Mayumi Futamura
University of Queensland, Australia

Abstract

This paper explores what it means to build peace in the ‘First World’ by drawing upon the holistic wisdom and insights that Buddhism offers, and defines the core principles of the culture of peace through the analysis of Buddhist literature. When thinking about peacebuilding, people generally focus on the 'Third World' or conflict areas that are marred with violence, human rights abuses, and poverty. Not many people think about building peace in the 'First World'. But peacebuilding in the ‘First World’ is necessary because some of the root causes of violence/war/conflicts in the ‘Third World’ originate in the ‘First World’, and people living in the 'First World' actually face their own unique suffering.

Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed (UNESCO 1945).

When thinking about peacebuilding, people generally focus on the 'Third World' or conflict areas that are marred with violence, human rights abuses, and poverty; not many people think about building peace in the 'First World'. But peacebuilding in the ‘First World’ is necessary because the root causes of violence/war/conflicts in the ‘Third World’ often originate in the ‘First World’, and people living in the 'First World' actually face their own unique suffering; things are not as peaceful as they may seem.

The ‘First World’ is an economically developed and industrialized ‘modern world’. The current mode of modernity is synonymous with economic development. As such, it manifests in materialistic advancement and discourages the contemplative side of life. As a result, people in the ‘First World’ suffer from spiritual deprivation. While a degree of peace has been achieved materialistically, in order to build a holistic state of peace, we must address this spiritual deprivation.

In this paper, I will examine the conditions of the ‘modern’ world and argue that building peace within it means transcending dualism. Dualism, in contrast to holism, is a system of two opposing views. It is the dominant doctrine that permeates social discourse and shapes our frame of reference (Collins 2005: 264). Dualistic polarities attempt to describe and contain social reality in artificial ways (Lederach 2005: 35). The dualistic perspective inevitably creates division, hierarchy, and discrimination. Hence, transcending dualism is a step towards creating peace. But how can we transcend dualism?

To answer the question, I will explore the holistic wisdom and insights that Buddhist literature offers. Buddhism is a “dynamical system of interpretation” that can help us transcend ideology and hierarchical structures (Collins 2005: 265). Buddhism is a philosophy and practice that reminds us of the interconnectedness of the world. The philosophy of Buddhism assists us to enter into a different, holistic paradigm. The core principles of peace, or a culture of peace, can be found in Buddhism.

First, I will begin by discussing how, although the barren branches of violence reach around the globe in all directions, the causes of war and violence in the ‘Third World’ are firmly rooted within the ‘First World’.

Why peacebuilding in the 'First World'?

I will never forget the day when the United States began the ‘Shock and Awe’ bombing of Baghdad. The anger and dread and tremendous sense of violation I felt that day are still vivid in my heart. According to the authors of Shock and Awe: Rapid Dominance, the aim of ‘Shock and Awe’ bombing of Baghdad was to impose the “non-nuclear equivalent of the impact that the atomic weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had on the Japanese” (Ullman and James 1996). The bombing directly targeted the civilian infrastructure necessary for the survival of the Iraqi civilian population. Shopping malls and markets and many other civilian infrastructures were bombed and destroyed. It was an act of terrorism committed by the world’s most powerful state.

The invasion resulted in prolonging internal conflicts. A study in the Lancet Medical Journal, one of the two major medical journals in the U.K., reports that an estimated 655,000 Iraqi people died as a result of the US-led invasion (Burnham et al 2006). The civil wars, or new type of wars that the world is witnessing, contain a “myriad of transnational connections” (Kaldor 2001: 7-9). The new wars in the ‘Third World’ are not “symptomatic of local failures in governance” (Ramsbotham et all 2005: 90).

