Need For Action By The World Buddhist Community

THE NEED FOR ACTION BY THE WORLD BUDDHIST COMMUNITY

The magnitude, the gravity and the universality of several major problems demand the most determined effort of every section of the world's population. An extremely well-placed group to exert a significant influence on their solution is the World Buddhist Community. Its strength comes from neither numerical nor economic superiority but rather from the potential.

it possesses, to be a vital moral force, appealing convincingly to the conscience of mankind. Inspired and guided by one of the most humane, enlightened, outspoken and unrelenting campaigners for human freedom and welfare-both spiritual and otherwise-the Buddhists, in every country, have a fascinating history of tireless efforts to bring reason and wisdom, comfort and compassion to humanity. It has been their traditional role as actions for "the welfare of the many, the happiness of the many, out of compassion" were enjoined by the Buddha from the very inception of his mission. Historically, therefore, the Buddhists have a duty to be in the forefront with their moral altruistic attitudes.

All views and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author and do not reflect those of the Organization to which he belongs.

Apart from the stimulation received from the past, there is another reason-a more pressing and practical one-which should prompt the Buddhist community to action today. In the contemporary world, the Buddhists, on the whole, are among the worst affected by severe problems of both survival and development. In some instances, they live amidst the most excruciating circumstances menacing human dignity. War and pestilence, genocide and large-scale displacement in recent decades have affected millions of Buddhists, whose way of life and modes of thinking have, to no mean measure, undergone transformation due to ideological pressures.

Even where the Buddhists constitute national majorities and are able to command political influence, disunity, whether on account of their artificial division into schools and sects,
e. g. nearly sixty in Japan, each with even philosophical and doctrinal variations and nearly thirty-five in Sri Lanka even though the divisions do not actually affect the laity. or on account of social and ethnic heterogeneity of the population, has deprived them of motivation and the capacity for planned, organized action. Poverty, apathy and inaction, in a vicious circle, have made the Buddhist community, in general, quite ineffective in this modern age of scientific and technological advancement and economic competition. It is openly questioned whether Buddhism, through its doctrines of renunciation and non-attachment, has proved to be a disincentive to development as it is widely conceived. Or, on the contrary, it is asked whether the mere numerical strength has lulled the Buddhists into complacence and indolence. Whatever may be the reason, they remain the least organized to face the socio-economic challenges of today.

In situations where the Buddhists constitute a religious minority struggling to maintain its cultural identity, the difficulties they experience are even greater. Pressures of their cultural milieu could be subtle and overt. Socially, politically, economically and culturally, their position is most subtly undetermined. In the face of discrimination, as well as non-acceptance by the majority of the community, they are subjected to many hardships. These become graver in situations where such minority Buddhist groups have consciously embraced Buddhism in recent years either to assert their socio-cultural distinctiveness or to follow a way of life which conformed more to their own convictions.
insights and ethical considerations. In this case, these new Buddhists have to grapple with a situation where they were wittingly or otherwise deprived of some rights and privileges accorded to them, on account of their socio-economic backwardness. Of course, all the hardships that Buddhist minorities experience are not caused externally. They, too, suffer from lack of organization, inadequacy of resources and, to a very great extent, absence of leadership.

Whatever may be the case, the World Buddhist Community has to be alert because its own survival and development are in jeopardy. It needs to act urgently not only from the altruistic objective of contributing to the survival and development of humanity as a whole but, more importantly, from the selfish objective of ensuring its own survival and development.

MAJOR GLOBAL PROBLEMS AFFECTING THE BUDDHIST COMMUNITY

The major problems of global dimensions demanding the attention of the World Buddhist Community may be dealt with under four categories :

(a) Peace and Security

The first and foremost among them is the threat to the very survival of humanity posed by the imminence of a nuclear and chemical holo-caust-an inevitable consequence of unchecked proliferation of nuclear weaponry made more complex by increasing advances in chemical and biological warfare. Arms race, in every form, threatens peace both internationally and within nations. This sense of global insecurity, so engendered, is further deepened by fear and uncertainty over individual safety as terrorism and violence become world-wide. A blatant disregard for human life is so much in evidence not only in that the scientific knowledge and technological skills of a section of the best brains of the world are utilized to fashion and perfect destruction but also in that the scarce resources of even the poorest countries are squandered away in armament to the grave detriment of social, economic and cultural development.

