FOREWORD
FOREWORD
If we want this millennium to be more peaceful, harmonious, and happy for humanity, we will have to make a huge and unremitting effort to ensure that the future is better than what has gone before. Developing peace of mind and taking care of the internal aspects of our being is as important as engaging in material progress and improving living conditions for people throughout the world. Serious research and education are also needed so that we can better understand and communicate both the ideals of peace and practical ways of achieving them. This is in our hands, but especially in the hands of the younger generation who will benefit most from this enterprise.
The expanding field of peace studies has already played a significant role, and I warmly welcome The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Peace, which will make a further substantial contribution. This scholarly but accessible reference work will enable many of us to learn from the great ideals and struggles for peace over past centuries, and it will be a valuable resource for teachers of peace and for policy makers. Peace is a complex subject, but through this encyclopedia the issues involved can be presented simply and clearly and be made available as an international resource.
Peace is not the mere absence of violence but is a state of mind that depends on personal motivation. Genuine peace arises from a sense of brotherhood, of sisterhood—from a sense of respect and concern for others. Peace, not war, is the basis of progress, the basis of happiness, the basis of improvement. Peace means the basis of that which is growing; it is like the spring when everything is newly created and fresh. The opposite of peace is violence and war; it means the destruction of everything, the winter when the leaves have fallen; and the destruction of others is the destruction of ourselves.
From the perspective of the new millennium, I look back on the twentieth century as a century of war and bloodshed. Regrettably, we have seen most countries of the world pursue an increase in defense spending year by year, which has continued even since the end of the Cold War.
We should think carefully about the reality of war. Many people have been conditioned to regard military combat as exciting and glamorous, an opportunity for men to prove their competence and courage. Or they believe that under certain conditions war is acceptable and even necessary. In general, no one feels that war is criminal or that accepting it is a criminal attitude. In reality, we have been brainwashed: War is neither glamorous nor attractive. It is monstrous. Its very nature is one of tragedy and suffering.
Militarism is also very expensive. Pursuing peace through military strength places a tremendously wasteful burden on both individual societies and on the global community. Governments spend vast sums on increasingly intricate weapons when, in fact, nobody really wants to use them. Meanwhile, the immense financial dividend reaped from the cessation of arms production would also provide a tremendous windfall for global development. It is tragic that in 2006 world military expenditure amounted to 1.2 trillion dollars, an increase of more than one-third in ten years. Can you imagine how many hospital beds, schools, and homes this money could fund? This wastage is even more lamentable as the gap between rich and poor widens in so many countries, and many communities are facing a serious threat of food shortages. Nor is it only money that is squandered but also valuable human energy and intelligence, while all that increases is fear.
I want to make it clear that although I am deeply opposed to war, I am not advocating appeasement. It is often necessary to take a strong stand to counter unjust aggression. Yet war is violent and violence is unpredictable. Therefore, it is better to avoid it if possible and never to presume that we know beforehand whether the outcome of a particular war will be beneficial or not. For instance, though deterrence may have helped promote stability during the Cold War, it did not create genuine peace. Lasting peace can be secured only on the basis of genuine trust.
If we are to change this trend, we must seriously consider the concept of nonviolence, which is a physical expression of compassion. In order to make nonviolence a reality we must work first on internal disarmament and then on external disarmament. By internal disarmament I mean ridding ourselves of all the negative emotions that result in violence. External disarmament will have to be done gradually, step by step. We must first work for the total abolition of nuclear weapons and gradually work up to total, world-wide demilitarization. While doing this we also need to work to stop the arms trade, which is still widely and eagerly pursued because it is so lucrative.
Human problems will, of course, always remain, but the way to resolve them should be through dialogue and discussion. This new century should be one of dialogue and discussion rather than war and bloodshed. We need to develop a greater altruism and caring for others, especially in the younger generation. For those who are not religious I advocate a “secular ethics” that relies on the basic human qualities of kindness, compassion, sincerity, and honesty.
We need also to address the issue of the gap between the rich and the poor, both globally and nationally. This inequality—in which some parts of the human community enjoy abundance while others on the same planet go hungry or even die of starvation—is not only morally wrong but also practically a source of problems. Freedom is equally important. As long as there is no freedom in many parts of the world there can be no real peace and thus no real freedom for the rest of the world.
For the sake of future generations, we need to take care of our earth and our environment. Environmental damage is often gradual and not readily apparent, and by the time we become aware of it, it is generally too late to put a stop to it. Since most of the major rivers flowing into large parts of East and Southeast Asia originate on the Tibetan plateau, it is crucially important to protect the environment in that area with which I am personally so concerned. In Tibet as elsewhere in the world, economic development must respect the environmental as well as the social and cultural integrity of the affected area. Development projects should encourage sustainable practices, should be accountable to those at the grassroots level, and should embody genuine self-governance.
The bright hopes of only a few years ago when the Cold War came to an end have dimmed, and our world is now beset by a host of ailments. In Tibet we say that many illnesses can be cured by the medicine of love and compassion alone. These qualities are the ultimate source of human happiness, and the need for happiness lies at the core of our being. Unfortunately, love and compassion have been missing from too many spheres of social interaction for too long. Usually confined to family and home, their practice in public life is considered impractical, even naive, and yet no lasting solution to the world's problems is possible if approached solely on the basis of national advantage and material self-interest.
Whether a conflict lies in the field of politics, business, or religion, an altruistic approach is frequently the sole means of resolving it. Sometimes the very concepts we use to mediate a dispute are themselves the cause of the problem. At such times, when a resolution seems impossible, both sides should recall the basic human nature that unites them. This will help break the impasse and make it easier in the long run for everyone to attain their goals.
For over two thousand years philosophers have grappled with these issues, and the course of history shows both successes and failures in the never-ending quest for peace. Finding peaceful solutions to the world's increasingly complex problems in the twenty-first century will be a huge task, which must be based also upon knowledge, experience, and research. I hope that this important new encyclopedia will reach a global lay audience as well as policy makers and academic experts and that it will encourage many thousands of readers to study further and work harder for the peace on which our whole future depends. With my prayers and good wishes.
The Dalai Lama