Buddhism and its relevance to the world situation

Sitagu Sayadaw
Dr.Ashin Ñyāņissara (Ph.D., D.Litt.)
Chancellor of Sitag| International Buddhist Academies
Your Venerable,
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Dhamma friends,
Good morning,

First of all, I would like to extend my warmest greetings to the political, religious and social leaders of the world and all sentient beings as well. And my particular greetings go to the high dignitaries from the three neighboring countries-Myanmar, China and India-participating in this august conference. I'm particularly happy to meet you all here today and wish you peace and happiness.

We are gathered here today with the common objective of maintaining world peace and security through our collaborative efforts for the better propagation of Buddha Dhamma. We are now living in the world of political and economic instabilities where social unrest, chaos, violence and fighting are pervasive almost everywhere. At this critical juncture, world religious leaders, political leaders and social leaders together with all global citizens are giving topmost priority to ensure peace and security. Unfortunately, no country in the world is in a position to enjoy the fullest extent of peace they desire. There exist many countries in the world that are free from fighting but are busy addressing their internal economic and social problems.

Nowadays, we are facing with a fresh problem which is the threat of religious extremists. It is tremendously detrimental to world peace and security. We generally hope that every religion has its own noble teachings to make the people calm down and serene in removing anger, hatred and animosity. Therefore, I'm of the view that any religion should always be a very powerful tool to make people enjoy peace and security.

I'm happy to note that this conference is held between Myanmar, China and India in commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the historic conference held in Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in April 1954 where Burma (Myanmar),Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and India signed the Five Principles of peaceful co-existence. The Five Principles were drafted by the-then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of India and it was initially signed by him and the-then Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai in China. Then it was approved by the Colombo Conference, which reads as follows:

1. Mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty
2. Mutual non-aggression
3. Mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs
4. Equality and cooperation for mutual benefits
5. Peaceful co-existence

The Colombo Conference was followed by the Asian-African Conference, also known as the Bandung Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia in 1955. It was organized by Dr. Sukarno, the first President of Indonesia and was participated by twenty-nine countries, most of which were newly independent. It was also participated by the Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai, Indian Prime Minister Nehru and Myanmar Prime Minister U Nu. The following is a 10-point declaration on promotion of world peace and cooperation adopted unanimously at the conference.

1. Respect for fundamental human rights and for the purposes and principles of the charter of the United Nations
2. Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations
3. Recognition of the equality of all races and of the equality of all nations large and small
4. Abstention from intervention or interference in the internal affairs of another country
5. Respect for the right of each nation to defend itself, singly or collectively, in conformity with the charter of the United Nations
   (a)    Abstention from the use of arrangements of collective defence to serve any particular interests of the big powers
   (b)    Abstention by any country from exerting pressures on other countries
6. Refraining from acts or threats of aggression or the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any country
7. Settlement of all international disputes by peaceful means, such as negotiation, conciliation, arbitration or Judicial settlement as well as other peaceful means of the parties’ own choice, in conformity with the charter of the United Nations
8. Promotion of mutual interests and cooperation
9. Respect for justice and international obligations.

I, now, wish to touch upon the great significances of Asia.    We are proud to be Asians, for Asia had certain significances that other continents lack. Asia is the birthplace of many famous religious, social and spiritual leaders who came up thousands of years earlier than the great scientists of Europe. India also is proud to be a land of many religious leaders. There was a great religious teacher named Maha Vira in India who appeared about fourty years before the Buddha, whose most popular philosophy is Aheinsa in Pali, which means Non-Violence. At this time of chaos and violence almost everywhere, it is a common platform not only for all political and religious leaders but for all mankind to walk together on for world peace. It is totally identical with Compassion (Karuna), one of the Four Sublime States the Buddha practiced, which implies cultivating the kind heart to remove the sufferings of all beings.

Siddhattha Gotama Buddha was born in 623 B.C in Nepal. The saviour Jesus Christ was born in Israel in Asia. The assassination of Jesus is a great loss to the world. He was assassinated by the people under the influence of ignorance and craving. I would, therefore, like to point out that Ignorance and Craving are the two major root-causes that produce all sufferings.

