Towards Peace: Learning from History

Miyajima Torii by Matt Watts

 

As long as the whole of mankind is not yet Enlightened, history will continue to repeat itself.

By this, the author meant to say that, in every corner of the world, now and then, there will always be turmoil and unrest of some kind.

History is there to be learned.  And because it looks like the current unease in town is not going to evaporate overnight, let us find moments in history that might benefit us.

From unrest to peace and prosperity

Where in the world can we find a lesson of a society ridden with skirmishes, occasional social unrest, and political power play, yet which managed to pull itself together and emerged peaceful and strong as one single nation?

There could be many answers to this question, depending on each person's interest and/or expertise.  Naturally for this author, the picture of feudal Japan comes to mind.

For almost 700 years out of its nearly 2,000 years of civilization, Japan was under warrior rule.  While some historians might argue that most of that period Japan was blessed with relative peace as opposed to constant warfare, it is also undeniable that local skirmishes occasionally exploded and power play has always been in the picture.

When suffering is a blessing

The factor that made Japan a great country is the quality of her people.  Sometimes, the author thinks that the many natural disasters that Japan experienced throughout history were in fact blessings in disguise.  Through suffering and the need to survive, the Japanese learned the value of unity.  They learned first hand that only by coming together in times of crisis, can the whole society prevail.  Being highly social-minded, we should note, is among the forefront characteristics of the Japanese people.

Rather than undermining their morale, common suffering has strengthened the Japanese sense of belonging.  Even during the time when war became full-blown like during the Warring States Period between the 15th and 17th centuries, the country as a whole still managed to prosper.  To be precise, the characteristics of war during that period seemed, to the author at least, more like that of a modern professional sports league.

Considerate warriors

This is especially true for the Azuchi-Momoyama Period, when wars were strictly warriors' business and were fought away from town, usually in a specifically assigned area. The warriors' consideration was deliberate as they did not want to disturb the daily life of the common people.  With this "arena" clearly assigned, the atmosphere was almost like the "home team" fighting with the visiting team in the home stadium.

Except for a few major battles, skirmishes tended to be short and with minimal casualties.  It was not uncommon to have just a test of martial skills between leading warriors of the warring parties.  Sometimes warlords brought along an enormous number of troops just to intimidate their enemy so that both parties could go to the negotiating table without anyone "losing face."  As a result, military camps seemed almost like an outing and a military campaign seemed more like an extended fishing and hunting trip.

Needless to say, the generals and provincial lords that earned the most respect and became legends were those with great strategic thinking and negotiation skills who could solve conflicts without casualties.

Zen comes to the rescue

And yet, it is undeniable that a warrior's life is full of physical and mental sufferings.  However, records show that the warrior class did not seem to be that bothered or discouraged by such a tough life they were living.  Their unabashed courage and selfless sacrifice earned them the respect of the whole nation and soon became the country's role models.  How did these men train themselves so that they could live with those sufferings bravely?

The answer is Zen.  Constant mindfulness practice, especially mindfulness of death, helped change these men into transformational leaders. Also, thanks to their extensive travelling, the samurai helped make Zen popular among the common people as the latter were eager to learn the secrets of such legendary characteristics.

We mentioned earlier that one notable characteristic of the Japanese is their high social consciousness, as seen in their willingness to sacrifice themselves, doing constructive things in line of their respective duty for the benefit of society.

The ability to discern what is good for society is just one of the many benefits that mindfulness practice can offer.  Even at the beginner's level, mindfulness practice already enables one to see that, in reality, there is no "self."  Therefore, when the feudal Japanese did something for their society, their selflessness was sincere.  They knew what selflessness was.

Hope for Thailand

When we see how far the Japanese have come as a unified country, we should not lose hope in the current situation in Thailand.  Let us turn each crisis into opportunity.  In Buddhism, suffering is the breeding ground for wisdom and sustainable peace.  But such wisdom and peace does not just "happen."  It needs to be cultivated and nurtured.  The tool, the only tool, to create this much-needed peace is mindfulness practice, the vipassana meditation.