The connections are not limited to war, but violence and human rights abuses in the ‘Third World’ also have direct relationship to the ‘First World’. Kevin Bales, sociologist and author of Disposable People, writes that modern slavery grows and thrives best in extreme poverty” (Bales 2004: 31) and the lives of slaves directly and indirectly touch our lives in today’s globalized economy. Bales writes:

Shoes you wear, carpet you stand on, sugar pot in your kitchen and toys in the hands of your children may be made by slaves in Pakistan or India or Caribbean. Slaves touch your life indirectly as well. Slaves made the charcoal that tempered the steel that made the springs in your car. Slaves grew the rice that fed the woman who wove the cloth you’ve put up as curtains. Your investment portfolio and your mutual fund pension own stock in companies using slave labor in the developing world. Slaves keep your costs low and returns on your investments high (2004: 4).

By simply looking for the best deal, we may be choosing goods that are made by slaves; we may all be participating in the ultimate violation of human rights without even noticing.

The impact of slave-made goods reverberates through the world economy in ways even harder to escape. Workers making computer parts or televisions in India can be paid low wages in part because food produced by slave labor is so cheap. This lowers the cost of the goods they make, and factories unable to compete with their prices close in North America and Europe. Slave labor anywhere threatens real jobs everywhere (Bales 2004: 24).

The new slavery is an international economic activity; slavery is committed by states and transnational corporations (TNCs) as well. In Burma, for example, the dictatorship enslaved its citizens to carry out a project—building natural gas pipeline—in partnership with the US oil company Unocal, the French oil company Total, and the Thai company PTT Exploration and Production (Bales 2004: 21).

There are about 27 million slaves throughout the world (Bales 2004: 8). The total annual profit generated by 27 million slaves is estimated at around $13.6 billion, of which $10.5 billion is generated by 200,000 women and children enslaved in sex trade (Bales 2004: 23). Businessmen from the ‘First World’, especially Japanese men, are notoriously sighted ‘buying’ girls at brothels in Asian countries.

The ‘First World’ financial institutions are involved in the perpetuation of poverty and the “astonishing prevalence of slums” (Davis 2006a: 20). In Planet of Slums, Mike Davis writes it is the policies of agricultural deregulation and financial discipline enforced by the IMF and World Bank that “generate an exodus of surplus rural labor to urban slums” (Davis 2006a: 15). The “landmark” UN report, The Challenge of Slums, which provides a “comprehensive balance sheet of the damage done by 30 years of structural adjustment, debt and privatization”, was completely ignored by policy makers and development agencies, except by the Pentagon, which looked at the report with great interest as it regards slum as labyrinth where future battles take place (Davis 2006b). It is estimated that more than one billion slum dweller “squat in squalor, surrounded by pollution, excrement and decay” (Davis 2006a: 19-37); and the number is increasing. In the next year or two, the “urban population of the earth will outnumber the rural”; furthermore, all future world population growth, which is “expected to peak at about 10 billion in 2050”, will concentrate in cities, of which 95 per cent will converge in the urban areas of developing countries (Davis 2006a: 1-2). Residents of slums constitute 78.2 per cent of urbanites in the least-developed countries, or a third of the global urban population (Davis 2006a: 23).

Many NGOs and development agencies go to the ‘Third World’ to ‘help’, to undertake important work. However, how can we hope to stop violence and build peace in far away places without first addressing the root causes of the conflict originating in the ‘First World’? Without first building peace within, might we not end up disturbing the area that we hope to help?

Tetsu Nakamura, a medical doctor and executive director of Peshawar-kai Medical Services, who has served in Pakistan and Afghanistan since 1984, writes that the presence of the Western development agencies seems to corrupt the invaluable treasure of heart that Afghan people used to have. He writes: “Peshawar used to be serene and quiet, but now it's filled with cars and emissions. Many local staff at regional clinics and the office in Jalalabad left us in pursuit of higher wages. I can see people's heart and focus changing. There is now this overt mammonism, which used to be a characteristic of people with higher education, or intellects in big cities. In Kabul, the pursuit of enjoyment and decadence is becoming the major social energy” (Nakamura 2004b). He also observes that young men coming from Japan to help seem to be more depressed and unhappy than children in Afghanistan who live in an uncertain and dangerous environment (Nakamura 2005). Why is it the case? I will now look at the conditions of the ‘modern world’.

