Interdependence and Responsibility: A Buddhist Perspective

Dr. Kali Charan Pandey Reader Department of Philosophy DDU Gorakhpur University Gorakhpur 273009 Email: phkc@rediffmail.com & kcpandeyp@yahoo.com Ph. 0551-2200349 0-94510-50-439 Nobel Laureate H.H. the Dalai Lamas following remarks, in his address in the souvenir Tibet 84; 25 Years of Struggle and Reconstruction published in 1984, at the occasion of the commemoration of the twenty fifth anniversary of the exile of Tibetans from their homeland, presents the interface of the relationship between interdependence and responsibility in a quite succinct manner: Irrespective of varying degrees of development and economic disparities, continents, nations, communities, families, in fact, all individuals are dependent on one another for their existence and well-being. Every human being wishes for happiness and does not want suffering. By clearly realizing this, we must develop mutual compassion, love and a fundamental sense of justice. In such an atmosphere there is hope that problems between nations and problems within families can be gradually overcome and that people can live in peace and harmony. Instead, if people adopt an attitude of selfishness, domination and jealousy, the world at large, as well as individuals, will never enjoy peace and harmony. Therefore I believe that human relations based on mutual compassion and love is fundamentally important to human happiness. Following points can be gleaned from the above remark for the purpose of our analysis: 1. Every human being strives for happiness and avoidance of suffering. 2. Happiness can be attained through mutual compassion, love and a fundamental sense of justice.

3. Once human happiness has been attained, there will be peace and harmony in individual and society at large. 4. If there is a lack of mutual compassion, love and justice, and in its place there is an attitude of selfishness, domination and jealousy, there will neither be peace and harmony nor happiness in the society as well as individuals. 5. The mutual compassion, love and a fundamental sense of justice which is required for peace and harmony in the society are nothing but mental states which can be attained only through the realization of the interdependence of existence in general and human beings in particular. In its first part this paper tries to explain the above issues in order to show the significance of interdependence and in the second part it analyses the notion of responsibility and the inherent relationship between interdependence and responsibility. Responsibility requires freedom and interdependence requires some kind of curtailment in ones freedom in order to attain the enjoyment of the higher levels of human existence. It seems to be a paradoxical situation where, on the one hand, one has to be dependent on the others and let the others be dependent on ones own self - an interdependence which promises for the higher levels of enjoyment, and responsibility, if it is devoid of proper freedom, looses its significance, on the other. For fixing a particular responsibility on someone, the person must be honored with sufficient sense of freedom so that there is a scope for reward and punishment in particular and the domain of doer in general. As interdependence cannot take place, unless there is some kind of surrender to a certain extent, it seems that there is an unbridgeable cleavage between interdependence and responsibility. Let us analyse and see the depth of the apparent dichotomy between interdependence and responsibility.

I
Let us begin with above described first point. The fact that everyone desires happiness can be taken as a supporting thesis to the first noble truth of Buddhism, i.e.

there is an existence of sorrow in everything. The desire for happy living is a desire for a life which is devoid of sorrows. His Holiness maintains that suffering is a disease. Everyone tries to overcome disease and live happily. Only a life which is free from disease mental and physical can be a happy life. Now a question arises: why a happy life so desirable? Actually happy life has been regarded as the meaning of life. The existence of human being has relevance and significance so long the life is meaningful. How to live a happily? Now, in order to live happily there must be emphasis on life as a whole life in its totality. What does this mean? It means that life is like an organic whole. Every individual has different aspects of his or her life: physical and mental. Satisfaction of these both levels are mandatory for a healthy and happy life. This is the basic crux of Tantra Buddhism that in order to get satisfaction one has to live through all the desires and their satisfaction. It is through satisfying ones desires and living an intense life of consummation of desires that one realizes their meaninglessness and hence obtains a life of bodhisattva one who lives for the welfare of other human beings.Now how to get the physical and mental satisfaction? This question takes us to the above-described second point which emphasizes on mutual compassion, love and a fundamental sense of justice as means for the achievement of happiness. Whereas the first two of these are predominantly subjective, the third one is an external element of happiness. The rule of justice can be attained only through an agency which rules the society. On the other hand, everyone can develop virtues like friendliness, sympathy, joyousness, and indifference through a process of learning. One cannot be happy without these internal and external elements of happiness. The external element of happiness is ultimately dependent on the internal element as injustice breads hatred and justice infuses a sense of belongingness among the inhabitants. So, for the attainment of a happy life there is a need to cultivate these elements among everyone. His Holiness maintains that love and compassion does not benefit only the receiver but also the person who cultivate these values. It is so because in the person who cultivates these values there is less recurrence of feeling of insecurity. The cultivation of elements are necessary not only for the attainment of happy living but also for peace and harmony in individuals as well as society which has been hinted in

