Lumbini: “A Symbol of Unity in Diversity - The Foundation of World Peace”
Paper submitted for the Second World Buddhist Summit,
held 30 November - 2 December 2004 at Lumbini, Nepal,
the sacred Birthplace of Lord Buddha - the Great Apostle of Peace.
Lumbini: “A Symbol of Unity in Diversity - The Foundation of World Peace”
Paper submitted for the Second World Buddhist Summit,
held 30 November - 2 December 2004 at Lumbini, Nepal,
the sacred Birthplace of Lord Buddha - the Great Apostle of Peace.
Venerable Members of the Sangha, His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev of Nepal, Patrons of the Lumbini Development Trust, Distinguished Guests and Ladies and Gentlemen.
Friends in the Dhamma, we welcome the opportunity to respond to the invitation and kind request from Deep Kumar Upadhyaya, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and Chairman, Lumbini Development Trust, Second World Buddhist Summit Secretariat, Kathmandu Nepal, to offer this paper as our contribution to making the Summit a grand success.
We bow to the Triple Gem, The Buddha, The Dhamma, The Sangha.
We bow to the assembly gathered here on this auspicious occasion.
May this Summit be successful in attaining its goals.
This paper should be read with the viewpoint that the authors do not wish to disparage the motives or actions or intellect of other persons or their organisations.
Lumbini: A Symbol of Unity in Diversity - The Foundation of World Peace.
Ultimate truth does not change.
The Lord Buddha found the Dhamma and taught the Dhamma, beginning this Buddha Sasana, the present age of Dhamma Teaching.
It was at Lumbini that the Buddha Sakyamuni was born.
We are now over half way through this Sasana, the dispensation of the Buddha Sakyamuni that will last just 5000 years.
To study and practise the Buddha's teaching is the greatest gift we can give ourselves and the world, helping us to experience the joy and peace that can only come with non-attachment and service to others (Chantavich 2002).
What did the Buddha say about the causes of war and the causes for peace?
At one time the Lord Buddha prevented a war over a water rights dispute by getting the parties to agree that since human blood is more precious than water, it is not sane to spill blood to get water.
How did he do it?
It is this information, these teachings, that are needed today in the world. The difficulty is that many of the world's cultures do not know the underlying causes of war and peace.
The seeds of war are born in the minds of men, out of the roots of hate, greed and ignorance.
When neighbours quarrel in time war will surely follow like the cart wheel follows the ox.
When the causes for war are understood they can be recognised and a path of peace can be made.
The seeds of war can arise from the smallest community, and seemingly slightest of grievance. At Digha-Nikaya the Lord Buddha explained the conditions for communal stability to Venerable Ananda.
The seven conditions are:
1. To assemble repeatedly and in large numbers.
2. To assemble in harmony and disperse in harmony, so long as they do the business of the Order in harmony.
3. Introduce no revolutionary ordinance, break up no established ordinance, but live in accordance with the appointed charges.
4. To honour the elder brethren, men of many days and long ordained, fathers of the Order and men of standing in the Order.
5. To not fall subject to that craving which arises and leads back to rebirth.
6. So long as there shall be brethren who are fond of the forest life and lodging.
7. To establish themselves in mindfulness with the thought "Let goodly co- mates in the righteous life come hither in the future, and let those that have already come live happily."
As the Buddha Sasana enters its 2548th year, it is critical for Buddha Dhamma practitioners globally to be resolute and united in our efforts to preserve the Dhamma teachings for future generations to come.
To put Buddha Dhamma into the world is action that actively promotes peace and mutual understanding between nations and peoples.
War comes from the minds of people.
In Buddha Dhamma we see that war is the direct result of hate.
Peace can only come out of understanding how the world works.
In the Dhammapada it is written:
All tremble at violence
all fear death.
Putting oneself in the place of another,
one should not kill
nor cause another to kill. (D 129)
The Buddha Dhamma is the antidote to hate and war.