The conditions of the ‘First World’

The ‘First World’ is a ‘modernized’ and ‘developed’ world where the complex web of communication networks, capitalist economies and consumerism are facts of life. Modern life is “characterized by uncertainty, rapidity of change and kaleidoscopic juxtapositions of objects, people and events”; modern minds are “forged in the context of instability of a cataclysmic kind” (Frosh 1991: 7). The current mode of modernity is synonymous with economic development. As such, it manifests in materialistic advancement and discourages the contemplative side of life.

In an article, titled ‘Tourists and Vagabonds’, Zygmunt Bauman, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the Universities of Leeds and Warsaw, vividly describes the ultimate reality of the ‘modern’ world. He sees that the world is “sedimented on the two poles, at the top and at the bottom of the emergent hierarchy of mobility” (Bauman 1998: 87-88).

At the higher end of the two poles is the “inhabitants of the first world”, or the ‘tourists’. At the lower end is the “inhabitants of the second world”, or the ‘vagabonds’ who endure a kind of deprivation “made yet more painful by the obtrusive media display of the space conquest and of the ‘virtual accessibility’ of distances that stay stubbornly unreachable in non-virtual reality” (Bauman 1998: 88). While the tourists “live in time”, traveling every distance instantaneously, the vagabonds are confined in space; all that the vagabonds have is the “burden of abundant, redundant, and useless time”, which they have nothing to fill with (Buaman 1998: 88). The tourists are the “cosmopolitan, extraterritorial world of global businessmen, global culture managers or global academics” (Bauman 1998: 89). They travel “at will”, get much fun from their travel in first class or using private aircraft, and are “cajoled or bribed to travel and welcomed with smiles and open arms when they do” (Bauman 1998: 89). State borders do not exist for them. On the contrary, the walls of immigration controls are still the reality for the vagabonds. They travel “surreptitiously, often illegally, sometimes paying more for the crowded steerage of a stinking unseaworthy boat than others pay for business-class gilded luxuries—and are frowned upon, and if unlucky, arrested and promptly deported, when they arrive” (Bauman 1998: 89).

The tourists stay or move as they wish while the vagabonds move because they have no other choice. The vagabonds are involuntary tourists who are “refused the right to turn into tourists” (Bauman 1998: 93). The tourists and the vagabonds are the same in a sense because they are both consumers, thus “sensation-seekers and collectors of experiences”, “attracted or repelled” by the same external stimuli (1998: 94). However, because of this similarity, the vagabond is “the alter ego of the tourist”, as well as the “tourists’ nightmare” (Bauman 1998: 94). The vagabonds remind the tourists of the possibility of becoming vagabonds.

While Bauman’s polarized depiction of tourists and vagabonds provides a useful lens to view ‘modernity’, one can sense an extremely desolated state of mind at work in his argument. Trapped in dichotomy, Bauman colorfully exhibits the characteristics of dualistic thinking, with added disdain.

The observations Bauman makes are accurate. Rich people like Donald Trump are adored, as evident in the popular TV show, The Apprentice. And more than that, rich people do enjoy luxuries that are pleasant and can result in happy, if not joyful, experiences. However, Bauman’s characterization of the vagabond as the alter ego of the tourist exposes his shallow appreciation for the value of a given individual life. The vagabond is just one of many identities of the privileged tourist (or the global academic). Furthermore, the tourist’s alter ego being his nightmare illustrates his own fearful state. This is the ultimate sign of spiritual deprivation. He is scared of himself. The author’s notion of consuming reality or external stimuli is the definitive sign of a disconnection with reality.

But Buaman’s condition is not unique. Modernity provides very few spaces for self-reflection. Consequently, there is a drastic imbalance between the degree of technological development and spiritual development. We have cars, but we do not know how to share the roads. The conditions of modernity deter people from a contemplative life and make people forget about cultivating the treasures of the heart—the internal wealth that resides in the heart and mind. The greatest challenge for people in the ‘First World’ is to cultivate the treasures of the heart, not external wealth.

Evidence of disconnection from fellow human beings and spiritual impoverishment is found through looking at one dimension of the state terrorism committed against the people of Iraq. It was terrorism supported by ‘free people’ who live in a ‘civilized’ ‘modern’ society, in a ‘liberal democracy’, who are reasonably rich and powerful.

Within a second after the bombing of Baghdad began, Americans, or whoever had access to the Internet and could write English, started writing comments on the web as the world witnessed it on the TV screen. There was a complete lack of imagination about the reality of Iraqi people on the ground. It was surreal. It was simply inhumane. It was the moment the most despicable act of violence became ‘entertainment’.

One thread with the first message, “Shock and Awe” begins, is posted on 21/3/2003 9:19:31 AM PST and is followed by the following comments:

First confirmed explosions reported! Lets hope this is the real thing and not just another teaser! (9:20:17 AM PST)

I heard it called "Operation Exemplary Destruction". Cool... (9:20:33 AM PST)

GOOD!!! About time for the beginning of the end starts. Go Get 'em guys!!!!! (9:22:00 AM PST)

Maybe it'll be a late nominee for the Academy Awards.. (9:20:48 AM PST)

Watching! God protect our troops and our Allies! Let this be over asap! My daughter just joined the Army today! (9:22:55 AM PST)

What a beautiful site and wonderful noise! (9:23:31 AM PST)

I don't care what time it is in Baghdad....the real time is high noon for Iraq. (9:23:32 AM PST)

Not too much in sky over Baghdad. So if this is S&A, it's a lot tamer than we thought it would be. (9:24:03 AM PST)

MSNBC states Pentagon notified press that it has indeed begun. (9:24:27 AM PST)

Bake 'em an' shake 'em! (9:24:38 AM PST)

Message to Iraq: SURRENDER NOW. (9:24:56 AM PST)

My tax dollars at work. Finally, an urban renewal program I can agree with. (9:25:29 AM PST)

(Robinson-DeFehr Consulting, LLC. 2003. Comments are ‘as is’)

One must wonder how on earth these people can be so callous, utterly ignorant, and aggressive. These people, though they were using pseudonyms, are real. By the end of the day, 850 messages were posted under this single thread alone. Who knows how many people watched the ‘event’ real-time on the TV screen and cheered on that day. The fact is that many ordinary citizens in the ‘First World’ participated in the act of terrorism, committed by a state.

We can clearly see that there is more to the picture than meets the eye when looking at seemingly ‘peaceful’ societies. What, then, needs to be done? How can the peacebuilding community address the spiritual deprivation in the ‘First World’?

The answer can be found through seeding new ideas into Western thought. This is because when the discussion regarding history, culture and modernity takes place within the confines of the Western vocabulary, not surprisingly the result is a deterministic narrative of the world and man’s place in it. For example, the mind/body split of Cartesian dualism approaches the issue of spirituality in a dramatically different way than the holistic Buddhist view based on the interconnectedness of life. Dualism is a system of two opposing views. It is the dominant doctrine that permeates social discourse and shapes our frame of reference (Collins 2005: 264). Confronting and challenging the basic tenets of Western thinking in a supportive and non-critical way can lead to a richer understanding of the present.

From dualism to holism

The spiritual depravation in the ‘First World’ can be addressed by a shift of paradigm—from dualism to holism. Dualism is a defining characteristic of social discourse around the world. Dualism is “intricately woven into long-held views of reality”; it “permeates all forms of social discourse”, thus it shapes the dominant frame of reference (Collins 2005: 264). Abstract thinking, such as materialism or idealism, capitalism or communism, democrat or republican, are examples of this frame of reference.

Dualism is a component of modernity and has a long history (Collins 2005: 265). Classics of Western thought: the modern world showcases the foundation of dualism in today’s world. Rene Descartes believed that “mind and matter are essentially different substances subject to different laws” (Knoebel 1992: 20). Aristotle was one of the first philosophers to “codify and record dualistic thinking to be absorbed and repeated by posterity as a universal truth, the natural order of things” (Collins 2005: 266). The “astonishing achievement” of modern Western civilization can be attributed to its characteristics of “placing greater emphasis upon direct observation of natural phenomena and on novel ways of thinking about facts”. (Knoebel 1992: 1) In other words, modern Western civilization is build upon the dualistic thinking.

As a doctrine, dualism can encourage conflict; it is a “system where there are only two points of view” (Collins 2005: 263-264).

Arguably, hierarchical social structuring arouse from dualistic thinking because such dichotomies lend themselves to a socially constructed moral overlay, and dualism not only divides everything into opposites but judges them as either inferior or superior. … There is little or no room for divergence, and this imagined dichotomy creates divisiveness (Collins 2005: 267).

Dualism, in contrast to holism, “limits options to one of two choices” as it does not recognizes the third choice; it establishes a hierarchy; it sets up “moral dichotomies”; it “encourages discrimination” (Collins 2005: 271). The either/or thinking of dualism “fails to recognize that reality consists of intermediate degrees, flexible borders, and ever-changing vistas” (Collins 2005: 264). It is a “fight against ambiguity”, or a “battle of semantic precision against ambivalence” (Collins 2005: 266). These features of dualism stand in direct opposition to the features of a culture of peace—flexibility, cooperation, pluralism, and inclusiveness.

Peacebuilding, then, can be seen as assisting the human mind to transcend dualism. Marla Del Collins, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Long Island University, suggests that, in order to transcend dualism, we need "complex dynamical systems of interpretation originating from a broad range of disciplines", such as chaos theory, quantum mechanics, and Buddhism (2005: 264-265). Dynamical systems of interpretation can (1) offer multiple perspectives, (2) encourage “cooperative and interconnecting models of multidisciplinary inquiry”, and (3) create an “atmosphere of flexibility, reminding us that reality is in a constant state of flux” toward pluralism, thus helping us to transcend ideology (Collins 2005: 265).

As suggested earlier, confronting and challenging the basic tenets of Western thinking of dualism in a supportive and non-critical way can lead to a richer understanding of the present. Hence, I will now explore what it means to build peace in the ‘First World’ by searching for insights in Buddhism. Specifically, I will look at some of the world’s oldest literature that describes the peaceful outcomes Buddha assisted in manifesting and the wisdom behind Buddha’s words and deeds[1]. These accounts will highlight the elements of a culture of peace found in the stories. Buddhist scriptures can be seen as classic literature of peacebuilding that have survived for thousands of years. They were written by the scholars of their time and contain profound wisdom and hints on how we can resolve the root cause of conflicts and build healthy relationships and communities.

Buddhism and the culture of peace

Gotama Siddhartha, or Buddha, assisted in transforming disputes and conflicts, including a dispute between two villages over water rights (Sutta Nipata IV.15). He assisted in transforming people in deep trouble, including a serial killer who had terrorized communities (Majjhima Nikaya Verse 86). He even helped to avert a war from happening (Maha-parinibbana Sutta Vol.16, 5.6).

This essay looks at one of the stories in Majjhima Nikaya, the 152 conversations, or suttas. It is about how Buddha transformed the life of a serial killer who was terrorizing communities. (Majjhima Nikaya 86 Angulimala Sutta, or p.710) Majjhima Nikaya is regarded by the Theravada school of Buddhism as the “definitive recension of the Buddha-word” and is generally considered the most reliable source for the original teachings of Buddha (Bodhi 1995: 13). It contains the “richest variety of contextual settings” and is “replete with drama and narrative” (Bodhi 1995: 20).

In King Pasenadi's territory, there was a brutal serial killer who showed no mercy to living beings and terrorized communities. He was called Angulimala because he wore a necklace (mala) made of fingers (anguli) cut out of his victims.

One day, upon hearing about Angulimala, Gotama went along the road to where Angulimala was staying. People tried to stop Buddha but he would not stop. Angulimala saw Buddha coming alone and thought: Isn't it amazing! Isn't it astounding! Groups of ten, twenty, thirty, and forty men have come along this road, but I killed them all. Now this contemplative comes alone, without a companion. Why don't I kill him?

So Angulimala, taking up his sword and shield, approached Gotama. He tried to approach him from one side, and then the other. He ran this way and that. However, no matter how he tried, Angulimala could not catch up with Buddha. Buddha would always remain at the same distance. If Angulimala took ten paces forward, then Buddha would take ten paces back. When Angulimala took five paces to one side, then Buddha would take five paces to the other.

Aghast, Angulimala called out to Buddha to stop moving. Then Buddha said to him, "I have remained in the same position. You, Angulimala, cease to move."

Angulimala was baffled because it was Buddha who was moving around swiftly. He could not help but asked: “Why do you say that? You are the one who is moving. Why am I the one who must stop?” Buddha replied to him:

Angulimala, I have stopped forever,

I abstain from violence towards living beings;

But you have no restraint towards things that live:

That is why I have stopped and you have not
 

(Majjhima Nikaya 86, or p.711).

The Buddha’s words hit Angulimala like thunder. He threw aside his swords, knelt down, and asked Buddha if he could be one of his disciples. Buddha replied, “My dear disciple, would you please come here.” Buddha used the word ehi, the highest honorific term, to a man who killed hundreds of people and terrorized surrounding communities (Tomooka 2001: 30). The scripture explains that Angulimala took a vow to follow the Buddha’s path worthy of this ‘highest respect’ conferred onto him.

When Buddha decided to seek out Angulimala there was a chance that Buddha could have been killed. Buddha was dead serious about speaking to the killer’s frozen heart. That seriousness, which came from Buddha’s profound compassion, startled and revolutionized Angulimala. It was his authentic and creative attempt to engage with the killer, made possible by his intuition, and his willingness to risk his life that made the transformation possible.

Buddha’s words transformed Angulimala because he touched Angulimala’s heart (Tomooka 2001). Buddha’s action was based on the genuine trust and respect in the humanity, which is backed up by an empirical understanding that he attained through his contemplative practice. Buddha knew that, no matter how vicious and brutal and insane a person may appear to be, deep in the life of the person there must remain the ability to feel and think rationally, thus there must be a way to build a connection with Angulimala. That is what he sought within Angulimala when he engaged him.

Later, Angulimala is quoted in another scripture as saying: Where once I stayed here and there with a shuddering mind, in the wilderness, under a tree, in mountains, in caves. But now, with ease I lie down; with ease I live my life. What a great blessing Buddha my mentor has given me! (Theragatha Verse 866-891) This confession reveals that, although Angulimala was terrorizing the society, he was being terrorized and tormented by his own fear. Buddha was adamant about going to see Angulimala not only to solve the cause of terrorism in the communities but also because he could see the state of suffering Angulimala was in. Buddha’s intuitive and authentic action resonates with John Paul Lederach’s words: the mystery of peace is located in the nature and quality of relationships developed with those most feared (Lederach 2005: 63). Unraveling that mystery is open to us when we free ourselves of the dualistic logic and attachment to self.

Therigatha, a compilation of the “earliest evidence of women’s experience in any of the world’s religious traditions” (Collins: vii), contains a story of a grieving mother whose baby boy had just died (Therigatha Verse 11, or p.88).