Mohamed, the founder of Islam, was born in Macca of Saudi Arabia, so he is also said to be an Asian. One of the theories he held is to eliminate economic predators having extreme greed and giving troubles to the poor in different ways for their personal interests. It is indeed a kind of remedy for the world to reduce economic imbalances it is currently facing.

Mohamed also said that the rich should be willing to be charitable to the poor. This also corresponds to the Buddha's teachings which say 'Danasamvibagarataw' meaning "The rich must enjoy doing charity." It is the teaching that can narrow down the gap between the rich and the poor.

The great Chinese religious teacher named Confucius deserves much respect for his lectures of code of conduct between parents and their offspring. It bears resemblance to the Singalawvada Sutta in which the Buddha delivered the Five Principles for Parents to the offspring and another Five Principles for children to their parents. He also said that corrupt political leaders are those who ruin the country. And if they are unwise or uneducated, they make the people unwise and blind. That means politicians must be well-equipped with morality and wisdom so as to lead the people in the right direction. The Buddha taught the same thing in Sonadanta Sutta that nothing in the world is greater than Morality and Wisdom.

I would here like to say that Morality is likened to human legs and Wisdom to human eyes. A cripple can't move any further by himself. Likewise, a corrupt person can't lead the people to the right goal. And a blind man is unable to see. In the same way, a person without wisdom can't make the right decision to lead the people in the right direction. Therefore, I would like to urge that the world political leaders try to be free from corruption. They should also try to be wise at the same time.

Character and Wisdom are interrelated. A person who is endowed with good character is normally regarded as a wise man and vice-versa. They play a substantial amount of capital for a person or a country to develop. It is proved by the fact that some countries which lack in natural resources could have developed by the power of Character and Wisdom. So Character and Wisdom are said to be poor men's capital.

I would like to repeat that we are proud to be Asians as Asia is the birthplace of great religious leaders like Maha Vira, Siddhattha Gotama Buddha, Jesus Christ, Mohamed and Confucius. Science and Technology came up in Europe only in the 14th century AD, (1,400) years after the birth of Jesus Christ and (2,000) years after Buddha’s attainment of Enlightenment. It shows a glaring fact that we easterners have become civilized thousands of years earlier than the westerners for we are lucky to have been introduced with the teachings of our respective religions.

Now, I will talk about the Five Principles of peaceful coexistence that the Buddha expounded for human beings to build a peaceful and secure family or a society or a State.

The Buddha expounded the five social duties each for man and wife, teacher and pupil and employer and employee to observe mutually.

The Buddha also expounded the following six principles for a religious leader to His followers.

1. To prevent His followers from doing evil deeds
2. To guide them in the right direction
3. To give them new religious lectures
4. To repeat the previous lectures
5. To show the right way to non-violence, non-conflicts, and even to heaven and Nibbana.
6. To extend loving-kindness to all beings

It is a matter of great wonder for His compassion and wisdom towards all beings that the Buddha not only gave the social guidance to man and wife, teacher and pupil and employer and employee, He also expounded the Ten Codes of conduct for Kings and Governments as follows:

(1)    Dana (Charity)

Dispensing charity can be put into two categories: religious donation and social donation. Religious donation is beneficial to the respective religion only while social donation in case of natural disasters such as storms, floods, fire, earthquakes, wars and hunger is highly supportive to the people, irrespective of race, caste and religion.

(2)    Morality

Here, Morality is meant observance of bodily discipline, verbal discipline and mental discipline. A government whose cabinet members are free from embezzlement, self-seeking and corruption is said to be a Good Government.

(3)    Renunciation

Any would-be-Buddhas showed their great courage and sacrifice by renouncing five kinds of belongings- external properties, children, wife, limbs and life in performing the interests of all mankind. Considering this as exemplary behavior, cabinet members of a government and political leaders should try to be ready to renounce self-interest, wife and children, and even their lives as and when necessary in the service of the country and the people. For this, they are sure to receive due respect of the people.

(4)    Honesty

It is also a matter of importance that political leaders and cabinet members be honest, straight-forward and free from cunningness.

(5)    Delicacy

They need to be delicate physically, verbally and mentally. On the contrary, cruel and brutal leaders pose a danger to the country. They also need to be tolerant as a bull and gentle as a deer.