Come on, Thailand, we are a Buddhist country, like feudal Japan was.  The proven solution to any trouble, social or otherwise, has always been here.  The feudal Japanese came together to build a peaceful and great country out of sheer loyalty, discipline, hard work and love for their compatriots.  If our rice-eating, Buddhist-influenced Asian neighbor could do it, so can we.

Let us not wait until disaster strikes before we realize the impermanent nature of life and only then start to feel compassion for each other.  If the samurai class were still around, they will definitely tell us that it is our duty to the country to be mindful and to cultivate sustainable peace.

Disasters Within

Today marks the 4th anniversary of the 2004 tsunami disaster, a catastrophe that was billed as the deadliest in history, claiming more than 200,00 lives across many countries in the Asian continent.

Photo courtesy of Bangkok Post

Most of us can likely remember the magnitude of the impact the disaster had on our lives or people close to us. In the wake of the tragedy, many people who were directly affected asked a well-known scholar-monk, the Rev W. Vajiramedhi, for advice.

His various dhamma talks on the topic given on different occasions were later compiled into a book, titled Kluen Nok, Kluen Nai (The Waves Without, The Waves Within). Many editions have been printed to give away as a dhamma dana (gift of dhamma) by various compassionate individuals and organisations.

Today, as the fateful date returns, many families and friends of the victims could not help but be reminded of the heartache when they learned that they just lost their loved ones.

In Buddhism, every crisis is a learning opportunity. Under proper guidance, one can develop the technique to turn every crisis into a lasting wisdom that eventually leads to enlightenment itself.

Since the book by the Rev W. Vajiramedhi was in Thai and is now out of print, the author would like to dedicate the space of today's column to summarise the gems of that wisdom as a befitting memorial to that tragic event.

The sound advice that the Rev W. Vajiramedhi gave to the friends and families of the victims of the 2004 tsunami is as follows:

Accept the truth. The faster, the better

Whenever crisis strikes, be it from natural disasters or man-made ones, find your inner strength through mindfulness so that you would be able to accept the truth as it is.

According to the Rev W. Vajiramedhi, by accepting the truth, the mind would be able to restore its balance. The faster one can accept the truth, the faster one can move on with life.

On the other hand, the longer one lingers in suffering over the event that has passed, the more difficult it would be to regain a proper frame of mind. The bottom line is, those who are courageous enough to accept the truth up front would be able to think properly and know what needs to be done.

In order to have the proper frame of mind to gain wisdom from a disaster, the Rev W. Vajiramedhi suggested that we should be open-minded. Merely observe without being judgmental. Do not criticise and try to find a scapegoat. The blame game, one must realise, does not get one out of suffering.

Familiarize Oneself with Life's Ultimate Truth

This second step to gain wisdom from a disaster has a two-fold benefit. Not only one would gain wisdom from the disaster that just occurred, but one would also be prepared for future, unavoidable disasters as well.

Life's ultimate truth is in fact very straightforward. And when one learns it when disaster has not struck yet, it would be easier for the mind to accept. Therefore, the Rev W. Vajiramedhi said it is important that we familiarise ourselves with them as soon as possible in life, so that the next time disaster strikes, we would be ready. Life's ultimate truth includes:

1) No one escapes ageing. In fact, the deteriorating process toward death starts at birth; 2) No one escapes illness and pain; 3) No one escapes death; 4) Losing loved ones and treasured possessions cannot be avoided; and 5) To each his/her own karma. No one escapes the Law of Karma.

By realising this final truth alone, one would be able to refrain from the blame game that is nothing more than creating a new negative karmic cycle for oneself.

Learn to Live Fully in the Present

Suffering only occurs when one's mind falls into the past or ventures in speculation into the future. Therefore, the ability to live fully in the present is a valuable life skill. The Rev W. Vajiramedhi suggested some practical methods as follows:

1) Keep oneself busy; 2) Build up one's concentration through prayer; 3) Learn meditation techniques; and 4) Learn how to face one's own death by practicing mindfulness of death, Maranassati.

