SOME URGENT TASK
In a programme of moral action, based on the dual strategy of agitation and activity, a number of problems needs to be assigned a higher priority. Among those which come to our mind as vital to the survival and development of humanity and susceptible to the interventions of the World Buddhist Community, both on a pan-world basis and more particularly in its immediate environment, are the following :
Struggle for peace and security.
Struggle against poverty.
Elimination of illiteracy and ignorance.
Solidarity with the displaced, the unsettled and the disadvantaged.
Accent on children and women.
Protection of youth.
Organization and leadership-building.
Research, scholarship and world opinion.
What is discussed briefly below is the major orientation for action rather than specific activities, which, of course, will need to be designed according to each situation or condition.
1. Struggle for Peace and Securitj
Action against wai. arms race, terrorism, violence and all such threats to security is already taken on many points both by intergovernmental, governmental and non-governmental bodies. Such action ranges from mechanisms and forums for consultation, negotiation and resolution of disputes ; appeals to world political leadership : and peace research and publications to campaigns and demonstrations. A long-range perspective is taken in peace education whereby attitudes in favour of peace and non-violence are inculcated during the formative years of the development of children and youth through curricular reform and youth movements.
It is the bounden duty of the World Buddhist Community, drawing inspiration from the Buddha*s teachings on non-hatred, loving kindness and holiness of human life, to assume a role of leadership in such activities wherever possible and offer its unstinted support on all occasions. The Buddhist presence in peace movements could give such movements greater strength in that the humanistic teachings of the Buddha spell out, primarily in the doctrine of four Sublime States (Brahma-vihara) a positive approach. The plea against destruction and violence is bolstered up with an appeal to a way of life in which loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity are the underlying values.
In supporting the world-wide struggle for peace and security, the Buddhists need to concentrate on their immediate environment of traditionally Buddhist, countries. It is indeed sad that war, terrorism and violence are major problems which these countries have to grapple with at this very moment. Whatever be the reasons, there could be no justification for armed conflict as a means of solving inter-country or in-country problems. An example of peacefully negotiated resolutions of conflicts have to come from the Buddhist world. To work in this direction with the utmost diligence is an inalienable obligation of the highest priority for the World Buddhist Community. Should not the Buddhist countries be an exemplary Peace Zone ?
Struggle against Poverty
In this field, again, the Buddhist community's role would be to assume leadership wherever possible.
Poverty, being most flagrantly visible in Buddhist countries and their neighbours, action should commence in the immediate environment.
Here, the Buddhists have an initial attitudinal obstacle to overcome. Is it the general apathy and indolence which makes the average Buddhist less enthusiastic about economic competition and material gain or is it an attitude generated and promoted by the Buddhist emphasis on contentment, non-attachment and renunciation ? It is explained by some that Buddhism promotes and justifies poverty or at least is a disincentive to development as generally conceived. All that is needed to counteract this charge against Buddhism would be to analyse the religious affiliations of the most poverty-striken communities of the world. Either every known religion including animism has to be equally responsible for poverty or other factors like climate, natural resources, colonial exploitation and foreign interference have to be identified as the more cogent reasons.
The Buddhist attitude to wealth is in no way unhealthy. The Buddha himself identified four sources of happiness as having (i.e. being in possession of wealth), enjoying such wealth, sharing it with others and being free of indebtedness. He even enjoined how one should spend one's earnings investing a quarter for further promotion of one's enterprise and saving a quarter for the future. If the Buddha despised wealth or the wealthy one could hardly expect the richest men of contemporary India to have been his foremost supporters. The clarification of Buddhist attitude to material welfare and economic activity is a matter of importance.
In the practical plane, the World Buddhist Community has to undertake a series of activities to eliminate, the misery that poverty has brought on humanity. The most effective among them is the conscientization of the poor through education and training, information and mass movements. The poor are comparable to a sleeping giant awaiting to be awakened. Once they are awake, they would themselves break down all obstacles in the way to their progress, whether they be exploitation,discrimination or outright socio-political subjugation Making the poor to realize that their miseries can only be eliminated by themselves and they themselves are responsible for suffering the oppressions that society has imposed on them is a permanent solution to poverty. It is best if this conscientization is founded on Buddhist principles of non-violence, loving kindness and human freedom rather than on purely materialistic considerations. If the Buddhist leadership fails to act fast and combine spiritual and material welfare as a common objective, the poor have no alternative but to be guided by materialstic considerations only.