Her name was Kisa-gotami. Having lost her son, she was overcome by deep grief and started to act insanely. She took the dead corpse, carried him on her back and wandered around the community, asking people for medicine. Due to her actions, the community began to despise her. Somehow Kisa-gotami managed to see Buddha, and asked him, "Please give me medicine for my boy!" Having listened to her cry, Buddha assured her he would make the medicine. However, he needed one particular ingredient. Buddha told Kisa-gotami, “Go to the city, find a household that has never before seen death, and take some mustard seeds from them."

Delighted, she hurried to the city and started looking for such a household. One house after another, she asked, "If this house has never before seen any death, give me some mustard seeds. Buddha has told me to obtain some in order to make medicine for my son." Of course she could not find such a household, but while going around, her madness left her. By going from door to door, she realized that death comes to everyone, and that her grief was not unique.

Within the world of interconnectedness, everything exists in relation to everything. People live in relationships and create meaning through social interaction, and as such people need each other to heal. Kisa-gotami needed to talk, be heard, and have her experience validated. What healed her heart was the interaction she had with people. When people see someone in the midst of trouble or despair, they generally pity, despise, or distance themselves from that person in some way. Kisa-gotami was alone. The task Buddha provided Kisa-gotami assisted her in getting rid of the partition between her and the society. People used to look at her with contempt, but now they looked at her as one of them because, having had a chance to engage with her, they were able to understand her. Buddha intuitively knew that “genuine constructive change requires engagement of other” (Lederach 2005: 49).

There is one more remarkable aspect in this story. When Kisa-gotami went back to Buddha, he asked if she had obtained the mustard seeds. When she told him that matter was over, Buddha said that her words restored him (Tomooka 2001: 60). Here, we see his profound compassion and the extraordinary ability to empathize with others. Buddha was literally grieving as much as Kisa-gotami (Tomooka 2001). From the moment he heard her cry, his heart was torn apart. And that ability to empathize enabled him to engage with Kisa-gotami in authentic way, listen to her cry, and understand what was really going on.

We can identify some fundamental principles of a culture of peace from these stories of Buddha.

(1) A culture of peace affirms life. It recognizes the humanity of others regardless of the situation. It innately comprehends the sanctity of all living beings. It translates doubt into a belief that the creative act and response are permanently within reach (Lederach 2006: 38).

(2) A culture of peace comprehends and accepts the complex web of human relationships. It recognizes the “quality of our life is dependent on the quality of life of others” (Lederach 2006: 35). It intuitively recognizes the value of one single individual. Within the world of interconnectedness, everyone matters.

(3) A culture of peace means resilience. And the resilience of mind is what enables us to remain hopeful, “suspend judgment in favor of exploring presented contradiction”, and maintain healthy curiosity (Lederach 2006: 36). Curiosity is an ingredient that enables us to respect complexity and refuse to “fall into the forced containers of dualism” (Lederach 2006: 36).

(4) A culture of peace means profound compassion. It cannot remain indifferent when someone is suffering.

These principles reverberate with the four essential disciplines that make peacebuilding possible—the recognition of relational mutuality, paradoxical curiosity, creativity, and the willingness to take a risk—indicated by Lederach (2006: 34-39). They also echo the six principles of the culture of peace defined by UNESCO—respect all life, reject violence, listen to understand, share with others, rediscover solidarity, and preserve the planet (UNESCO 2000). We can make these principles of the culture of peace a guide for our journey to build peace in our society.

The invisible arrow and roots of peace

Reach out to those you fear.

Touch the heart of complexity.

Imagine beyond what is seen.

Risk vulnerability one step at a time

(Lederach 2005: 177).