Mindfulness of Death

In it simplest meaning, the practice of mindfulness of death is to be constantly aware that death can happen to us any second. In Lord Buddha's words, the mindful ones are those who realise that they might not survive even into the next breath. When practiced properly, mindfulness of death would: 1) sharpen one's mindfulness; 2) enable us to understand the true value of life; and 3) enable us to perform our duty without carelessness. Mindfulness of death can be practiced in every waking moment, the Rev W. Vajiramedhi said, even when stuck in traffic.

There is one word of caution, though. As with any other mindfulness practice, it is best to be done under supervision of a veteran teacher.

If mindfulness of death is practiced without proper understanding, it could yield: 1) fear of one's death; 2) depression, and/or 3) careless/mindless living (for mistakenly believing that death simply means one would no longer be able to do indulge).

At this point, the author would like to add that, beside monks, there was one social class in history that successfully practiced mindfulness of death. They were the Japanese feudal samurai. After turning to Zen during the Kamakura Period (1185-1333), the samurai actively practiced mindfulness of death to help enable them to see life in perspective and, in effect, help them deal with suffering. The list in Japanese history is long for the samurai who were able to face their death calmly, mindfully, either at the hand of the enemy or on their deathbed. This is doubtlessly due to their lifetime of practice of mindfulness of death.

Build One's Radar System for 'the Waves Within'

The Rev W. Vajiramedhi observed in his book that, while countries spend millions setting up centres to detect possible disasters from tsunamis - or "the waves without" - no one seems to put equal efforts to detect "the waves within."

By "the waves within," the Rev W. Vajiramedhi meant the waves of anger, fear, disappointment, greed/lust, and ignorance. The ultimate advice for Buddhists is, therefore, to start building one's personal radar to watch out for the disasters within ourselves.

At the end of the day, the ability to detect a disaster within from the minute it starts to ripple would be the key to ultimately shield us from any further suffering from the disasters without. Because such ability, arisen from continuous mindfulness practice, would eventually lead us to Enlightenment. Ultimately, we were affected by the tsunami because we were born. If there is no "us", there would be no suffering.

The enlightenment, quite frankly, is the final answer.

The Noble Secret

Summer Garden by Pam from Tokyo

For eight days and seven nights last week, the author had the blissful opportunity to attend a mindfulness meditation retreat in the northern part of Thailand. May the readers have all the boon, merit, that the author did. May you all be happy, peaceful, and free from suffering.

Happiness, peace and freedom from suffering was indeed what was on our minds the minute we city dwellers stepped out of the calm, cool and serene retreat and back into the hustle and bustles of this world. Turning on our mobile phone for the first time in a week, we were greeted with news that made our hearts sink.

It is true that mindfulness training is supposed to give us extra immunity to live in this increasingly hostile world. But, being unenlightened as we are, our spontaneous reaction was to turn back to the forest to continue our simple, blissful living among the embrace of nature.

When Lord Buddha Chose Solitude

This reminds the author of the time when Lord Buddha himself became weary of undisciplined monks while he was in residence at Kositaram temple in the city of Kosambi. The time was the 10th vassa (year) since Lord Buddha started his teaching.

Wanting to give the monk a lesson, Lord Buddha simply went into the forest to spend the three-month Buddhist Lent in solitude. This event of Lord Buddha's life is usually depicted by a painting or sculpture of him sitting with an elephant and a monkey at his feet. It was said that those animals were taking care of him throughout the Lent, with the elephant bringing a bamboo pipe filled with water and the monkey bringing honeycomb.

The story has it that, when Lord Buddha saw the kind consideration that the animals had shown to him, he decided to stay there in the forest with them, graciously accepting their alms. Indeed, who would not want to be among friendly creatures?

