It was human beings who gave rise to nuclear weapons. It cannot therefore be beyond the power of human wisdom to eliminate them. Buddhism asserts that human life contains within it wisdom and compassion powerful enough to rise above any threat or any temptation to resort to violence.
Dialogue and education for peace can help free our hearts Ifrom the impulse toward intolerance and the rejection of others. No one is born hating others. Prejudice and discriminatory attitudes are ingrained during the process of growing from childhood into adulthood. It is the younger generations who hold the key to creating peace.
Everyone can be engaged in education for peace. It can be as simple as taking the time to talk with the children and young people in our lives--in our homes and communities--about the dignity of life and the equality of people. We must never underestimate the impact of such seemingly small efforts.
When human beings live together, conflict is inevitable. War is not.“We are in conflict” can be interpreted to mean “we share a problem.” A shared problem can best be met and resolved through shared efforts. Rather than facing off in confrontation, we should turn together to face our common future, united in a shared commitment to the flourishing of youth.
Peace is not simply a matter of living a quiet, detached or carefree life. Peace exists in action--courageously, nonviolently fighting against the injustice that makes people suffer. It is only in such action that we find peace. When the majority of people lose the will to resist injustice and become indifferent and apathetic, it may be said that society starts to tilt in the direction of war.
Peace is a competition between despair and hope, between disempowerment and committed persistence. To the degree that powerlessness takes root in people's consciousness, there is a greater tendency to resort to force. Powerlessness breeds violence.
The human spirit is endowed with the ability to transform even the most difficult circumstances, creating value and ever richer meaning. When each person brings this limitless spiritual capacity to full flower, and when ordinary citizens unite in a commitment to positive change, a culture of peace--a century of life--will come into being.
No matter what the state of society or the times, each of us can contribute to peace in our immediate environment. We can do this by encouraging even one young person and enabling them to tap into their potential.
If we dig deep enough within the great earth of each person's life, we find flowing there the same underground channels of empathy and compassion. This source gives rise to an immense range of human diversity, a symphony of life, in which each of us is endowed equally with a unique role and purpose. Our struggle to return to this source is thus central to bringing about a genuine renaissance for all people.
Human rights start with recognizing the importance of every individual. Peace starts from fostering friendship with others.
Since the ultimate enemy is dehumanization, the ultimate solution must be a revitalization and restoration of humanity.
Hell is by no means a figment of the imagination. It exists in our very lives, right here on earth. Hell, indeed, is the agony we suffer during life, and there is no man-made hell worse than war.
Each of us, no matter how weak or ineffectual we may feel ourselves to be, must build deep within our hearts a stronghold for peace, one that will be capable of withstanding and in the end silencing the incessant calls to war. This is the only way humanity's tragic predilection for violence can be reformed and its energies channeled in new directions.
For both victor and vanquished, war leaves only a sense of endless futility.
Peace is not simply the absence of war; it is a state in which people come together in mutual trust and live with joy, energy, and hope. This is the polar opposite of war-where people live plagued by hatred and the fear of death.
Peace is not found somewhere far away. Peace is found where there is caring. Peace is found when you bring joy to your mother instead of suffering. Peace is found when you reach out and make an effort to understand and embrace someone who is different from you.
The idea that nuclear weapons function to deter war and are therefore a "necessary evil" is a core impediment to their elimination; this idea must be challenged and dismantled.
It is vital that humankind develop a shared consciousness that nuclear weapons are an absolute evil whose existence can never be justified--for any reason or under any circumstance. We must promote the understanding that it is impossible to construct one’s own happiness and security on the fear and suffering of others; and this understanding must be coupled with the compassion, empathy and courage to resist all attempts to do so.
Nothing is more precious than peace. Nothing brings more happiness. Peace is the most basic starting point for the advancement of humankind.
Just as fire is extinguished by water, hatred can only be defeated by love and compassion.
Today, many people have given up on the possibility of nuclear abolition. But peace is always a competition between resignation and hope. Indifference and acquiescence in the face of the negative, destructive functions of life is, ultimately, to side with the forces of destruction.
From a healed, peaceful heart, humility is born; from humility, a willingness to listen to others is born; from a willingness to listen to others, mutual understanding is born; and from mutual understanding, a peaceful society will be born. Nonviolence is the highest form of humility; it is supreme courage.
Crying out in opposition to war and nuclear weapons is neither emotionalism nor self-pity. It is the highest expression of human reason based on an unflinching perception of the dignity of life.
Faced with the horrifying facts of nuclear proliferation, we must call forth the power of hope from within the depths of each individual's life. We need a revolution in the consciousness of countless individuals--a revolution that gives rise to the heartfelt confidence that "There is something I can do." Then, finally, we will see a coming together of the world's people, and hear their common voice, their cry for an end to this terrible madness of destruction.
We need to awaken to a common consciousness of being all inhabitants of Earth. This consciousness is not to be found in some distant place. It will not be found on a computer screen. It lies in our hearts, in our ability to share the pain of our fellow human beings. It is the spirit that says: "As long as you are suffering, whoever you are and whatever your suffering may be, I suffer also."
Every war, when viewed from the undistorted perspective of life's sanctity, is a "civil war" waged by humanity against itself.
