so. And the scramble among the members can divide them, to create new rounds of controversy. As each war, division, or dispute reaches its height, hope again arises that reconciliation will follow, that peace and solidarity will eventually win. However, these hopes quickly became frustrated, the event is repeated so. And the scramble among the members can divide them, to create new rounds of controversy. As each war, division, or dispute reaches its height, hope again arises that reconciliation will follow, that peace and solidarity will eventually win. However, these hopes quickly became frustrated, the event is repeated so.

A moving passage in the Theravada Buddhist scriptures demonstrates the difference between human desire for peace and the gloomy reality of endless conflict. The Sutra says that there was a Sakka, the ruler of the heavens, who came to see the Buddha and asked him the question of sorrow: "Lord, why do men want to live in peace? hateful hatred, where they are entangled in the cycle of hatred everywhere "( cf. Scripture VIII, 1 ). That question is still echoing through the ages, and we can also ask with such urgency about the many unstable areas in today's world: Iraq and Syria, the Gaza Strip, the Central African Republic and South Sudan. , Burma and Sri Lanka, Charleston and Baltimore ...

This problem must have weighed upon the mind of the Buddha as he traveled across the Ganges Plain to educate sentient beings. The society under his divide divided into several classes distinguished by the privileges of Those who live outside the caste system, the poor, even worse treated, are subject to humiliation. loss of the lowest dignity. The political landscape of the time was also changing, as the dynastic kings emanating from the ashes of the old tribal states began to pursue targeted military campaigns. extend their territory. Inside the court, fierce disputes between opponents thirsted for power. Even spiritual communities at that time were inevitably in conflict.

In a poignant poem in Nipata Sutra (No. 935-37), the Buddha spoke of his feeling of dizziness under the violence, perhaps as soon as he left Kapilavatthu. bhikkhus) and first witnessed the outside world of his country:

   Fear has arisen from violent people:

   Look at those who are engaged in conflict.

   I will tell you about my urgent feeling,

   I felt the urge to stir up.

   Seeing people trembling

   As the fish in the stream dry,

   When we see them conflicting

   My mind has started to fear.

   The world around me is not very big,

   Every direction is changing.

   Desire to have a place to stay for me,

   I do not see any place that is not occupied.

At the beginning of the teaching, the Buddha's first mission was to shed light on the path leading to the inner peace, in the absolute peace of Nirvana, liberated from the cycle of birth, aging and death. . But the Buddha did not turn away from the human condition to give priority to the quest for complete liberation towards the pure mind of the ascetic practice. From his position as a Buddhist monk outside of the ordinary order of society, he looked with deep concern for the struggling humanity in the conflict while still longing for peace, And with compassion he sought to bring harmony to the conflicting places of human relations, to promote a way of life based on tolerance, harmony and kindness.

But He did more than that. He established a community whose purpose was to promote the development of inner and outer peace. This task was put in his hands from the very beginning, for the Buddha was not a solitary traveler, teaching those who sought him for guidance, and letting them manage on their own. He was the founder of a new spiritual movement that from the beginning was inevitably characterized by the community. Immediately after the conclusion of the first sermon, five ascetic monks heard his teachings immediately to be his disciples. As time went by, his teachings drew more and more good men and women to follow him to live a life without family and to receive all his training. Thus, the Congregation - a community of monks living in groups, traveling in groups,

However, the change from the ordinary to the golden brown is not a passage immediately brought to the holy. Although the way of life has changed, monks who joined the Buddha's congregation still carry with them innate tendencies of anger, arrogance, ambition, jealousy, self-respect and stubbornness. Thus, there will inevitably arise tensions within the Sangha community, which sometimes develop into direct opposition to one another, creating factional clashes, conflicts, and even fierce conflict. In order for the congregation to be developed, the Buddha must indeed become an "organizer". While he can preach the noble spiritual ideals that his disciples can strive for, this does not guarantee harmony in the Congregation. You also need to set up a detailed set of rules that will work to unify the work of the Sangha community and issue rules that limit if not completely eliminate internal divisions. These regulations have become The Vinaya , the Vinaya of the Sangha.

