DEBATE ON BUDHISM
Violence in Gujarat has agitated the conscience of entire India. People are debating it in various forums accusing the government and fundamentalist organizations for reign of terror unleashed on innocent. citizens. The mask of culture and civilization is unmasked within no time. It is so unbelievable for a normal human being to imagine the kind of atrocities are being committed. Horror stories like murder of embryos of pregnant women, mass rape of women, burning of children make us think that why people are behaving in such a barbaric manner.
The Budha analyzed this basic human problem about 2,500 years ago by practicing Vipassana meditation. Main cause of violence is people’s desire to have what they want. People want others to change. One community wants another to change, nation wants the other nation to change. There is friction in all the societies throughout the world. Only the form of the friction differs. In some parts it may be genocide, while in other parts it may be social, economic and political exploitation. The root cause is our desire to make others to behave as per our norms and wishes.
How to rid hatred, anger: People argue that such and such event has provoked them who indulge in particular violence and a particular crime. It needs to be understood that no person can provoke other person unless one is willing to be provoked.
If our hearts and mind are calm and quiet and full of compassion no amount of provocation can make us violent. But if our minds are full of defilements due to craving and aversion, even a slightest provocation will make us indulge in violence. The Budha discovered that by practicing Vipassana meditation, one can purify these defilements of mind and fill one’s heart with love and compassion towards all being.
Vipassana is a Pali word meaning insight, seeing things as they really are. It is a technique that purifies the mind eradicating the negativities of anger, hatred, selfishness etc. by self-observation and introspection. One is able to surgically operate on one’s own mind and observe it as a detached witness.
10 – Day course: The practice of Vipassana meditation enables us to liberate ourselves from the clutches of craving and aversion, which leads to a happy, peaceful, harmonious and liberated life. To learn Vipassana, it is necessary to undertake a ten day residential course under the guidance of a qualified teacher/guide./ The courses are conducted at established Vipassana centres.
Some people argue that: How it is going to help the world it only a few persons are improved? How can the problems of the world like poverty, unemployment, diseases, violence, discrimination, war, exploitation etc. be solved by a few people practicing Vipassana meditation? We have to understand and realize that the individual is the key. An individual is a unit of society. Society consists of individuals. Individuals make up society, societies make up nations and nations make up the world. We can share with the world only that which we have
Distribute happiness: If we have money we can share it with others. But if we don’t have even a single penny, we cannot share any wealth with others. Similarly, if by practicing Vipassana we can make our own life happy, we can then distribute happiness to others. Only happy people can make a happy world. Miserable people make a miserable world. If by practicing Vipassana meditation, we can eradicate our own miseries by eradicating the mental defilements of craving and aversion, we will become happy, healthy, peaceful and harmonious. We can then distribute and share this wealth with others.
The studies conducted by the Vipassana Research Institute, Igatpuri, India, and the Vipassana International Academy, reveal that the technique benefits all people. Many meditators have reported that there is a marked and substantial improvement in their stamina, efficiency, capacity to work, quickness. in taking decisions, health and interpersonal relationships with family members, friends and relatives, subordinates and bosses. The practice of Vipassana has made their lives happy, peaceful and harmonious. The uniqueness of Vipassana is that it can be practised by any person at anytime and anywhere. The results are always beneficial.
The Budha concluded that the basic enemity cannot be overcome by enemity. Fire cannot extinguish fire. Force and violence cannot solve any problem. One can win the opponent through love and dialogue and not through violence. Therefore, if we want to have violence-free world, we have to first purify our minds and from defilements of craving and aversion and fill our hearts with love and compassion towards all being. Only then we will be able to have a violence free world.