Charity, social services, credit and investment facilities, employment-generation and the like are mere palliatives, valuable, no doubt, in bringing about relief as an immediate measure. Yet in these approaches to eliminating poverty, the Buddhist community needs to take greater interest than it does now, particularly in the Buddhist countries. It is no secret that the inactivity of the Buddhists in these fields has given an advantage to both other religious systems and forces of irreligion to entice the poor from their traditional values and beliefs.
The Buddhists need to organize both then charitable social services and their support to economic activity more effectively than at present.
Elimination of Illiteracy and Ignorance
Both as a means of eliminating poverty and promoting economic, social, political and cultural development, the efforts in eradication of illiteracy and universalizing a minimum level of basic education have to be redoubled. But it is not merely a question of quantitative expansion of facilities for these purposes. A far more important aspect is the qualitative improvement of what is imparted.
Literacy, per se, unrelated to the socio-economic needs of the learner and unaccompanied by relevant and useful reading materials or basic education, which is inadequate, irrelevant and unfocussed in terms of the life and needs of the people serves no purpose. Again, the major tasks of the Buddhist community are in their own environment. With the emphasis which Buddhism has always placed on literacy and education and with the dedication of the Buddhist Sangha to learning and teaching, there exists no justification for even the least trace of illiteracy or for poor participation in education in the Buddhist countries. Hence their present level of illiteracy needs to be seriously considered and rectified. Similarly, their educational problems have to be investigated and remedied.
It is not always the question of resources that affect the quality of education. Vast resources, hitherto unutilized or underutilized, remain to be identified and suitably employed. But these require a widespread public opinion in favour of innovation.
The Buddhists have remained backward in education mainly because the community involvement in education has remained minimal. Whatever bethe historical reasons for inadequate leadership of the Buddhist community in education in recent times, the situation needs to be remedied. It is not only because the Buddhists experience grave hardships in obtaining adequate access to quality education specially in science and technology but, more importantly, because Buddhist values have still to make a satisfactory impact on the education provided through national education systems. In several countries, the teaching of Buddhism is yet to be recognized as an essential element of the curriculum as the national school system remains strictly secular. In this the Buddhist children are at a disadvantage as private schools in the same locations conducted mainly by missionary organizations give priority to religious education. Both a policy of Buddhist education and a system of mobilizing all available resources for its implementation have to receive the immediate attention of the Buddhist community.
Solidarity with the Displaced, the Unsettled and the Disadvantaged
Of the millions of displaced and unsettled refugees, driven from their homes due to war or political upheaval, a fair proportion turns out to be Buddhists languishing in camps awaiting return to the homeland or immigration to a foreign country. Similarly, there are others, again mostly Buddhists who leave their homes under precarious circumstances as "boat people" in search of uncertain asylum. All of them are in need of solace and assistance. An identification with them in their hour of uncertainty is an expression of solidarity which the Buddhist community owes them. Their care and protection is equally one of its primary obligations.
Apart from the material assistance to supplement what international as well as host-country organizations provide, they need the help of the Buddhist community not only to pursue their educational, cultural and religious activities while in refugee camps but, more so, to maintain their cultural identity in scattered settlements in alien environments. Their concerns about the religious education of the children merit to be particularly heeded by the world Buddhist Community. Equally important is their need for literature as well as for the Sangha to minister to their religious needs. Similar in many ways and equally urgent are the needs of newly converted Buddhists-mainly those in India-who look up to the World Buddhist Community for help, guidance and, above all, moral support.
While thus catering for the specific requirements of Buddhist refugees and emigrants, the World Buddhist Community has also the overriding obligation to do all it can to ensure the elimination of situations throughout the world which drive human beings to such pitiable plights and unspeakable indignity.
Accent on Children and Women
In all upheavals-whether famine, pestilence, war or natural calamities-the most vulnerable section of the population consists of children and women. Their care and protection deserve the foremost attention. Far more serious than the effects of emergencies is the impact of poverty and ignorance on children and women. The grim statistics relating to maternal and infant mortality, malnutrition, morbidity, abuse and deprivation reveal a situation for whose solution all resources of humanity have to be urgently directed.
In traditionally Buddhist countries and in their neighbours, exists the most urgent need for action. In the struggle for peace and in campaigns against poverty and ignorance, the Buddhist community should be mindful of the priority that needs to be assigned to women. It is particularly important in the promotion of education to take note of the fact that access of women to education still remains a major problem.
