Compassion and Forgiveness:
The Resolution to all Conflict
By Ven. Walpola Piyananda
Abbot, Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara, Los Angeles, California
Chief Nayaka Thera of America
August 6, 2008
I was deeply touched by the statement made today by the newly-elected
Eastern Province Chief Minister, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, a former
LTTE terrorist: "We (the LTTE) in hiding, were starving in Maduru-Oya
sometime back. A young Sinhala woman carrying an infant brought me food
and drink. I inquired from her about her husband and she said the LTTE
killed him. Her reply made me speechless. Her husband was killed by
the LTTE and she was still offering the terrorists food and drinks.
It was then that I decided to give up terrorism."
He made this statement last week during an address to well-wishers
from Samasevaya, the first ever peace group to meet him at his secretariat
in Trincomalee. He also said that because President Rajapakse's policies
were so similar to his, and because of his respect for the Mahinda Chinthana,
he made his decision to enter mainstream Sri Lankan politics and work
for democracy. Congratulations for making this decision, Mr. Chandrakanthan,
and may many more of your former colleagues in the LTTE follow your
example.
In my view, this is the true Spirit of Sri Lanka, the land where for
centuries - in spite of four hundred years of colonial domination -
people from diverse cultures, races, and religions co-existed in peace
and harmony. I am happy to welcome Chief Minister Chandrakanthan into
the leadership of our reunited Sri Lanka, and I feel certain that he
will fulfill his duties for the benefit of the entire country.
If this Chief Minister's heart was touched by the Sinhalese widow
who reached out and offered him food, I suggest that we allow all of
our hearts to be embraced by compassion and forgiveness. As I have often
stated, it is time to put the past behind us and go forward together,
creating a new and stronger Sri Lanka for the good of all.
Are we really that different from one another? The Buddha taught that
every living organism, from cat to elephant, is distinguished by the
fact that each of its kind is of a different species. Except the human.
We all have the same body parts: the same eyes, nose, mouth, arms, and
legs. We don't have a Sinhala species, or a Tamil, Muslim, Japanese,
Russian, or Mexican species. We are all one and the same except by convention
and geography. What a shame it is to focus on our surface differences
and live in the context of "separation," when the reality
of "connectivity" is all there truly is.
It has come to the point where we are almost forced to acknowledge
the unity of our human identity and start building from there. Regardless
of our race or cultural background, Buddhist or non-Buddhist, it is
time that we understood that the root cause of all conflict is greed
and desire, which results in the opposing positions of "my"
and "mine," versus "yours" and "theirs."
In all practicality, it is all "ours." The conflict here in
Sri Lanka started out with these opposites, and then they polarized
to such a degree that 70,000 lives have been wasted for nothing.
There are so many problems that face us at this present time - putting
aside for a moment the problem of terrorists. We are told of a looming
worldwide food shortage, the impact of rising fuel prices threatens
the stability of the whole planet, global warming is now an irrefutable
fact, and swiftly increasing populations are forcing all of us to compete
for fewer and fewer resources. We're eventually going to have to stand
together and put aside our "perceived" differences, and face
these challenges as One.
If a disaster ever strikes us, like another tsunami or a typhoon,
we need to be ready to do what needs to be done, and to take care of
each other as we would our own families. With impending food shortages
on the horizon we need to learn how to feed one another in the same
spirit the Sinhala widow fed the terrorist.
And speaking of food, we should start at once to begin cultivating
our own food sources so we're not caught short, and make sure we have
enough so we can weather out the cycle. I'm not preaching gloom and
doom, my friends; I'm speaking about practical survival during times
of almost breathtaking planetary change. We can put our heads in the
sand and make believe we're just a small isolated island and what happens
in the rest of the world doesn't affect us, but if we think and act
this way we're only courting disaster. Every single event in any isolated
corner of the world affects in some way, no matter how small, every
other corner of the world. We're all joined together on this ride through
space whether we like it or not.
I am writing this as an open plea to the LTTE, the Opposition parties,
the Tamil Diaspora worldwide, the material-motivated mercenaries in
all countries who profit from our conflict, and the harbingers of racial
and social prejudices from all the ethnic and religious groups of Sri
Lanka to cease and desist at once. There is no need for more death and
suffering, prejudice and ostracism, discrimination and treatment of
others as "less than." We have no time to waste dwelling on
ancient recriminations, the origins of which is our colonial past over
which we had no control. But the past is over. Let's move forward and
welcome back into the fold our brothers and sisters who have been trapped
and isolated in the north and east. They're going to need all the help
they can get, so let's show the world we can deal with the challenge
ourselves.
We have a tremendous job ahead of us, which is the rebuilding of our
country after twenty-five years of civil war. Each and every one of
us needs to do our part to insure that we have One Country, One Peace,
at last. Let's take some time to enjoy our beautiful island, go to the
beach, climb Siripada or Sigiriya, go to our place of worship and develop
a true sense of community with all our neighbors. It's time.
Compassion and forgiveness was - and is - the only solution to all
conflict. Both of these sublime qualities are developed and cultivated
- they're not always innate. I recommend that we all pursue their ultimate
fruition in each and every one of our lives.
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