Alternatively speaking, even Lord Buddha himself did not want to keep company with the unruly kind. On that day that we stepped out of our retreat and heard our national news, we thought we understood what Lord Buddha must have felt. The big difference, of course, is that we were not yet Enlightened and even if we chose to stay in the forest, it is unlikely that it would bring any awareness to the unruly people.

Lord Buddha's preference for solitude over undisciplined company is perhaps best summarised in the following Dhammapada the Path to Dhamma or versified Buddhist scripture:

"If, as he fares, he finds no companion

Who is better or equal,

Let him firmly pursue his solitary career;

There is no fellowship with the fool"

(Source: http://larndham.net/dmbot/)

This teaching also goes hand in hand with another teaching in the 38 Mangala or the 38 Blissful Things, the first two of which are 1) not to associate with fools, 2) to associate with the wise.

Therefore, if any of our dear readers in Thailand feel weary at this point, may be it helps to keep these teachings in mind. Come to think of it, who would you rather be with? Someone who can remain calm amidst chaos, who are mindful and can provide you with sensible advice, or someone who wears you down with flames after flames or their hatred, blind greed, and/or anger?

An 8th-Century Buddhist Poet on Hatred and Enemies

In the 8th century, there was an Indian Buddhist scholar with the name of Shantideva. He was credited with penning Bodhicaryavatara, or "A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life."

Basically, it is a long poem describing the process of Enlightenment from the first thought to full Buddhahood. As a result, sometimes it is referred to as "Entering the Path of Enlightenment." The book is still studied by Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhists today.

Unfortunately, an average Theravada Buddhist in Thailand may not have heard of Shantideva's beautiful, wise prose before. Shantideva covered many topics that a classical period poet usually did. In light of the current situation in Thailand, the author finds it most suitable to both introduce Shantideva's insightful verses on anger and destruction of one's enemies.

"With the vast number of enemies, as boundless as the sky,

what chance is there that all should be subdued?

Yet when the thought of hatred is abolished,

all enemies are destroyed"

(Source: http://www.rinpoche.com )

Admittedly, the abolishment of the thought of hatred is not an easy task. But Shantideva also provided us with a starting point. When someone hurts you, instead of hitting back, how about doing the following:

"All those who slight me to my face,

Or do me any other evil,

Even if they blame or slander me,

May they attain the fortune of enlightenment!"

(Source: http://www.gaia.com)

Personally, the author finds it very classy. Indeed, there is nothing else that people who are burned by their own flames of hatred and anger need more than the fortune of getting Enlightened!

But how could we translate this wise advice into action without further hurting the hateful, angry people? Shantideva also had an answer:

"Whoever wishes to quickly afford protection

to both himself and others

Should practise that most noble secret:

the exchanging of oneself for others"

(Source: http://www.gaia.com)

There you go, the noble secret according to Shantideva is the practice of losing yourself totally so that you can become one with the other party! Only by walking in their shoes, sustaining their suffering, that one's genuine compassion would arise. It is only through compassion and mutual understanding of each other's suffering that confronting parties would realize that we are all but fellow human beings struggling in the same suffering together. With that understanding, we would start to help each other out of suffering.

Although the result of such immediate transformation in the heat of turmoil is guaranteed to be extraordinary, actual practice can be demanding, especially if one is nowhere near the Bodhisattva level yet. If the thought of "we-becoming-them" as the path towards solution still sounds too horrifying for you, there is always a less strenuous approach.

How about spending seven days in a peaceful retreat to cultivate our mindfulness first? After all, it is the starting point of such transformation plus a suffering-immunity vaccine blended into one. Who should go, then? Why, both parties in the conflict, of course! And, quite naturally, we the weary public.

Calm Amid Chaos

As appeared in Bangkok Post Real.Time, September 5th, 2008

Chaotic Living

Even without extra chaos brought to us now and then by the wind of political nature, we human beings already find ourselves in one type of chaos or another.

Whether we are a homemaker, a billion-dollar dealmaker, or a combination of both, every single day of our life brings with it an undeniable possibility that we might run into something chaotic.