the above described third point. There is a difference in the emphasis in the second and third points. As has been just explained, the internal elements of happy life play major role in the attainment of the happiness of the individual. And although the external element ultimately depends on the internal elements, it is significant for the attainment of peace and tranquility in the society. Let it be noted here that there is no cleavage between external and internal here as they both work as a force for the attainment of happiness in the individuals and peace and tranquility in the society at large. Above described fourth point is an extension of the third point. As different from compassion, love and justice which brings happiness, peace and harmony in the society, an attitude of selfishness, domination and jealousy disintegrates society and individuals personality. In the background of all the above-described points lies the ultimate fifth point which shows that the final explanation is interdependence of everything in the world. The interdependence of everything in the world has been explained in the Buddhist theory of Pratityasamutpadavada.All the schools of Indian Philosophy, irrespective of their belief in orthodox or heterodox principles, hold that the root cause of sufferings in the world is ignorance of the true nature of world as well as ones own self. The true nature in fact is the realization of the interconnectedness of all the animate and inanimate elements. This is hypothesized as either as an object or a process. Further, it can have either a predominance of consciousness or matter. Therefore the underlying metaphysical reality can be either a personal and impersonal being or a mixture of both mind and matter. In heterodox Indian systems Buddhism and Jainism although there is a denial of the metaphysical realities such as God and Soul, the interconnectedness and interdependence of various stages of life has been restored in the acceptance of ignorance and the trinity of rebirth, karma and samskara. Whereas karmas cause rebirth, samskaras underlie both of these. There is no escape from ones karmas. One has to undergo the inevitable result of ones karmas. The cause of samskaras is ignorance.So ultimately it is ignorance which causes suffering. Here ignorance means the absence of the knowledge of interdependence. For the attainment of happiness, one has to live a life of connectivity because satisfaction cannot come through denial of desires but through living through them. For living through desires one needs to have a life of relatedness. That is, one has

to be connected with everything in the universe in order to satisfy ones desires there is no desires and their satisfaction in seclusion. And for such a life of togetherness one needs develop a sense of justice, love and compassion for others in order to get love and respect from them.

II
Responsibility is the act performed with a sense of obligation. The concept of responsibility entails that the subject for the action, on the one hand, is answerable and can be adjudged for rewards or punishments, on the other. As obvious from the notion of responsibility, one can be answerable and can be adjudged for rewards and punishments only if one is free in his decision to do and has performed without any coercion. That is: (1) there is no mental and physical obstruction in the way of the subject. Mentally, not only the subject knows properly about his action but also performs his action without any kind of psychological pressure. (2) The decision to perform the action is subjects own decision based on his desires and intentions. These both conditions of responsibility are based on in the presumption of the latent freedom in the doer. Without these conditions, i.e. freedom, responsibility has no meaning. Terms such as successful performance of responsibility, diminished responsibility, responsible irresponsible have meaning only in the background of the presumption that the above-mentioned conditions of responsibility a certain kind of freedom are very much available to the subject. The concept of responsibility has many domains such as moral responsibility, legal responsibility, political responsibility, individual responsibility, family responsibility, social responsibility etc. Underlying all these domains there is a notion of Universal Responsibility which is based on freedom on the one hand, and imbibes basic elements of all the domains of responsibility. His Holiness the Dalai Lama maintains that such a responsibility consists of a deep sense respect of all beings, i.e. it consists in the realization that each individual strives for happiness and living a life in which there is an attempt to actualize the ideal of bodhisattvahood. So the compassion for other beings is the core element of the Universal Responsibility.