bc) Physical and Social Environment

The second set of problems relate to the deterioration of the physical environment through thoughtless action. The insatiable demands of a consumption oriented society, coupled by the profit motive of the producers, has led to two equally alarming results : on the one hand, the irreplaceable natural resources, including sources of energy, are getting depleted at an exceedingly high rate and, on the other, the industrial affluence pollutes the atmosphere, the rivers and the oceans. The very basis of life is thus put at great jeopardy due to nothing more than the exessive greed of a generation whose scientific and technological competence to control and exploit nature has, once again, spelled destruction more than the amelioration of the quality of human life.

its natural resources nor the power to demand equitable prices for its products in the world market. On the contrary, the internal political and social disorder make many developing countries to spend on armaments a substantial portion of their meagre resources. Mounting, international debts, compounded by unfavourable balance of trade, make the developing world more and more dependent on the industrialized countries. With such dependence is felt the impact of a new type of colonialism with significant cultural influences. The extent to which it affects the Buddhist community may be guaged from the simple index of the number of Buddhist youth who, from the developing world, are lured to richer countries and the nature of employment they are forced to seek in them. In a new form of slavery which is growing at a rapid pace, the Buddhist youth, driven away from their homes through insecurity, poverty or socio-economic discrimination, represent a noticeably large section of the victims.

(d) Education and Information

The last set of problems to be discussed here relates to education and information. The traditions of the Buddhist community with regard to literacy and basic education are such as to assume that these could not be problems for them. But the fact is that illiteracy-though not as acute as in some other communities-still exists in Buddhist countries and that universal primary education is yet to be achieved by them. Many times more serious than the quantitative problems in education are those of quality, particularly in relation to science and technology education. Modernization of educational systems has virtually eliminated the role of the temple as an educational institution. An enormous resource for not only general basic education but more importantly, for a high level of moral education has peen overlooked by depriving the Buddhist monk of his role as an educator. Schools to which the majority of the Buddhist children go are ill-equipped, under-staffed and very inadequately organized. These schools have no prospects of being improved, on the one hand, because the communities are poor and, on the other, because the political and social elite among the Buddhists tend to send their children to more prestigious urban schools preferring, where available, institutions conducted by Christian missionaries or foreign educators. The average Buddhist child in the world today is seriously handicapped educationally. In general, his chances of getting a decent modern education, with skills adequate to have access to the growing body of knowledge and technology, are very meagre. His chances of being adequately, informed of his religious traditions and national heritage are equally unfavourable. On the contrary, he runs a very great risk, of being alienated from his social, religious and cultural background. The Buddhists, in general, have failed to evolve a Buddhist system of education to fit the Buddhist community to the demands and challenges of modern times.

As regards the means of informing and being informed, the Buddhist community is equally at a disadvantage. Its control of mass media is minimal. It is not surprising if the Buddhist point of view never finds itself expressed in the world press. Uninformed criticisms of Buddhist attitudes and positions, misinterpretation of even Buddhist doctrines, misrepresentation of Buddhist points of view and statements and actions which hurt the religious susceptibilities of the Buddhists go unchallenged and uncorrected as the Buddhist community has not yet developed the organization and the means for reacting to them.

Related to this problem is also the kind of research which the Buddhist scholars usually concentrate on. More research has been done and more publications produced on the abstruse and undoubtedly lofty philosophical aspects of Buddhism than on its impact on life today and on what answers Buddhism has to the problems and questions of the contemporary world. In most of the writings from Theravada countries, Buddhism figures as other-worldly, ascetic and too idealistic. Publications on Himalayan Buddhism make it sound either too esoteric or, on the contrary, lascivious. From Northern Schools of Buddhism come publications which either highlight the ritualistic system founded on devotion or present the intricacies of Zen training. There is also a very great difference in approach and emphasis according to whether the writer is an admirer, an adherent or simply an objective observer of Buddhism. The resulting confusion is so great that Buddhism remains one of the most misunderstood religions and philosophical systems-criticized on wrong grounds and. sometimes' admired for wrong reasons. These, in short, are the problems for whose solution the World Buddhist Community has to evolve a strategy of action.

Dr. Ananda W. P. Guruge
Survival and Development of Humanity and The Role of the Buddhists