The Nation October 11 1998

ON Dec 10, the United Nations will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The UN is supposed to have membership from all over the world, except those countries which belong to the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation with its headquarters in the Hague.

Yet the great Western powers still dominate the UN through the Security Council, which is not democratic, and the five permanent members of the Security Council sell a lot of arms, which is basically against human rights.

Besides, the multi-national corporations and the mass media - not to mention larger than life figures like George Soros and Rupert Murdoch - are pulling strings behind the scenes by controlling the so-called Great Powers, as is evident from IMF, the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation.

Western colonialism and its decline led to the creation of many new nation states. The same is happening with the end of the Cold War and the destruction of the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, the emergence of nation states at the end of the colonial period came along with a great deal of violent struggle for independence. Although India achieved her independence nonviolently, the creation of Pakistan, and later of Bangladesh, happened amidst violence, tension and conflict, which continues today in all of those countries. People are only interested in paying lip service to Mahatma Gandhi. If we are serious about protecting universal freedom, we ought to move the UN to declare the year 2000 to be the beginning of a decade of nonviolence -- not only to honour Gandhi but to honour all of our great religious leaders.

If we learn from recent history, especially since the end of the Second World War, nonviolent conflict prevention in the post-Cold War era could be a positive challenge, not to mention internal conflicts among politicians and business people and not the least among religious leaders. The worst is when religious leaders obey the state, especially dictatorial states like China. Some Chinese religious leaders at international symposia even tell lies about Tibet, especially about the detention of the Panchen lama.

Often religious leaders are too close to the state and/or multinational corporations. Unknowingly they perpetuate lies, violence and greed. Indeed consumerism is the new demonic religion, which we have not yet tackled seriously.

When we face conflicts openly, there is much hope. At this conference the Chinese and the Tibetans were talking openly in public. There are of course differences, but once dialogue is possible, differences may be resolved.

Every day people find themselves in conflict, ranging from minor discomfort to serious confrontation. It can flare up over back fences or national borders; over cleaning up the kitchen or cleaning up the environment. It can involve our most intimate relationships or the briefest interactions. When we cannot tolerate moral, religious or political differences, or find ways to resolve differences, conflict is inevitable, and often costly. What are effective ways of preventing unnecessary conflicts, and resolving conflicts when they occur? How do we resolve conflicts in an ethical manner which does not simply avoid dealing with the root causes of the conflict until a later point in time? I would like to briefly discuss some of the tools Buddhism has to offer in the search for answers to these questions.

The first thing we must realise is that crisis, tension, misunderstanding, discomfort, and conflict are part of life, and that it is a mistake to try and avoid them. Life can be less painful if we learn to anticipate potential conflict and manage it constructively.

Conflict can be both positive and negative, constructive or destructive, depending on what we make of it. Certainly it is rarely static; it can change any time. Buddhists call this anicca. Nothing is permanent. Everything is changing. Yet, in many conflicts we are so attached to our views that we tend to blame the other side without critically examining our own position. The more angry and self-righteous we become, the more sure we are that our view is the only correct one, the more dualistic our view, less the possibility for true understanding, an understanding which involves other points of view as well as our own.

Conflict can open avenues for change and provide challenges. Conflict resolution skills do not guarantee a solution every time, but they can turn conflict into an open opportunity for learning more about oneself and others. We can sometimes alter the course of a conflict simply by viewing it differently. Transforming conflict this way is an art, requiring special skills.

John A McConnell has recently written an excellent manual, Mindful Mediation: A Handbook for Buddhist Peace Makers. He applies the Buddhist Four Noble Truths to conflict very clearly, by explaining (1) the truth of suffering or conflict as part of the human condition; (2) the truth of the rise of suffering as the root of conflict, i.e. greed, hate and delusion. The challenge of the Second Noble Truth is to be aware of these psychological roots of conflict. This is more difficult than it might seem, because we do not normally experience delusion, greed and hate merely as mental phenomena, but as emotions already bound up with objects - often other people.

In everyday, unmindful, existence we experience a particular object as desirable, beautiful, repulsive, etc. We do not discriminate between the object, the feeling, the desire, and the process by which the desire has been cultivated, for example, through advertising and fantasy. Similarly, if we are involved in conflict, we perceive the hated person as selfish and contemptible.

We do not clearly distinguish between observations, interpretations, feelings, desires and assertions of identity, which may all make up our own perception of the other person.

Once we understand the Second Truth, we can then embark on the third truth of cessation -- that peace can emerge from conflict. It is essential to see conflict, with all its messiness and pain, as an opportunity for peace-making. It challenges us to develop a peace process that engages with the roots of conflict. Then we can proceed to the fourth truth of the cessation of suffering -- peace is the way of life.

The Buddha teaches that the way to extinguish suffering is to remove the roots that sustain it. In order to achieve true peace, conflict resolution must undermine the roots of conflict. The challenge is to identify, and engage with, greed, hate and delusion as they happen to be manifested on all sides of the conflict.

Meditation can be an excellent tool for this, for understanding ourselves and developing compassion for and understanding of those with whom we are in conflict. For example, we can begin our contemplation with the person we hate or despise the most. We contemplate the image of the person who has caused us the most suffering. Contemplate the bodily form, feelings, perceptions, mind and consciousness of this person.

We contemplate the features we hate or despise the most. Continue with the person's feelings. Try to examine what makes that person happy, and what causes them to suffer in their daily life. When contemplating perceptions, we try to see what patterns of thought and reason this person follows.

As for the mind, we examine what motivates this person's hopes and aspirations, and what motivates his actions. Finally, we consider his consciousness. See whether or not he has been influenced by any prejudices, narrow-mindedness, hatred or anger.

We contemplate this way until we feel compassion rise in our heart like a well filling with fresh water, and our anger and resentment disappear. We can practise this exercise many times on the same person. We can also practise this exercise on ourselves, to understand our own greed, hatred and delusion more clearly.

With a deeper understanding of our fellow human beings, especially those in very different situations from ourselves and who we may be in conflict with, we cannot help but see the similarities and connections between us, which in turn can serve as an invaluable tool in conflict prevention and resolution. Thus we can cultivate seeds of peace.

We can apply this technique not only at personal levels, but also to society and nation states, to structural violence.

The Dalai Lama is an example of a person who has inspired many of us to love our enemy by cultivating seeds of peace. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi does the same in Burma, as does the Venerable Maha Gosananda in Cambodia. Of course, we can learn not only from Buddhists, but also from the other religious traditions.

I am sure that all of these spiritual paths, including those of the indigenous peoples, can help us to enrich our understanding and our practice in facing conflicts mindfully and overcoming them nonviolently.

Sulak Sivaraksa is a social activist, the only Thai nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize twice, and a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, an alternative Nobel Prize.