The Buddha also taught and guided the lay followers of His teachings, such as the lay followers, to live in the family and to work according to their occupation. Thus, he has to face with the task of setting the guidelines for society in general. In addition to a basic set of rules for laypeople, he must provide principles to ensure that parents and children, spouses, employers and workers, and people of many origins and social classes Different can live harmoniously friendly. Facing these challenges, the scope of the Dhamma is expanded. From the initial characteristic of a path of spiritual liberation, centered around meditative practices and reflecting on the philosophy, the Dhamma has led to ethical guidelines that not only apply to behavior personal, but also for relations between people living in different circumstances, whether in monasteries or at home, whether they are living in the market place, the factory or in their administrative services. . In all circumstances, the primary moral requirement is to avoid harming others: harm from abuse, harm caused by trampling on others' rights, harm from conflict and violence. The ideal purpose is to promote goodwill and harmony in action, speech and thought.

STRUCTURE OF THIS BOOK

This collection intends to expose the Buddha's teachings on harmony in the community and society. This book is based on some of the texts I selected in 2011, as requested by the Columbia University Institute for Social Studies and Human Rights' Peacebuilding Program, intended for use by the Uplift. Sri in Sri Lanka after the country's longstanding ethnic conflict ended in 2009. This expanded version includes more new texts and changes in the arrangement.

The texts chosen from the Pā Kinhi Pitaka, which are considered to be the authority of the Buddha-vacana of the followers of the Theravada tradition, are Buddhist traditions. It is prominent in South Asian countries - especially Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. The passages I quote are drawn especially from the Sutta Pitaka , including the discourses of the Buddha and his outstanding disciples. I do not put on texts from the other two organs, Vinaya ( Vinaya Pitaka),  is the precept of the monks, and Abhidharma ( AbhidhammaPitaka), a collection of commentaries on catechism. While some parts of the Vinaya can be related to this project, most of the documents in the Law speak of the monk's rules and regulations, and thus only to certain readers. Furthermore, the passages in the Vinaya-Pitaka relating to harmony within the community are also equivalent in the Sutras that I have included in this book.

Although the Pā Kinhi Pitaka is a collection of canonical Buddhist monographs, the texts of this collection should not be viewed as strictly as attaching to a particular Buddhist tradition, for These texts are quoted from the earliest Buddhist literary class, the classic collections derived from the earliest origins of Buddhism. These teachings are not necessarily associated with any faith or religious belief system. With clear clarity and deep understanding of human nature, these texts can be told to anyone, regardless of their religious orientation. Messages carrying a broad message can apply to all efforts to promote the friendship between people.

I have arranged the selections in a structured way that reflects the patterns that the Buddha himself applied in his discourse in a few respects. In the rest of this general introduction, I will explain the logic behind this arrangement. Each section begins with an introduction to that section, which intends to link the texts together in each chapter and clearly illustrates their relevance to the subject matter of the chapter.

Part I  contains texts on right understanding or right understanding. The Buddha has set the viewpoint as the first part of the Noble Eightfold Path and elsewhere he emphasizes the role of right understanding as the source of guidance. For the purpose of this collection is to provide a Buddhist vision of harmony in the community and society rather than presenting the ultimate path of liberation, the texts I bring. Here highlight the type of righteous thoughts that nurture moral conduct. This sometimes called "worldly right view" - in contrast to the "right view of the supramundane world", is the profound insight into the empty and non-self nature of all conditioned things The root of the rope that binds man to the cycle of reincarnation.

Understanding the principle of kamma has a decisive effect on human behavior. When we realize that our actions will eventually bounce back on us and determine our destiny in future lives, we will have the motivation to give up the practice mind. We are going to be inspired to engage in good manners and develop good qualities. This pattern is reflected in the structure of the Noble Eightfold Path, where Right View leads to Right Thought, which will then manifest in righteousness, right action and right livelihood.

