Hi Everybody,
We're just coming to the closing pages of this chapter on Buddhism and Ethics, and I must say as I re-read it, I think it covers some of the most important themes for anybody trying to understand the values inherent in a Buddhist practice, and the kind of contribution it can make to our daily lives. So today's sub-heading is, living with respect.
' let me round off this discussion by touching briefly upon the subject of respect, because it highlights what is an immensely important general point. Undoubtedly one of the most valuable contributions tha is made by introducing a consideration of Buddhist values into any discussion of human behaviour, is that they genuinely transcend culture, they don't have any boundaries, they are truly universal. So if you ask the direct question, what does Buddhism ask us to demonstrate in our relationships with other people...all other people without exception...that will enable us to create the greatest value in our own lives and our wider communities? The answer that comes back as loud and clear as a peal of bells, is this notion of respect. It is a central and indeed a dominant pillar of Buddhist thought.
Daisaku Ikeda constantly reminds us of its centrality.
' The misfortune of others,' he writes, 'is our misfortune. Our happiness is the happiness of others. To see ourselves in others and to feel an inner oneness and sense of unity with them represents a fundamental revolution in in the way we view our lives. Therefore discriminating against another person is discriminating against oneself. When we hurt another we are hurting ourselves. And when we respect others, we respect and elevate our own lives as well.' ( Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra Vol 1 p149)
Both Shakyamuni and Nichiren had profoundly revolutionary views of the way societies should function to create the greatest value for all. Those views were based essentially on everyone learning how to respect the dignity and the humanity of every other human being with whom they came in contact, whatever the circumstances. It was revolutionary then in the sense of being an ideal to be lived up to. When it is expressed in these direct terms it remains pretty revolutionary today. But let's be absolutely clear what it is asking of us, because it is a tough call, and it's one that if we take up the practice we can't fudge or somehow slide around.
Essentially Buddhism argues that if we want to live and bring up our children in a society that is based fundamentally on respect for the lives of other people, as most of us undoubtedly do, then we have to determine to become our own role model so to speak. We have to demonstrate that respect as a core quality in all our encounters and relationships. Not some but all. We certainly don't have to like everybody, still less to love them, or take them into our lives. But we do have to dig deeper than we otherwise might, and recognise their common humanity, whatever the circumstances of the encounter. That's the key point. No more but importantly no less than that. Like so many other things in Buddhism, we are called upon to make the positive, value-creating choice.
and Buddhism is very much based upon this central idea of freedom of choice. It's not remember, a morality that tells us how to behave, we choose. And that freedomof choice couples of course with the fundamental responsibility we've been talking about, extends right across the spectrum of our lives. One important interpretation of that word responsibility is indeed...respond-ability...that is to say, we always have the choice as to how we respond. Thus the way we experience any relationship is also, a matter of choice.
Good or bad. Negative or positive. Constructive or destructive. It's our choice. It's not something that is done to us, if I may express it in that way. We do it to ourselves. We can of course choose to respond to the bits that we don't happen to like, or that we feel to be the annoyances, or the irrationalities, or the inconsistencies in anothe rperson's behaviour, that happen to irritate us, or make the relationship inconvenient or awkward for us. That is if you like, the negative response. Or we can make the positive choice and dig deeper into our personal resources and detemine that we are going to create value out of this encounter, whatever our initial reaction to it might be. Not always of course. Once again we're only human. But a Buddhist practice is aimed at helping us to be more aware, and thus to recognise wha tis going on in the encounter or the relationship more rapidly...and so to make that positive, value-creating choice...more often.'
That's it for today. Again my unbounded thanks for reading this far.
My best wishes for the weekend,
William
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