[Buddha-l] Re: Buddhist pacifism

[Benito Carral]

On Tuesday, October 18, 2005, Joy Vriens wrote:

> "What is the function of an individual" suggests that
> an  individual  has a function. It also suggests that
> whatever   is   their   function  lies  outside  that
> individual. I don't have a problem with an individual
> who  sets  himself  a function outside of himself, it
> happens  all the time. But I find it more troublesome
> when  the  function  of an individual is imposed from
> outside. "Function" evokes the idea of usefulness and
> I start wondering whether usefulness is a very useful
> idea. Useful regarding to what?

   I  was  thinking  in  a Buddhist line. Everything is
cause  and  condition.  What  I  was asking myself was,
"What  is  the  cause  of  individuality?" (How does it
work?)  and  "What  is  individuality a condition for?"
(What is its function).

   An  individual  will always be a social being, given
than  individuality  is  an  idea.  The  individual has
learnt  his language, dreams, views... from society. As
the Old Guy said, "Individuality is a delusion."


>> I  think  of an individual as someone who thinks, "I
>> must pursue my own dreams, feelings, and ideas," and
>> in doing so he remains alone, without taking care of
>> others, unable of offering trust and loyalty, unable
>> of commitment.

> I  don't think that will ever happen. Even the Buddha
> couldn't  keep his own dreams, feelings, and ideas to
> himself and felt the need to bother others with them.

   The Old Gay was everything but an individual.


> The  advantage of an individual is that they can feel
> and  experience  things  directly in their bodies and
> minds.

   What an individual feels is socially mediated.

> Societies don't feel anything, they are blind.

   Are you sure?

> Individuals can say "this hurts", individuals can die
> and are mortal.

   Can't societies?

> Thanks to that they know the value of life.

   How  do  individuals  know  it?  What's the value of
   life?

> Societies don't and can sacrify as many lifes as they
> want.

   Can't individuals?


> Besides,  Nirvana  is only open to individuals not to
> societies.

   Maybe because individuals are the problem.


>> So,  for  me, it's not a surprise that relationships
>> are falling apart and individuals feeling miserable.

> That  is because our society is sick of its own ideas
> and  dreams  and  by pursuing those ideas and dreams,
> individuals and their relationships become sick too.

   Our society is sick, of course, of the individuality
disease.


>> I think that if there is something that matters that
>> is  others, and that's why I would like to develop a
>> family centered Buddhism.

> I think I see what you mean. What this world lacks is
> a stronger sense of solidarity. It needs to reconnect
> with  and  listen  more to individual needs. The most
> fundamental  need  of  individuals  is  love. Love is
> something only individuals can feel.

   Love is a social thing.

   I'm going to quote Hsing Yun here:

       Human  beings are social animals; we cannot live
       apart  from community. As Buddhists, we are told
       to  seek  the  Dharma  among the people, for the
       Dharma  does  not  exist  in some other world or
       faraway  place;  the  Dharma  is  here among us,
       emboided  un each and every being. [...] When we
       understand  that  human society is nothing other
       than  a  web  of  human  relationships,  we will
       understand  just  how  crucial our relationships
       are.  Each  link in the web, or each person in a
       community,  affects the whole. [...] Once we see
       how  the  repercusions  of even one relationship
       can  impact an entire community, we wil learn to
       treasure each in creating relationships that are
       healthy and benefical. [...] It is important for
       us  to  remember  that we all have a key role to
       play in maintaining the health and well-being of
       this interlocking web.

       We   also   need   to   understand   that  human
       relationships,  like  all phenomena, develop the
       truth  that,  as the _Treatise on the Perfection
       of  Great  Wisdom_  says,  "All wordly phenomena
       arise  out  of causes and conditions; all wordly
       phenomena  cease because causes and conditions."
       What  this  means  is  that  the  world  is  the
       culmination   of   our   collective   karma  and
       conditions  for  being  [...]  Each one of us is
       born   into   this  world  because  of  our  own
       individual  causes  and conditions, but the fact
       that  we  all  live in this world together means
       that we share some common causes and conditions.
       How  you  conduct  yourself within relationships
       will have immeasurable influence on the lives of
       others,   and   vice  versa,  for  relationships
       actually  create  the conditions of life that we
       all  share.  Because of our collective karma and
       conditions,  it  is  impossible  for us to think
       simply  in terms of our own individual happiness
       and   peace.  We  may  try  to  exist  within  a
       community  under  such personal and self-serving
       terms,  but  this  inevitably leads to suffering
       and impedes the nourishment of affinity. [...]

       Social harmony stems from handling relationships
       and  communal  living  with skill, effort, and a
       spirit  of cooperation. We can learn a lot about
       keeping  peace  in  social  living  from the six
       points  of  reverent  harmony  that the monastic
       sangha  observes.  _Sangha_  is  a Sanskrit word
       that   can  be  interpreted  on  many  different
       levels.  In its widest interpretation, it refers
       to  all  thos  who  have  the  common purpose of
       following the Dharma. The six points of harmony,
       or   unity,   in  Buddhist  monastic  life  are:
       doctrinal  unity  in  views,  economic  unity in
       communal   use  of  gods,  moral  unity  through
       upholding  the  precepts,  mental  unity through
       shared  joy,  verbal unity through loving speech
       and  refraining from criticisms and discord, and
       physical  unity  by  living  harmoniously in the
       same community.

       [...]

       Harmony  and  beauty within our lives and within
       our communities often fail due to our insistence
       on  the duality of self and others. The ultimate
       solution  for generating peace and accord in our
       relationships  and in our world, therefore, lies
       in seeing that we all are one.

                                      (Living Affinity)

   Best wishes,

   Beni