The Unsmiling Bodhisattva: Ending Our Silent Collaboration With the War Machine!

DaltheJigsaw

Buddhist scholar Graeme MacQueen gave a talk that explained why Buddhists should take action to stop war and its causes. Unfortunately, even the most compassionate people in our western society often find justification for doing nothing while suffering grows around them. Many Buddhists are in that frame of mind and they justify their non-action by claiming that their responsibility is soley to avoid violence in themselves. But Professor MacQueen has challenged this stance, recalling Buddhist scripture and revisiting the concept of a bodhisattva.

As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.” Similarly, Professor MacQueen asks in this talk if we have the right to “give away things that don’t belong to us … the earth … species … ecosystems … the futures of our children and other people’s children.” Through silent collaboration, that is what many people are doing today.

Graeme is now a leading voice for the 9/11 truth movement, as well as being my friend and mentor. He and I have been joined by several others as we plan for The Toronto Hearings, coming this September.

http://digwithin.net/2011/05/15/the-unsmiling-boddhisattva/

genkaku

Here's an anti-war video I received this morning.
The lecturing didn't impress me as much as the former Marines who spoke out.

Sile

This is an excellent topic, imho.

Certainly, we have to work on what we feel driven to work on, personally; i.e. often when I work human rights abuses in Tibet, a Chinese propagandist will try to bring it to a halt with the argument, "How can you spend time on Tibet when time should also be spent on genocide in Rwanda?"

So I think one reason, possibly, that Buddhists as a group don't seem to work on general anti-war efforts, is that many are working on other things.

On the other hand, one could say that being notably anti-violence includes being anti-war; however, I agree with what (I think) you're saying, that, as we saw in Knight's thread, spending time specifically on the war issue could be enlightening.

I would include demilitarization as a worthy part of the anti-war discussion--not just reduction of live hostilities, but demilitarization of government (for example, in Tibet, where Lhasa looks at this point like a gulag). Even when soldiers aren't shooting, having men with guns stalking around "ready to shoot" does not contribute to standard of living, but rather retracts from it. It also fuels tensions and leads to more violence.

Could Buddhism as a whole lead a more organized anti-war education campaign? Should it? Great question.

aMatt

Could Buddhism as a whole lead a more organized anti-war education campaign? Should it? Great question.

Buddhism, or more strictly speaking, the dharma, does lead toward peaceful mind. When monks say their responsibility is to awaken themselves and become peaceful, it isn't turning their back on war and its causes.

If we think in terms of long term human evolution, war will only be abolished when dharma is rooted strongly in the minds of the majority. This makes inner peace the true batllefront for human social evolution... not an apathetic turning away. By becoming peaceful, they cultivate peace in their mind and the minds they touch... and outward the teachings spread.

Telly03

So what is meant by "action"? What is he telling us we should do in the name of Buddhism? Organize a protest?

"In 1983, I found myself being thrown into a van, in handcuffs and shackles, with a couple of dozen other people for having blocked the entrance to a company that was constructing counter-insurgency training camps in Honduras." Sounds like he brought suffering upon himself and others while accomplishing nothing.

Isn't refusal to participate in violence an action? Voting for a leader that is less likely to lead the nation into war? And he is saying this isn't good enough for him. This person is not my teacher or recognized leader, and what he is saying rings no truth to me, so I think I'll ignore him.

caz

I think Buddhists should be engaged in social activism rather then political activism, Trying to help elivated the suffering of others is part of the Bodhisattva way of life making our voices heard against aggressive wars and opressive suffering is a good thing to do. But this effort should not compromise our ability to give Dharma to those whom harm others so skilfull methods are advised.

Sile

I think my mind goes to Thich Nhat Hanh model - "engaged Buddhism" as he sometimes calls it. I see him as someone who builds bridges from theory to practice. Both theory and practice are necessary, and the bridge is vital.

"Peace activist," as he is often called, might be a better concept to strive for than "anti-war activist."

I do think HHDL's teachings are vital - that it all starts with oneself, and without inner peace, there can be no outer peace. I also think we need help figuring how to apply this inner peace in powerful ways to help others see the value of inner peace. I see Thich Nhat Hanh as someone who's really good at doing that - going into schools with courses such as "Applied Ethics for Schoolteachers," etc.

But getting it closer to the war issue, I've often wondered whether "mediation" could be a great focus for Buddhist-led initiatives. It seems like the tradition of logical debate, combined with a direction toward compassion for both sides, would make for a great environment in which to develop the art of international conflict mediation. These scholars of conflict mediation, then, could be called upon in all sorts of situations, including wartime mediation.

caz

Sounds like a good set of Idea's @Sile.

Dakini

That's one heckuva quote, "There comes a time when silence is betrayal"! It was worth having the thread just for that quote. :thumbsup: