Buddhist Defense on the Human Right to Peace
Pacifism is the essential value of both the
Maitriyana as well as the Human Rights, being present in the historical
development of a civilization of peace whose political, economic, cultural and
environmental instruments are regulated by the pacifist universal ethics.
Indeed, peace is not only the Purpose (Dharma) of Buddhist Socialism, but it is
also the social order,[1] the ideal of the international community,[2] the aim of the right to education,[3] the good of security,[4] the essential element of
development,[5] the right of every human being and people,[6] the human aspiration and state obligation.[7] For Maitriyana a new peace
civilization shall replace the current civilization of war and violence, but it
will be originated in the mind of individuals which is where real conflicts
arise.[8] Thus, in the Buddhist Socialism
it is considered as integral peace to the interconnection between the inner
peace and outer peace, the latter being the ideal of social, planetary and
cosmic harmony.
In Maitriyana, the Universal Declaration on the Right to World Peace is preceded by
2600 years of teachings of spiritual masters who have been the foremost experts
on the human right to peace that have existed in history. Thus, the sense of
Purpose (Dharma) of the Free and Enlightened Being (Arhat-Bodhisattva) requires
the States of the world to open their life practices to the transcendental
milestone that involves creating a pacifist global civilization. It is
precisely in the Buddhist Socialism which it is clearly reflected this search
for peace as a universal value and archetype of human rights, which means that
peace is not merely the absence of war but also the Cure (Nirvana) of the ills
of injustice, ignorance and pollution by removing all kinds of violence,[9] whether political, economic,
cultural and environmental, both individually and at a collective level. This
happening of solidarity in the world involves ethical evolution and Spiritual
Awakening (Bodhi) of humanity. The Maitriyana then works for the sacred human rights, such as peace,
healthy living and sustainable environment, considering that the Right to World
Peace is an integrative right without
which the other individual and collective rights are irrelevant or lack of
validity. The conception of the human right to peace reaches a global and
universal validity, reaffirming the intrinsically free and spiritual character
of human nature, so it requires all the world's governments to accept these
ethical foundations in order to reach the future. Therefore, the spiritual
master teaches that peace is inherent in the dignity of the apprentice, but it
is also intrinsic to the world of tomorrow where peace and health - the
appropriate life - will be the heritage most protected by the peoples.
Buddhist Socialism and its Universal Declaration on the Right to World Peace mean the biggest
advance of the Path of Purification of humankind and the establishment of a
civilization of peace, where every subject, group and people enjoy the
fulfillment of the human right to righteous peace. This means the Desire that
the entire humanity, without any discrimination, has full access to social
justice and peace education, by creating social bonds of solidarity and mutual
support in order to solve all conflicts fairly and non-violently. Thus, the
apprentice who unlearns the framework
of the civilization of war moves away from selfish politics, consumerist
economy, the dualistic culture and polluted environment. This abandonment is
the acquisition of a highly useful competition because the ethics of Detachment
is the ultimate tool to participate in society with an attitude of prevention,
resolution and transformation of problems. That is the reason why the
Maitriyana is a revolutionary spiritual system that teaches to unlearn the war,[10] injustice, ignorance and
pollution, building a new identity for the subject and the people in order to
achieve the Salvation of the Earth (Gaia). But to do so it is required the
evolution of planetary consciousness by performing chores around peace, freedom and love,[11] implementing civil disobedience of the
Free and Enlightened Beings (Arhats-Bodhisattvas) against the oppression of the States that violate the human right to peace and healthy living.
World peace is the full main requirement of
Liberty and Human Rights, providing equality and fraternity to all the peoples.
Peace, justice and compassionate wisdom (prajna-karuna) form a mystical triangle that is the platform of genuine
development of humanity. However, these supreme practices depend purely and solely
on the identification of the causes of global ills, seeking their prevention
from mental roots. Thus the spiritual master works with courage for world peace
and healthy life of all human beings, trying to transmit a style of existence
empty of greed, hatred and delusion. It is only through this waiver that
violence and war can be vanished, which requires the commitment not only of the
apprentice and the State but also of all humanity. Peace is neither an
individual nor a state issue but it is universal. Contemporary problems
demonstrate that it is fundamental a new system of planetary civilization which
is not governed by war but by pacifism, influencing the levels of what is
individual, national and global. This Way of peace must be guaranteed by the
protection of justice, stability of knowledge and harmony of ecology, by
consolidating democracy, solidarity and hope as international values that
prevent the apparition of discrimination, conflict and genocide. The Free and
Enlightened Being (Arhat-Bodhisattva) then requests the peoples to abandon
power of the armed forces and replace it by the power of reconciliation. In
this sense, the revolutionary contemplation (kakumei zen) is a call to selfless
acts towards the good of others, by promoting the transmission of ethical
values based on righteousness, knowledge and interexistence. These universal
principles are essential for the construction and development of peace
civilization, because they respect the inherent dignity of life at all times.
Thus the spiritual master brings a message of love that can heal and transform
the world, strengthening the transindividual identity of the peoples. This
project of globalization of peace
that Buddhist socialism solemnly proclaims does not lead to uniformity and
absence of conflict, but rather to unity in diversity and the overcoming of
illusory divisions of any kind, whether political, economic, cultural or
environmental. Faced with threats of discrimination, violence and war, the
Maitriyana emphasizes a higher modality of learning, by teaching the individual
a critical thinking that is capable of taking responsibility for one's life. In
this way, the apprentice who learns libertarian meditation can take on the
challenge of changing the internal and external world, by modulating his own destiny on the understanding that peace is
not an abstraction but rather a
practice and lifestyle. Definitively, peace is a process of Ascension from
oppression and alienation to Liberation and Openness (Sunyata), being a spiritual
evolution based on solidarity as key to the future of humanity. Therefore,
Buddhist Socialism adopts the flag of peace, justice, education and ecology in
order to save the present and future generations, assuming the messianic mission to protect life, intelligence
and Spirituality in the whole Universe. This is the major chance to change the
course of the world's self-destruction, teaching a pathway toward peace and
true progress of peoples. This Purpose (Dharma) shows that the Maitriyana is a
Way that safeguards the ethical and spiritual heritage of all humanity,
protecting the universal values from the attacks received by the superficial
and materialistic society. This obliges the Buddhist Socialism to denounce the
raw capitalism as a system devoid of equality, the same way as authoritarian
communism is denounced due to its lack of Liberty. Indeed, the foundations of a
peace civilization not only require Liberty and Equality but also Fraternity
and Solidarity among all human beings, eradicating war, poverty, exclusion,
discrimination, ignorance and violence. The meaning of life discovered by
Maitriyana is in peaceful coexistence, generosity, reason, full consciousness
and humility. Only the ethical responsibility and a detached will,
characteristic of the peak knowledge (satori) and compassionate wisdom
(prajña-karuna), nourish the existence of humankind and sublimate the death and
war drive into life and peace drive by
transforming lances into ploughs and rose petals. Therefore, the teachings
of the Free and Enlightened Being (Arhat-Bodhisattva) are the most noble act
and a gift that can be given to generations of present and future, celebrating
the healthy and appropriate life through the Universal Declaration on the Right to World Peace, which is the maximum
instrument of Buddhist Socialism to respect spiritual nature and the dignified
existence of peoples. The Maitriyana is the maximum representation of the
utopia of human rights, by practicing them and fulfilling them through the
revolutionary contemplation (kakumei zen) in order that the world has a new
dawn based on concrete guidelines of peace, justice, education and ecology. Tolerance, non-violence, understanding,
