STRATEGIES FOR ACTION
To contribute towards the solution of the problems outlined above, the World Buddhist Community has to act both by itself and in co-operation with the international community engaged in tasks designed for this specific purpose For both approaches, the Buddhist community needs to be better organized as regards human and material resources and better oriented to problem-solving at a global level.
It is impracticable to think of acting in co-operation with international organizations and bodies unless the Buddhist community is strong enough to make its presence felt in them. This strength has to come in two ways : first, there should be unity, understanding and Identity of interest and concern within the Buddhist community itself ; and, second, the deficit in numerical terms has to be compensated for with a moral strength based on unequivocal principles and steadfast adherence to the value system which Buddhism upholds.
Unifying the Buddhist community is of paramount importance. The evolution of the three major school5* Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana-has been a historical process encouraged and nourished by the freedom of thought which the Buddha himself enjoined for his followers. The rise of further schools and sects-through cultural forces affecting Buddhism in China. Korea and Japan was similarly the result of the adaptability and the flexibility of the Buddha's teachings, in contrast to these developments, the formation of different sects or Nikayas in Theravada countries has been purely of administrative or constitutional origin with no doctrinal implications. But all these have made the Buddhist community to appear irreconciliably disunited. This impression is further strengthened by internal dissension and controversy, mutual criticism and rivalry. The Buddhists, among all people in the world, have the least excuse to be bigoted and intolerant particularly when all the differences are more on external ritual and practices and not on any major doctrinal points. Henry Steele Olcott in 1891 and Christmas Humphreys in 1945 worked out "a common platform" or "principles" upon which all Buddhists can agree and the agreement to the two lists they prepared came from Burma. China, Chittagong, Japan, Sri Lanka, Tibet and Thailand Since the World Fellowship of Buddhists was established lheie has been a steady effort to bring uniformity in symbols and observances. But Buddhists have still to organize themselves into a common front, with an agreed policy as regards the manner in which the survival and the development of humanity could be served from a Buddhist point of view.
With enhanced convincing and bargaining power once engendered by unity, the World Buddhist Community has to assume the role of a voice of the conscience of humanity. Such a stipulation underlines the importance of absolute neutrality, on the one hand, and an unwavering adherence to objective principles of right and justice, on the other. Both these conditions are in strict accordance with the spirit of Buddhism, as enunciated in the ten principles of rulership (Dasa-rajadhamma) : namely, liberality, discipline, sacrifice. straightness, gentleness, self-restraint, freedom from hatred, non-violence, for bearance and non-aggression. Less by words and more by deeds and example, the Buddhist community has to seek ways and means of influencing world opinion to ensure that the vast store of resourccs-both human and material-that is, at present, diverted to such destructive and futile purposes as the proliferation of armaments and the production of consumption goods and services is applied to solve the problems of hunger, malnutrition, disease, illiteracy, ignorance and so forth. The world opinion has also to be influenced in the direction of utilizing the gigantic strides made in science and technology and, through them, in the control of nature for such urgent and far-reaching purposes as the preservation of environment and conservation of fast-depleting irreplaceable natural resources. The Buddhist community has to take a firm stand on several very important fronts : against the arms race ; against war and armed struggle to settle international or internal disputes ; against aggression and aggravation ; against violence and discrimination ; against the violation of human rights ; against all forms of economic and social exploitation-whether international, national of interpersonal ; against wasteful rivalries on grounds of prestige ; against restrictions to the free flow of knowledge and technology ; against every kind of obstacle to the full development of the individual. One has only to delve into the wisdom contained in the Buddha's words and further exemplified by his as well as his disciples' deeds to find a most sensible, timely and cogent answer to every one of these issues. The Buddhist position, thus founded on the supreme sagacity of the Buddha, is unequivocal-in its defence of humanity-in guaranteeing its survival and development.
Equally important as the standpoint against things to be resisted is a positive attitude to action. No international forum on which the Buddhist opinion is brought to bear should remain restricted to moral action, however, important that may be. Far too often, moral action becomes a convenient euphemism to words-that is, resolutions and statements, declarations and appeals, and, sometimes, volumes of learned treatises. While every clear and precise statement of a problem is, no doubt, indispensable to problem-solving, while the generation of an awareness of the gravity and urgency of a problem is essential to mustering support and resources for its solution, it has still to be recognized that words by themselves achieve only partial results. The moral action, which the Buddhist community upholds, has to be a judicious combination of agitation and activity. All efforts in fashioning world opinion have to go hand in hand with activities, carefully designed and vigorously executed to minimize and eventually eliminate all problems of survival and development. In fact, it is the determined effort of the World Buddhist Community to solve its own problems with its own resources that would convince the world of the validity of its values and principles. It is always useful to remember that the Buddha was a man of action-not a mere preacher. His biography is full of daring and inspiring deeds whether it be to locate a ruthless murderer, to intervene between two armies at war, to disrupt a wasteful ritual, to feed a hungry man before preaching, to take care of the sick or to teach patiently a pupil discarded as, uneducable. There could be no better strategy for the action of the World Buddhist Community than to emulate the example of the Buddha.
Dr. Ananda W. P. Guruge
Survival and Development of Humanity and The Role of the Buddhists
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