Thought for the Day, 19 July 2006

Vishvapani

When the weather's this hot it's easy to understand the Buddha's description of Enlightenment as a cool cave, a refuge from the searing heat of the day, while 'nirvana' means blowing out a flame. It's the flame of desire: the drives that propel us to destructive reactions and lead to suffering.

Perhaps it's impertinent for a Buddhist to comment on the events unfolding in the Middle East. But as we watch this complex, intractable, anguishing conflict spread with apparently inexorable logic, I want to share the Buddha's perspective, which is timeless and yet psychologically acute.

The Buddha reflected on how suffering arises and concluded that while there's a pattern of events from which escape seems impossible, nothing is inevitable. What happens is affected by external conditions - which we can't control - but also by our own responses. When we experience pain we usually respond with anger. That leads to violence, which causes pain for someone else. Then comes their anger and their violence, and the cycle continues.

But we don't see things that way at the time. At each stage we believe our reaction to be natural and justified. Each side in the present conflict feels they've been hurt and each is applying a long-prepared strategy designed for such circumstances. Israeli actions have been accused of being disproportionate but - as with the actions of their opponents - there is a rationale. Each side is doing what they believe will lead to happiness, security and eventually peace. Even bombing civilians or firing rockets at cities are, in the end, attempts to find happiness and avoid suffering. But tragedy ensues when a strategy produces the opposite result to what was intended - when our skewed ideas of what will bring peace create endless conflict.

The Buddha said 'Hatred is not overcome by hatred'. For him, conflict is never inevitable because human beings always have the capacity to choose, if only we can find the space to reflect before our pain turns into anger. In circumstances as fraught and political as those of the Middle East, such sentiments may seem like wishful thinking. But I believe they express an important truth - an alternative that offers a reference point, like a cool cave in scorching weather. The antagonists will need great calm and forbearance, but after half a century in which conflict has replicated itself, it's surely time for old strategies, old reactions to be radically reviewed.