Gandhism and Buddhism: A Modern Perspective

Yoichi KawadaIwould first like to offer my heartfelt appreciation to Dr. Gujral andeveryone else present for taking time out of your busy schedules toattend this symposium.
Next, I would like to announce that The National Gandhi Museum
and the Institute of Oriental Philosophy have just signed an agreement tohave formal exchanges, and today’s symposium is the first academic
exchange in our newly established relationship.
The theme for this symposium, “Gandhism and Buddhism,” could not
be more appropriate as the history of human civilization now faces agreat turning point. Through our exchange, I hope that our two institutions representing India and Japan can deepen their knowledge andunderstanding of our respective views, and create a “spiritual guidepost”
for future generations to follow.
Both Gandhi and the founder of Buddhism, Shakyamuni, were great
leaders of the world firmly rooted in the rich spiritual and cultural traditions of the eternal “Great Land of the Spirit”—India. Even now, theirteachings for all humanity attempt to steer this struggling world fromthe “Century of War and Violence” to a new “Century of Peace andNonviolence.”
In 1961 at Buddhagaya, India, SGI President Ikeda stood at the place
where Shakyamuni attained his enlightenment and envisioned creating acenter from which the philosophy of Buddhist compassion and wisdom
could radiate from the Eastern hemisphere to the rest of the world. His
wish was to break the karmic chains of violence and hate that have dominated the history of mankind for thousands of years. To accomplish thismission, he established the Institute of Oriental Philosophy the following year in 1962.
As it is widely known, Shakyamuni, after attaining enlightenment,
headed toward Varanasi, and gave his first sermon to his former fellow
ascetic practitioners, and recruited 60 youth as his disciples before setting out in earnest to share his teachings. Then, he went to Uruvilva, andinstructed and converted three Brahman brothers and their 1,000 disci53

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ples. On his way to Rajagriha, the capital of the great ancient kingdomof Magadha, he stopped to climb Mount Gayashirsha and delivered afamous sermon.
After climbing to the top of the hill, he gazed down upon the lights ofthe city below, and began preaching with the words, “My disciples,everything burns.”“What kinds of fires consume us? The fires of greed, anger and stupidity consume us. We are also consumed by the flames of birth andaging and sickness and death, depression, sadness, suffering, anxiety,and agony.”
The flames of earthly desires abound in the world around us—thefires of the three poisons of greed, anger and stupidity rage on, causing
the four sufferings and other woes. He explains that these fires are theunderlying reasons for man’s suffering.
This sermon was later crystallized by the compilers of the Lotus Sutraas “the parable of the three carts and the burning house.” In the “Simileand Parable” chapter of the Lotus Sutra, it is stated, “... these living
beings have not yet escaped from birth, old age, sickness, death, careand suffering, but are consumed by the flames in the burning house thatis the threefold world.” (—from Lotus Sutra, p.60)
Fueled by the three poisons, the flames of earthly desires surge fromthe depths of an individual’s life, and embroil family, race, country, andeventually all of mankind as well as the environment and all of its living
beings. With piercing insight, Shakyamuni observed this reality of life.
The terrorist attacks on September 11th in the United States at thebeginning of the 21st century came at a time when our modern materialistic civilization had made great strides. It was a tragedy that forced us
to confront the consequences of all the violence and greed that drove ourmaterialistic society—a modern metaphor for the “threefold world andthe burning house.” The “burning house” now includes Afghanistan,Iraq, and Palestine. The flames of earthly desires are erupting in theform of war and terrorist attacks in locations throughout the world.
Immediately following September 11th, SGI President Ikeda wrote an
essay entitled, “The Evil over which We Must Triumph,” and in thisessay, he urges us to take this opportunity to stand back and re-evaluate
the nature of our current civilization.
For much of our history, humanity has been trapped in vicious cycles ofhatred and reprisal... It is the function of evil to divide; to alienate people from each other and to divide one country from another. The
universe, this world, and our own lives are the stage for a ceaselessGANDHISM AND BUDDHISM

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struggle between hatred and compassion, the destructive and constructive aspects of life.
... Unless we can achieve a fundamental transformation within our own
lives, so that we are able to perceive our intimate connection with all
our fellow human beings and feel their sufferings as our own, we will
never be free of conflict and war. In this sense, I feel that a “hardpower” approach, one that relies on military might, will not lead to along-term, fundamental resolution. (—from From the Ashes, p. 106)

He states that in order to overcome the forces of hatred, violence andgreed that currently persist, we need to shift society’s focus to develop
the qualities of compassion, nonviolence and self-control. This is thesame path of empowerment that has been shown to us by Shakyamuni
and Gandhi.
Early in the 20th century, Gandhi has eloquently demonstrated thespiritual power of nonviolence as a force to overcome the power of thesword.
I am not a dreamer. I consider myself a pragmatic idealist... Just as violence is the law of the jungle, nonviolence is the law of humanity. Thespiritual mind is dormant in animals, and therefore, they know no otherlaw than that of the flesh. The dignity of man comes from having ahigher spirituality. Based on this, we can say that man is under obligation to yield to spiritual power. (—from Young India, August 11, 1920)

The 21st century marks the beginning of the third millennium. Humanity faces a host of global issues including nuclear weapons, terrorism,war, extreme poverty, disregard of human rights, discrimination basedon sex, religion and race, and the destruction of ecosystems and environments around the world. These larger issues directly manifest on theindividual level, as blatant self-centeredness, violence, and greed and ageneral weakening and division of the spirit of humanity within people.
Therefore, it may be said that the violence that exists today, can befelt not only as direct violence, but also on deeper levels as structuralviolence and cultural violence, as categorized by Dr. Johan Galtung.
Also, not only is the scope of this violence and delusion limited to theindividual mind, it affects society on the family, race and state level, as
well as humanity as a whole.
In order to change humanity’s direction from that of violence and war
to nonviolence and peace, and from that of stimulation of evil to theexpansion of good, unceasing efforts must be made on all levels and in
all areas over a long period of time.

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Not only for a select few, but all of mankind must find a way to live inharmony with nature, and in order to have sustainable development into
the future, we must follow the path of nonviolence and symbiosis shownto us by Shakyamuni and Gandhi. My sincere wish is that through this
symposium we will be able to inspire each other to develop a deeper
insight into wisdom and action that will help us transform violence anddelusions into nonviolence and well-being for all.