Not a New Phenomenon

It is easy to be mistaken that our daily chaos is the result of hectic, contemporary lifestyle of people belonging to post-modern society. But if we carefully examine people’s life throughout history, we will find that things are not that much different between a 21^st-century businessman and a 17^th century busy samurai. Yes, samurai.

One does not need to be a history buff to come across the legends of Japan’s feudal warriors. Until today, they are still being immortalized by countless films, books, TV series, manga comics, anime, games, re-enactment, martial arts, you name it.

The Samurai’s True Appeal

But the most interesting point is the samurai’s true appeal. For what truly made those feudal heroes stand out was not their martial prowess itself, but their ability to remain calm, cool and collected in any given situation.

In other words, these feudal warriors knew a thing or two about how to remain calm amidst chaos.

Let us step back in time, then, to see what we can learn from the samurai.

To Overcome Suffering, the Samurai Adopted Zen

Amidst the constant skirmishes that came with the first establishment of a shogunate in the 12^th century, it is not difficult to imagine the samurai’s plight. It is precisely because of this reason that the warrior elites began to adopt Zen. The warrior needed something to help make their physical and mental suffering bearable.

And it must have worked, for in subsequent periods, Zen has spread from the power elites to warriors in general, eventually made its way to the public.

Zen is all about mind-training. Zen master D.T. Suzuki once said that when the unconscious is tapped, it rises above individual limitations. Suzuki called these powers superhuman and recognized that it work wonders.

The Mindful Samurai Found Wisdom

The core of Zen is mindfulness practice. Mindfulness is the practice whereby one is intentionally aware of what one perceives through the six perceiving organs (the mind being the sixth) in the present moment, non-judgmentally. And if the mind happens to concoct up thoughts or emotions upon that perceiving moment as it usually does, one simply takes note of it and let go.

Mindfulness is applied to both bodily actions and the mind's own thoughts and feelings. In Buddhism, mindfulness is prerequisite to insight and wisdom. Achieving this wisdom is a transforming experience, propelling one to lead a purpose-driven life.

Through their continuing effort of practicing mindfulness in every waking moment, the feudal samurai have grasped the true nature of things and become liberated. It is this very liberation that gave them peace of mind at all time, even in the face of death, let alone daily chaos.

Learning from the Peacetime Samurai

Contrary to conventional wisdom, samurai is not all about fighting. Take the Tokugawa Period (1600-1868), for example. It was the period when Japan first united as a country for the first time and was enjoying an unprecedented peace.

Basically, the samurai have basically become civil servants, educators and social builders in general. Arguably, their experience should be most applicable to us non-warriors. What can we learn from them, then?

Pick a Favorite Activity, then Apply Mindfulness

In a manual to train young samurai during the Tokugawa Period, Budo Shoshinshu, the author Daidoji Yuzan offered two types of advice. The first is to be mindful in everything one thinks, says and does.

But Yuzan must have realized that this is easier to say than to do. Because he included a second, complementary suggestion—engage your body and mind at all time with activities that are conducive to mindfulness cultivation.

His choice of activities range from the typical warrior’s pastime—martial arts--, to a more culturally refined ones: tea ceremony and calligraphy.

The author's samurai sword sensei, Fukushima Sensei, practicing Zen meditation with samurai sword in a park. Photo courtesy of Bangkok Post.

So, go ahead, pick your own favorite pastime and apply constant mindfulness to it. One you get the hang of it, you can move on to a more challenging task of applying mindfulness into every chore you have to do. The first surprise you might find is that, with mindfulness, suddenly what you normally dread or find it boring does not seem to be so bad.

Be a Samurai At All Time

The most challenging goal of it all is to do like Yuzan suggested, applying mindfulness in everything you think, say and do. It may feel daunting at first. But, like they say, a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step, doesn’t it?

Besides, the reward is very tempting. By being constantly on guard of your body and mind, you are on your way to be one of those legendary samurai. Come rain or shine, or even chaos, for that matter, your mind will be calm. With that extraordinarily composure, anything is possible, going down in history included.