detachment, solidarity and life without fear
are the fruitful conditions for
the future of the Great Awakening
(Maha Bodhi) of
all humanity, building the bulwark of peace in the spirit of all peoples of the Earth.[12]
The highest contribution to the Right to Peace,
paradoxically, was not made by international juridical instruments but from the
ideals of spiritual masters, achieving the crystallization of the human right
to world peace, which supposes an evolutionary leap of the ordinary conception
of the human being as naturally bellicose. Thus the doctrine of Buddhist
Socialism seeks to respond to conflicts and wars through pacifism, considering
the right to peace as a supreme human right. This implies the total
invalidation of the use of violent force to resolve individual, national or
international conflicts. Indeed, the Purpose (Dharma) for the maintenance of
peace and justice worldwide is creating a Pure
Earth or Kingdom of Righteousness
where democracy, international law, education for all and healthy environment
prevail. Indeed, the Maitriyana sees and recreates new perspectives for the
ethical evolution of every individual, group and people. This new conception of
the responsibility to protect life contributes to the formulation of the peace
civilization. Thus, the theory and practice of Buddhist Socialism embodies the
convergence between peace, human rights and ecology, understanding at all times
that the foundation of the human right to peace is to protect the fundamental
freedom or intrinsic human dignity.[13] This contributes to understanding, tolerance and friendship
among the entire human family,[14] by promoting the development
of activities of libertarian meditation for maintaining healthy and peaceful
life. This quest to eliminate war on the
lives of the peoples is the highest aspiration both of Maitriyana as well
as of the human rights instruments,[15] which are committed to the establishment of a just and lasting peace at
a global level.[16] This implies both disarmament
and the peaceful resolution of disputes. However, although the rights to
adequate peace and healthy environment are paramount human rights, governments
often regard them as secondary rights. Peace, as it is conceived in the
Buddhist Socialism, includes political, economic, cultural and environmental
conditions for the full exercise of human rights.[17] In this sense, the Universal Declaration on the Right to World
Peace recognizes peace as an integral development in these four areas,
while the right to internal development and fundamental freedoms is recognized.
Thus, peace and healthy environment are the basis for the survival of humanity.[18] Therefore, peace is a value and
supreme practice, being the necessary condition for Salvation and Evolution of
the world, effectively developing the human rights in all peoples, which means
recognizing the right to live without armed conflicts, the right to a safe and
unarmed environment, the right to a healthy environment, the right to civil
disobedience, the right to conscientious objection, the right to opposition
against oppression, the right to the protection of the vulnerable, the right to
Justice and Truth, the right to the future and the right to the democratization
of governments and international organizations. The Maitriyana then acts on
behalf of all humanity to claim the respect and fulfillment of the Right to
Peace. The happening of the Universal
Declaration on the Right to World Peace is the crystallization of two
thousand six hundred years of Spirituality, by providing the legal framework
and the ethical guidance for building a pacifist civilization.
[1] Declaración Universal de los Derechos
Humanos.
[2] Declaración de Naciones Unidas sobre el
fomento entre la juventud de los ideales de la paz, respeto mutuo y comprensión
entre los pueblos.
[3] Pacto Internacional de Derechos Económicos,
Sociales y Culturales.
[4] Declaración de Naciones Unidas sobre la
afirmación y consolidación de la distensión internacional.
[5] Declaración de Naciones Unidas sobre el
Derecho al desarrollo.
[6] Declaración de Naciones Unidas sobre la
preparación de las sociedades para vivir en paz.
[7] Declaración de Naciones Unidas sobre el
Derecho de los pueblos a la paz.
[8] Constitución de la UNESCO.
[9] J. Galtung, Peace by peacefully means.
[10] Anna
Bastida, Desaprender la guerra: una
visión crítica de la educación para la paz.
[11] F.
Mayor Zaragoza, Derecho humano a la paz:
germen de un futuro posible.
[12] El Derecho Humano a la Paz: Declaración del
Director General de la UNESCO de 1997.
[13] C.
Villan Duran, Hacia una declaración sobre
el derecho humano a la paz.
[14] Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos.
[15] Declaración sobre el Derecho de los pueblos
a la paz.
[16] Declaración del Milenio.
[17] M.
Aguirre, Los conflictos económicos y
sociales y la paz: el caso de los Estados frágiles.
[18] Declaración de Luarca sobre el Derecho
Humano a la Paz.