He who inflicts violence
on those who are unarmed,
and offends those who are inoffensive,
will soon come upon
one of these ten states: (D 137)
Sharp pain, or disaster, bodily injury,
serious illness, or derangement of mind,
trouble with government,
or grave charges, loss of relatives,
or loss of wealth,
or houses destroyed by ravaging fire;
upon dissolution of the body
that ignorant man is born in hell. (D 138-140)
The seeds of war are born in the minds of men, out of the roots of hate, greed and ignorance.
In 1591 William Shakespeare wrote of mans folly with the words, ‘O war! thou son of hell!’
War is the greatest plague that can afflict humanity; it destroys religion, it destroys states, it destroys families (Luther 1591).
In similar sentiment Lord Brooke noted it is ‘The perfect type of hell’ (Fulke Greville 1625).
To get rid of hate, greed and ignorance is to remove the seeds of war.
So our mission is to get every man, woman and child to lay the seeds of compassion, the seeds of wisdom, and by so doing we lay the seeds of peace in the world.
The Lord Buddha is the incomparable teacher of devas and men - deva manussanam (Abeysekara 2002).
From the time that our Buddha Sakyamuni first aspired to reach enlightenment and become a Buddha is a period of 300 thousand world cycles interspersed with twenty incalculable periods.
Through countless lives he was a bodhisattva.
His practise was of Perfecting Himself in each of the Ten Perfections or Paramita: It is the practice of peace in the world.
To understand, to practise and to realise the Four Noble Truths is to realise the whole of the Buddhadharma (Sheng-yen Venerable Master, 2002).
The second noble truth is that the fundamental cause of suffering is ignorance manifesting as greed, aversion and delusion. Ignorance in turn leads us to engage in actions that cause suffering. Action, the literal meaning of karma, includes overt actions as well as thoughts and words (Sheng-yen 2002).
So, writes Venerable Master Sheng-yen, what we call the origin or cause of suffering is actually karma - the force that propels existing conditions in our life to a future result, a kind of momentum that leads us in a certain direction.
It is a composite energy generated by the illusions and afflictions of sentient beings, causing them to engage in certain actions. These actions themselves plant further ‘seeds’ (causes and conditions) for further consequences. When the seeds ripen the resultant force becomes a potential that propels us into the future, leading us to particular experiences of suffering (Sheng-yen 2002).
Master Hsing Yun wrote in "Handing Down the Light" that each of our actions comes from a concept.
He noted that “I have always believed that concepts are capable of redirecting the course of history.” Now I believe even more that “religion is capable of redirecting the course of life.”
Historically in America alone, Buddhism did not reach beyond devotees of Eastern descent until the parliament of the World’s Religion’s in Chicago, 1893 - barely a century ago. In Europe, the first Buddhist Preaching Society of Germany, was not formed until 1903 in Leipzig, Germany.
Looking back on China, Buddhism, which was first introduced from India, took 400 years of adaptation and harmonisation with Chinese thought and culture before evolving into the “Chinese version of Buddhism.” Likewise, it might be hundreds of years before Buddhism will take root and exert any influence elsewhere. Therefore, the grooming of those who are to be instrumental in helping globalize the Buddhist faith will be essential (Fu Chi-ying, Lui-Ma. 1996).
His Holiness the Dalai Lama notes: We have seen in this present age tremendous advances in the field of material development. As a result, there has been a marked improvement in the lives of human beings.
Yet, he observed, at the same time, we are also aware that material development alone cannot answer all of humanity’s dreams. Moreover, as material development reaches a higher and higher stage, we sometimes find that it brings with it certain complications, including more problems and complications for us.
He observed that, the situation of today’s world is completely different from the past. In the past, human communities and societies remained more or less independent of one another. Under such circumstances, ideas of a single religion, a monolithic culture and so forth, made sense and had a place in the cultural context.
The situation has completely changed with easy access between countries, communications and the world wide web, easy transportation, and so forth.
‘I know that in human history there have been a few cases where, through war, freedom has been won and certain goals have been achieved. But I personally believe that war cannot ever lead to the ultimate solution of a problem (H.H. Dalai Lama 1995).
Peace comes from both the realisation and the practice of Buddha Dhamma.
