Let this body of mine be dedicated to the service of others. The profound doctrine of love and non-violence thus emerges from the bosom of Buddhist doctrine. Science and technology have given us mastery of the forces of nature where they are hostile and dangerous. There is no doubt that these two faculties of knowledge have reduced suffering on a mass scale, particularly when the suffering is caused by the brute nature like flood and epidemic, poverty and disease, viruses and germs. Pain is mercifully subdued by drugs, diseases are nipped in the bud by preventive and curative medicines.
People are on the whole healthier and hence happier.
There is a greater awareness today about the secrets of existence and about the oneness of humanity, thanks to the technology of communication. Crimes are detected, culprits brought to books, justice dispensed. But these are only done in individual cases. On the other hand, the same technology has generated and diffused powerful engines of destruction. It has a feedback of mistrust and suspicion, self-centredness and aggression.