(6)    Austerity

Another prerequisite for the leaders is to practise Austerity. At the same time, they should abstain from boastful talks. Practising austerity helps save the country's budget while the reverse is the waste of money which leads the country to huge deficit.

(7)    Non-Aggressiveness

They also need to practise Loving-Kindness to the people staying away from non-aggressiveness. Loving-Kindness has nothing to do with sexual or erotic love but it has something to do with strong aspiration for the good of the country, forgiveness and non-animosity to the people.

(8)    Non-violence

A good leader must not be violent in treating the people. He must also be free from oppressive, cruel and tyrannical acts.

(9)    Tolerance/ Patience

Another significant quality of a leader is tolerance and forgiveness. Loving-kindness can be described as water. It gives coolness to all without discrimination. Tolerance bears resemblance to the earth. It keeps tolerant to the people who dump garbage, and waste and leave faeces on it. It keeps quiet and makes no complaint. If the leaders do the same, their countries will become more peaceful and prosperous.

(10)    Non-Conflict

The last principle for the leaders is having non-conflict with the people. To achieve this, they need to fulfill the requirements of the people. They must also be attentive to the realistic and practicable aspiration of the people and try to fulfill them in no time without fail. It the government's decision contradicts the people's aspiration, it will lead to conflicts. And the leaders, void of patience, tolerance and forgiveness are possible to settle the conflicts in a brutal way.
Thus, the Buddha delivered the Dasa Raja Sila which is the Ten Codes of conduct for the Kings and Governments so that a country will become peaceful, prosperous and developed.

I'm happy to present to this conference that the Buddha expounded the Principles of Peaceful Co-existence for all mankind over 2600 years ago as the Ten Principles of Peaceful Co-existence was adopted at Bandung Conference, the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence laid down at Colombo Conference and separate Five Principles prescribed by President Sukarno in Indonesia.

I would here like to share my understanding that Water has unchangeable characteristics of coolness to all, regardless of race, caste and religion. It helps one who drinks it free from thirst and makes one who touches it clean and fresh. Likewise, fire has a constant nature of producing light and heat. People produce drinking water in different shapes of bottles with different labels and lighters in different brand names. However, their nature is irreversible. My message here is that if we take a superficial look at things, we see them differently. If we use eyes of wisdom, we will see truth and reality.

Every religion- Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Judaism, Silkh, and Confucius- has its own outer shell and inner core. Outer shell includes paying homage, praying, observance of religious ceremonies and customs which make one religion different from the other. The inner core covers Charity, Morality, Concentration, Balance of mind, and Insight knowledge. They are the essence of human life and also a common ground that lead all humans to peaceful co-existence.

I also wish to introduce you to the Five Precepts described in Buddhist canon which is said to be the global Principle-

1. Abstaining from killing any living beings
2. Abstaining from stealing other's belongings not given by the owner
3. Abstaining from any sexual misconduct
4. Abstaining from any improper speech
5. Abstaining from any intoxicants.

It is mentioned as Garudhamma Sila (Highly respected Sila). Failure to observe these principles lead one to ruin. The Buddha also taught about the Five Kinds of Catastrophe that all humans can encounter in life. There is no one who creates the catastrophe. It is caused by those who fail to observe the five principles. No country in the world can escape the outbreak of disasters in this situation. The Buddha said in Pancaverabaya Sutta that those who do not care about the Five Principles or Ten Principles bring bad results to the entire human society. The root-cause of this is nothing but Ignorance and Craving. This is the noble truth which is the Common Core of all religions. Without it, no problem can be solved properly.

Therefore, I would like to conclude by wishing that

1. All human beings strictly observe the Five Precepts
2. All human beings solve all problems with the penetration of Noble Truth.

May Peace and Truth prevail in every corner the world.

Thank you.

Dr.Ashin Ñyāņissara (Ph.D., D.Litt.)
AggamahÈpaÓÉita, MahÈdhammakathika Bahujanahitadhara, AggamahÈ Saddhammajotikadhaja,
SÈsanadhaja-dhammÈcariya Chancellor of Sitag| International Buddhist Academies Principal of Sitag| International Buddhist Missionary Association Founder of the Board of Director of TheravÈda Dhamma Society of America  Honorary Professor of International TheravÈda Buddhist Missionary University Chairman of International Association of Theravada Buddhist Universities