Chanting Buddha Dhamma sutras in Pali in a Temple in Australia puts Dhamma into the world.
Writing and broadcasting Buddha Dhamma papers on radio, converting them into digital format to broadcast globally through the internet is putting Buddha Dhamma into the world.
Families and friends meeting to join a Katthina Ceremony parade to then offer the robe to the Sangha is putting Buddha Dhamma into the world.
Creating a single online Buddha Dhamma exhibition for artworks from Temples on every continent is putting Buddha Dhamma into the world.
It is by walking the path that one may bring peace.
It is Dhamma in the hearts of men and women that creates the causes for world peace.
It is Buddha Dhamma that can remove the seeds of hate, greed and ignorance.
It is only through the application of Buddha Dhamma by himself or herself that we can remove the seeds of hatred and war.
It is by the power of Buddha Dhamma to eradicate violence and preserve peace this great mission can be won. Through keeping the teachings alive in our day to day interactions with one another.
Within our practice is the preservation of the written Dhamma.
As Buddha Dhamma practitioners working to keep the light of Buddha Dhamma in the world we must be heartfelt in our work to preserve and propagate the sutras.
The Buddha Sasana provides the perfect conditions for beings to access the Buddha Dhamma teachings - the teachings to liberate beings to full enlightenment.
The late Master John D. Hughes was born in Australia in 1930 to non-Buddhist parents. He was active and engaged as a Teacher and writer on Buddha Dhamma for over forty years until his death on 29 November 2003.
He founded a Buddhist Organisation and a Temple at Upwey, in the State of Victoria Australia. It is now a well-equipped building and is the oldest operating Buddha Dhamma Temple and Buddhist library that has remained in the same location in the State.
Some of Master John Hughes' findings have been published in many overseas journals. For example his paper titled "How our Buddha Dhamma studies will be modified by recent changes in global politics," presented to the World Buddhist University International Conference on Buddhism and World Peace. Published in the World Fellowship of Buddhists WFB Review Vol. XXXIX January to June 2002.
Over the last two decades, much of Master John D. Hughes' written output has been published in his Centre's publication, the Buddha Dhyana Dana Review, the paper version which used to circulate in over 40 countries.
Recent issues may be viewed on our internet site at www.bddronline.net.au. Our organisation thinks globally and now has 10 operating web sites, including the home site for the World Fellowship of Buddhists Standing Committee on Women.
We plan to place all past Buddha Dhyana Dana Review issues (with photographs) onto our web site www.bddronline.net.au
Over 47 years till his death in 2003, Master John D. Hughes taught over one million persons in 14 countries.
The three principles of universality taught by Buddhism are guarantee(s) for peace, namely:
1. Universality of the Law. By “Law” here is meant natural laws. The law of cause and effect applies equally to everyone everywhere. Everyone experiences the result of what he or she does. All beings are equal before the law of nature, without any supernatural intervention.
2. Universality of humanness. All people are fellow beings, as they all were born in this natural world order, being equally subject to birth, ageing, ailment and death. All desire happiness and shun suffering and all fear death. All lives should be respected. Any harm or abuse against any human being must be counted evil.
3. Universality of love. All people are friends, as they are co-dwellers, equal and sharing, within the same system of natural laws. Being subject to common natural fears and bearing mutual responsibility to solve human problems, people should treat all other beings with love, friendliness and compassion, that is limitless, unbounded, without distinction or discrimination of any kind’ (Dhammapitaka 2001).
May Lumbini be the Fountain of World Peace.
May the Buddha Dhamma practitioners continue to promote peace, mutual understanding, happiness and freedom around world.
May you be well and happy.
May all beings be well and happy.
Thank you very much.
This paper was written and edited by Julian Bamford, Frank Carter, Evelin Halls, Anita Hughes, Jocelyn Hughes, Julie O'Donnell and Pennie White.
This paper can be read online at www.bdcublessings.net.au, Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast on Hillside 88.0 FM, Script 354 for Sunday 7 November 2004CE, 2547 Buddhist Era.
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