In Part II , I discuss the effect of right understanding on the individual under the theme of "personal training." The Theravāda tradition sees the transformation of each person as the key to the transformation of society. A harmonious society can not be imposed externally by the ordinances of an authority, but can only appear when people change their minds and accept the standards of good conduct. Thus, the task of promoting harmony in the community must begin with the transformation of the individual. Personal movement occurs through a process of training that involves demonstrating good behavior. Outside the inner purity of the mind. According to the Buddhist tradition, I classify myself in this personal training curriculum under the three headings of generosity, self-consciousness and mental training.

The main obstacle of social harmony is anger and discontent. The seed is the seed that gives birth to hatred, and thus, in the process of personal training, the Buddha paid special attention to the domination and Therefore, I dedicate Part III to talk about " Counteracting  Anger." The texts put into the reveal reveal what facilities cause anger, disadvantages and dangers. I am possessed of anger, and practical remedies can be used to remove anger. The main remedy for eliminating hatred is patience, which the Buddha strongly advises his disciples even in difficult circumstances. Thus, the last two chapters in this chapter consist of texts dealing with patience as commands, and through the stories of the n Typical character of patience.

Section IV  is for speech. Speech is an aspect of human behavior that plays an important role in social harmony so that the Buddha gives a righteous position in the Noble Eightfold Path. I followed the Buddha's example by selecting a wide range of texts for the subject of speech. These texts not only talk about righteousness as often understood, but also how to engage in debates properly, when to compliment and when to criticize others, how to correct wrong an evil man when necessary.

With  Section V,  we move directly from the field of personal cultivation to relationships with others. These relationships begin with a good friendship, a virtue emphasized by the Buddha as the foundation of a good life. In the texts I choose, we see the Buddha explaining to both his ordained and lay disciples the value of companionship with good friends. He analyzes the qualities of a true friend. , and describe how friends should treat each other. He taught that good friendship brings success in the life of the layman as well as the spiritual development of the monk.

Section VI  extends the field of inquiry, from personal friendship to broader fields of influence. I include a selection of texts in which the Buddha emphasizes the social implications of behavior. personal. This chapter begins with comparative quotes between the fool and the wise, the wicked and the good. This chapter continues to compare people who only benefit wholeheartedly for themselves, with those who wholeheartedly benefit others. Scriptures consider this opposite difference in the view of both the layman and the lay person. What is found is the clear assertion that the best way to do it is to do good to both: to benefit both ourselves and others.

Section VII  brings us to the establishment of a community with a common purpose. Since the Buddha was the founder of the congregation, not a secular leader, of course the ways he proposed to establish a common-purpose community were first of all for the ordained life. But in cases where he was asked by secular leaders for advice on maintaining harmony in society in general, the principles he laid down were preserved in the suttas. The other selections in this chapter relate to the collaboration between the two parts of the Buddhist community, the lay and lay community.

However, even if they act with the best intentions, the people in that community carry with them the tendency to lead to local clashes and conflicts. The subject of  Section VIII  is the dispute. The texts contained in this chapter refer to the internal disputes of both the monastic and the lay, which in some respects have similar origins, but in some respects other has come from different causes. This part naturally leads to  Part IX , which is devoted to the means of settling disputes. Here we see the Buddha as the founder of the law of the congregation, setting out guidelines for resolving conflicts, and suggesting ways to prevent conflicts. may occur in the future.

Part X , which is the last chapter of this collection, goes from the general-purpose community in which the congregation is the representative, to the wider social sphere. I include here the texts extracted from the suttas exploring the overlapping relationships that constitute the social structure. The texts include the Buddha's teachings on family life, the relationship between parents and children, between spouses and the maintenance of a beneficial family life. The last part of this chapter deals with the political ideal of the Buddha, represented by the image of the " dharmakaya " ( rājācakkavatti)), the righteous king rules the dynasty in harmony with the moral law. Although the principles set out for the king are outdated in our time, with the declared commitment to democracy, with emphasis on justice, clemency, and integrity as the background. The ancient texts of Buddhism are still valuable in today's world.END=NAM MO SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.THE MIND OF ENLIGHTENMENT.VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=GOLDEN LOTUS MONASTERY=AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.26/7/2018.