In The Moral Imagination, Lederach writes that people who have worked professionally in “settings of violent conflict” struggle with the deeper questions posed by the setting itself: “Who are we? What are we doing? Where are we going? What is our purpose?” (Lederach 2005: 176)

These questions are exactly what Buddha asked and contemplated. Why do people fight? Why can’t people help discriminating between ‘us’ and ‘them’? After a long deliberation and various attempts to understand, he became enlightened, or in other words, he realized the cause of human suffering. It was more accurately described as awakening (to the reality) rather than a realization (Tomooka 2001: 127). What he attained was not mystical but rather it was a principle of attaining peace within.

Buddha described the cause of suffering, or conflict, as an arrow piercing people’s hearts. (Sutta Nipata IV) Thus, assisting people to recognize the arrow was his main focus in teaching. The root cause of conflict is the invisible arrow; the arrow signifies the deep desire for self-preservation. Deep inside, people intuitively know that things constantly change, and their current selves also change and disappear (Tomooka 2001: 126-131). And that is why people discriminate the old, ill, poor, and death.

I will conclude the paper by recounting one more story that reveals the level of inner peace Buddha possessed, and how one person who has attained inner peace can create peace outside.

One day, an angry man named Akkosaka, stormed into the monastery where Buddha was resting, and started yelling, swearing, and cursing at Buddha (Samyutta Nikaya Chapter 7 1.2). Akkosaka was fuming because young men from his clan abandoned his village to become Buddha’s disciple. Buddha remained silent and listened to Akkosaka, until Akkosaka was finished yelling.

When Akkosaka finally stopped, Buddha abruptly but calmly asked him, “Do guests, friends, and relatives sometimes visit you?” Taken aback by the calmness of Buddha, Akkosaka replied, yes.

Buddha: Would you then serve tasty food, treats, and drinks for your guests?
Akkosaka: Yes.
Buddha: But if the guests declined to accept it, who would get the food, treats, and drinks?
Akkosaka: Well, if they would not accept, I have no choice but I have to have them back.
Buddha: That’s right. Now I decline to accept the treats you just served me. Therefore, you must have them back.

Akkosaka was said to have become Buddha’s disciple on the spot. This story illustrates how the ability to maintain one’s inner peace is so incredibly powerful. The inner peace and mindfulness are crucial not only to deal with a stressful environment but also to assist other people in trouble.

Perhaps the strongest argument about how we can build peace in ‘seemingly peaceful societies’ can be missed because it is very subtle. Buddha himself said very little, if anything at all, about the techniques or methodologies on how to build peace. Instead, he taught on how to cultivate one’s own life state, presumably because he believed this to be the most fundamental issue. In addition to what has been outlined in the paper, this fact alone should be reason enough for us to strive to build inner peace within.

Peacebuilding in the ‘First World’ is about people trying to transcend dualism in their everyday life. Cultivating peace is developing one’s being to “create a life worth living” (Bowling 2003: 276-277). We can transcend dualism by consciously watching our own mind and thought—in other words, becoming mindful. It is a daily effort to have a self-reflective moment to keep reminding and reconfirming ourselves of the principles of a culture of peace. To build peace we must keep aligning ourselves with these principles. In this sense, literally, all aspects of our ordinary daily life can be peacebuilding; working, eating, creating, reading, watching, talking, playing, studying, and thinking. One can start right in his or her living room.

But culture is not static. A culture of peace needs constant and strenuous input and maintenance. It has no absolute form or shape. The principles remain the same, but how it is expressed or manifests will change over time and space. A culture of peace means keeping balanced, or staying on the middle way. If things lean toward one direction too much, then the equilibrium is lost. A culture of peace would need some sort of mechanism to shift itself toward the other direction.

If many of us start living life with the conscious intention to be mindful in the spaces we exist, and having dialogue about the values of a culture of peace, then peace will manifest right here where we live. Moreover, as the roots in the ‘First World’ are nurtured by the culture of peace, they will inevitably transform the barren branches of violence into blossoming of peace in the ‘Third World’. The culture of peace follows the person who possesses it wherever he or she goes.

Endnote

[1]In addition to the original translations by Pali Text Society, I consulted other available texts in Japanese and English.

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