

                                  
                                  
        BPS Newsletter Cover Essay #10 (Summer-Fall 1988)
                                  
                                  
                    A STATEMENT OF CONSCIENCE
                                  
                        by Bhikkhu Bodhi




   "All beings tremble at the rod" says the Buddha, yet today the
   ominous rod of terrorism has become one of the gravest problems that
   we face. No longer is the terrorist threat reserved for the
   vulnerable public figure or the outspoken adversary. With their
   lightning speed and global reach, our modern media of communication
   have given the terrorist cadres a tremendous new power to intimidate
   whole populations. Far too often the victims of their hits are the
   helpless and innocent, struck down in a symbolic show of hate.

   This appalling increase in terrorist violence pierces the moral
   consciousness at its core, leaving behind painful and persisting
   wounds. For those of us who reside in Sri Lanka the problem becomes
   ever more acute as we witness the tide of terrorism sweep across this
   traditional homeland of the Dhamma. It is no longer possible for us
   to immerse ourselves in the comfortable routines of our familiar
   world. Instead we must struggle in anguish and hope to deal with this
   frightful menace in our midst -- to understand it and to confront it
   in a manner worthy of our Buddhist heritage.

   It cannot be disputed that the worldwide rise of terrorism springs
   from complex causes of a political, economic and social character,
   which must be tackled by any adequate solution to the problem. At the
   same time, however, we have to insist that terrorism also has a
   deeper underlying human dimension that can only be ignored at our
   peril. If we probe beneath the burning issues of political ideology
   and ethnic grievances around which the terrorist forces rally, we
   will discover at its epicenter those same malignant drives that, in
   less virulent form, motivate so much ordinary human conduct.

   As the vital dynamism from which terrorism springs we will find
   //greed//, a rapacious lust for power and domination. We will find
   //hate//, smoldering within as cold resentment or whipped up into a
   frenzy of destruction. And we will find //delusion//, a collective
   paranoia instilled by inflammatory ideologies or the blind
   submergence of the individual in the group. These are the hidden
   human roots of terrorism; fed by personal frustration and social
   discontent, they yield as their fruits the violence that surrounds
   us.

   As we grapple with the problem of terrorism, asking ourselves what we
   can contribute to stem its rising tide, we may find an answer closer
   to home than we imagine. Let us first note that the spread of
   terrorism is not so much a macabre deviation from prevailing norms as
   an extreme manifestation of a wholesale decline in human fellow
   feeling. This lack of empathy and sensitivity to others can already
   be discerned in the everyday functioning of society -- in the
   spreading disease of corruption, apathy and selfishness infecting the
   social organism. Add to this a frantic search for a sense of
   belonging through the rediscovery of ethnic roots, and the result is
   a potentially very explosive mixture.

   If this much is recognized, we may then see that one of the most
   effective counter-measures we can apply in our individual capacity
   against the growth of terrorism lies very much within our reach.
   Simply put, it consists in reaffirming to ourselves -- and teaching
   by precept and example -- those fundamental ethical values upon which
   a harmonious and peaceful society is founded. This reaffirmation of
   genuine moral values -- of compassion, honesty, truthfulness,
   tolerance and respect for others -- will sound a thunderous statement
   of conscience. Whether made audibly or privately to oneself, it will
   raise a note of protest against the moral negligence from which
   terrorism draws its sustenance, acclaiming our confidence in the
   power of the good.

   While we should not cherish unrealistic expectations about our
   ability to reshape the world, we also should not lose sight of our
   responsibility to counter prevalent trends. Nor should we discount
   our ability to make an impact. The clear and decisive commitment to
   ethical values has a quiet potency that can effect important changes
   both outwardly and inwardly. While subtly altering the interpersonal
   aspects of our lives, within our hearts it will fortify those two
   mental factors that the Buddha called the guardians of the world --
   shame and moral dread -- the former the innate repugnance towards
   evil, the latter the fear of its consequences.

   Above all, we must reaffirm the need to rise above the limiting
   perspectives of the self-centered point of view in which so many
   today have become entrenched. Recognizing that every community, and
   the world as a whole, is ultimately harmed by the struggle of each
   faction to secure its individual ends, we must stand up for the
   development of a sense of humane responsibility that will transcend
   divisive loyalties. The lesson that we must learn and teach is that
   embedded in the ancient maxim taught by the Buddha: "Considering
   others as oneself, do not hurt them or cause them harm." To recognize
   others as being essentially the same as oneself and to feel their
   wish for happiness as one's own, this is the only effective means we
   can propose to build the peaceful society for which we yearn.

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