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The Way of Peace

My first zen teacher was a Japanese priest who came to the US in 1962. Many of the people that came to study zen with him were young people involved in what used to be called the youth counter culture. During the time of the Vietnam war he advised many of his students not to become involved in the anti-war movement. Some people stopped studying with him because of this, and others continued being his students even though some of them couldn't understand why he gave that advice.

This took place before I became a zen student, but I think that what he was counseling against was the kind of violence and aggression that sometimes finds expression in political movements. I think that he felt that taking an inflexible political position is not in accord with the teachings of the dharma, no matter whether it was in favour of or in opposition to the war.

I myself was involved in the anti-war movement in the US for a time. I remember feeling a lot of anger and frustration at what my country was doing and at what was happening to people my age who were in the military. I protested, I sat in, I fasted, I handed out leaflets, I wrote letters, I went on marches and the situation just seemed to get worse. In the US people were being beaten and killed for demanding that justice be available to all Americans. In Southeast Asia, my countrymen were bringing enormous suffering to an entire population. People were being brutally murdered, people were becoming brutal murderers. It was too much to bear. All this anger and frustration and shame made it easy for me to hate my own government.

I remember in about 1966 I was with a group of friends in NY watching television. The beat poet and Buddhist Allen Ginsberg was being interviewed on a late night talk show. The interviewer had very little respect for Ginsberg and wanted to put him in his place. He baited his guest by saying, “you think people should hate the United States don't you?” Ginsberg responded in an almost friendly manner. He said, “No I think people should love the United States, they should love their country and care for their country and do their best to keep their country from making such terrible mistakes and causing so much suffering. But they should do this out of love for their country.”

I was very impressed. I had expected, perhaps even wanted, Ginsberg to spout anger and hatred at the US for the war in Vietnam, I hadn't expected him to talk about love, but when he did it really struck a chord. I knew that he was right and something inside me felt a little more positive, a little less alienated. I didn't know it yet, but perhaps I had gotten a glimpse into how to bear the unbearable.

I should mention that there are many Buddhist teachers who support and help their students in finding a way to act against war and injustice that is consistent with the dharma.

One of my proudest moments as a father came three years ago when my son asked me to go with him to a silent vigil in opposition to the Iraq war. I was deeply moved that he wanted to do this with me. I had no illusions that this vigil, being held in Vancouver's version of the zócalo, would be truly silent, although I still hoped it would be. Of the several hundred who came, there were many who just sat in silence, maybe holding a candle, as my son and I did. But there were other anti-war speakers and activists who couldn't seem to keep quiet. There were loud and angry speeches as well. I think that in part, this came from an energy that just couldn't bear the suffering, or the anger and frustration that people felt in the face of the conflict and the rhetoric of the conflict.

That sort of cathartic expression may release some of that energy, but I think it does very little to actually improve the situation. In fact, I think it just creates more conflict, more attacking others and defending oneself.

“There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.” So said A.J. Muste, American Peace activist. Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist teacher and Vietnamese Peace activist reminds us that “Peace is Every Step.”

So what can we do? Calm the urge to react in anger and frustration, but don't turn our backs on the suffering. In order to bring more peace to the world, we must find peace in ourselves, but we can't stop there. We must find peace in ourselves, and carry it to our families, our friends, and our communities and we must continue bringing this peace to the world. We can't wait for perfection to do this, or even expect it, but we can just keep being present. We can try with full intention to take each step in peace. We can do our best to bring peace into our own lives while at the same time doing our best to bring peace into the world.

There's a wonderful teaching called the Brahma Viharas. Brahma Viharas can be translated as “noble abodes” or “boundless states” or just “immeasurables”. These four are metta (lovingkindness), karuna (compassion), mudita (shared joy) and upekka (equanimity). The Buddha taught how to cultivate these states and he taught that it is necessary to start with cultivating them in oneself. If we are sincere about wanting peace and if we believe it is possible, we need to nurture and cultivate it in ourselves as we nurture and cultivate it in our surroundings and in our world. As Gandhi said, “We must be the change that we wish to see.”

© 2006, Burai Rick Spencer