Protection of Youth
In the face of cataclysmic socio-economic, political and cultural changes of today, the youth, throughout the world, have been confronted with enormous problems in the form of competions and frustration, alienation and disillusion, tension and boredom. What we have already referred to as the generation gap is a complexity of difficulties arising in interpersonal relations between youth and elders, whether they be parents, teachers or the public at large. Whatever be the causes which lead to youth unrest, its effects in visible terms of wasted youth are serious in all socieiies-those of Buddhist countries unexcepted. The greatest asset of humanity-the very foundation of its security and development is exposed to danger, both self-inflicted and externally imposed. The emerging life syles among the youth stock of knowledge, which, unfortunately, remain locked in a variety of ancient languages, esoteric literary forms and yet-to-be published manuscripts. The last two centuries have seen a world-wide effort to make this knowledge accessible to the scholar as well as to the general public. Various subjective considerations have influenced this effort. To some-and to this category would belong the earliest of Western researchers in Buddhist studies, who established the prevailing traditions of Buddhist research-the main motivation came from a sectarian need to compare Buddhism with their own religious beliefs and show Buddhism as far as possible in an unfavourable light. To others-rather few in number-Buddhism struck as a challenge to thinking and their admiration led them to the other extreme of ascribing to Buddhism more than it deserved. In between were objective scholars who delved into intricacies of philosophy, logic, art and literature. All of them, who thus unlocked the knowledge of Buddhism and presented it to the modern world, were non-ad herents and. as such, unfamiliar with the traditions and principles of life which govern a Buddhist and which comes not from books but from a sensitive system of communication through emotion and example. Buddhism continues to be therefore, one of the most incompletely and. often, incorrectly interpreted religious systems.
It is important for the World Buddhist Community to take early action to rectify this situation. Translations made with only an imperfect knowledge of the original language and with even a more imperfect understanding of the subject-matter have to be revised. Interprctatio is which lose sight of the totality of the philosophical and religious import of the teachings need to be examined and corrected. Claims made for Buddhism in the excitement of new discovery have to be objectively reviewed. Thousands of manuscripts lying hidden in monasteries, museums and private collections should be studied, edited, published and translated.
In doing these, new traditions have to be evolved for Buddhist research and scholarship. A significant element of such new traditions should be the extension of Buddhist studies from the narrow confines of philosophical and cultural analysis to include the investigation of the role of Buddhism in the contemporary world. Buddhist research and scholarship should succeed in showing how Buddhism can contribute to the solution of the global problems affecting the survival and the development of humanity. Here, again, the oneness of Buddhism has to surface from the apparent diversity of sects and schools. The provisionof facilities for research and studies and, even more importantly, for the publication and dissemination of their results should occupy the attention of the World Buddhist Community. A major thrust in this direction would be to encourage and persuade the institutions of higher learning in the Buddhist countries, with the active involvement of the Sangha to assume a leading role in Buddhist research and scholarship.
A primary objective of advancing and disseminating the knowl edge of Buddhism has to be the fashioning of world opinion. Far too often, the efforts in these directions end either in mutual admiration and exchange of compliments within an exclusive group of savants or in preaching to the already converted. New audiences are hardly reached and that mainly because the media for effective diffusion are hardly available to the Buddhist community. Ideas may be generated and books may be written, but unless and until the deficiencies in reaching the world at large through mass media are remedied. Buddhist opinion will make only a very limited impact on the affairs of the world. Thus the Buddhist community has to give urgent consideration to developing an effective capacity to influence world opinion through communication.
CONCLUSION
Our effort in this discussion has been to highlight actions which the World Buddhist Community should consider in evolving and implementing a strategy of agitation and activity to ensure the survival and the development of humanity. A very important guideline for further examination of this strategy would be the methodology of comprehensive analysis which the Buddha recommended in the Maha-sati-patthana-sutta ; that is, to analyse each issue first from the point of view of one's self, then from the point of view of others and finally from the point of view jointly of one's self and others. Such an analysis will reveal action that needs to be pursued for the good of humanity in general and those that need to be taken for the benefit of the immediate neighbourhood-the Buddhist community itself. If the Buddhists solve their own problems, that, by itself, will be a major step in helping humanity as a whole.
Dr. Ananda W. P. Guruge
Survival and Development of Humanity and The Role of the Buddhists
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