As freedom is a latent attribute of responsibility, even performance of compassion needs a kind of freedom and power. It is so because the compassion of a person who is devoid of freedom and power is only a mental reality and devoid of practical effect. The existence of a state of love and compassion shows that the person has ability to convert his wishes into reality. In brief, responsibility and freedom go hand in hand. As there are degrees of responsibility, likewise there are degrees of freedom. Responsibility without freedom is empty and freedom without responsibility is blind.

III
The first section described that there is nothing in the world which is independent from any other thing. Everything is dependent on others. This has been explained in the Buddhist theory of dependent origination. The theory shows that the world is a bounded whole as here everything is related to other things through cause and effect relationship. As there is nothing uncaused, everything is dependent on something else. The deconstructive analysis of this theory by His Holiness the Dalai Lama shows that everything is interdependent. That is everything is a cause for something and is an effect of something else. This analysis of the theory brings out its implication for achieving happiness for an individual and peace and harmony in the society. The implication shows that only through a proper realization of the interdependence of all the elements in the world happiness, peace and harmony can be obtained in the individual as well as society. The analysis of responsibility in the second section reveals that freedom of choice and action is necessary for fixing responsibility and therefore judging the individual for reward and punishment. If ones choice or action is a result of brainwashing or coercion then the very basis of adjudging him right or wrong will be washed away. So, on the one hand freedom is a necessary condition for any performance of responsibility, for accomplishment of happiness, peace and harmony in the individual as well as in the society the interdependence of everything in the world has to be realized, on the other. Thus responsibility requires freedom and interdependence requires curtailment in the freedom for the realization of the dependence. So at the first sight it

seems that responsibility and interdependence cannot go together. They seem to be dichotomous. But, actually this is not the case. The realization of the ontological realities of responsibility as well as interdependence is a fact. Every society imbibes these two basic principles. Actually these two are not absolute concepts. They both complement each other. There is no meaning and relevance of freedom and responsibility in a world where no one is dependent on others. These have relevance only in a world which is interdependent. Responsibility is always related to something. It cannot remain cut-off from space and time. As a responsibility is a related concept, the freedom, on which it is based, is also a related one. There is no abstract or absolute freedom. Freedom has meaning and relevance only in relation with other elements of the world. In order to fix the responsibility on a particular subject it is sufficient to have a limited freedom. Its a freedom where there is absence of external constrains and any other defeating factors. In brief, it is not an absolute freedom which transcends the objects but a freedom which is conjoined with the objects in the world. So, responsibility requires a limited freedom and not an absolute freedom. Likewise, although interdependence shows that everything is dependent on other things, here is a scope for freedom as well. In our assertions of interdependence - two things are dependent on each other we recognize the independent stature of each unit. Two things cannot be said to be related to each other if, to a certain extent, they do not have their independent existence. So, although everything is dependent on another things, such an interdependence does not deny its own identity. This is the reason that interdependence and responsibility go hand in hand. The dichotomy between these two is apparent which can be exposed through an analysis of their nature as well as their relatedness with each other. Moreover, in their universal aspects, responsibility and interdependence conjoin at the same point: attainability of happiness for each and every individual enveloped in the freedom and peace for society as a whole. In the present world of democracy, it is necessary that responsibility and freedom, interdependence and happiness go hand in hand. They in fact are not contradictory to each other. They are complementary. Although in the realization of interdependence there is a feeling of loss of freedom and in the realization of ones responsibility there is a

need of freedom, yet they both aim at universal peace and harmony. For the attainment of this goal there is a need to attain the required degrees of freedom which could maintain the balance between responsibility and interdependence. The common ground of such a degree of freedom lies in nothing but in the cultivation of compassionate attitude for all beings. Such cultivation of compassion yields happiness, peace and harmony in the individual as well as in the society. Whenever there is an absence of realization of availability of the limited degrees of freedom, there is a growth of evils in the form of terrorism, moral bankruptcy, and mental disorders. So, what is significant for the well being of individuals as well as the society is that there is a need to realise that only through the cultivation of compassion, which is based on a responsive and relevant freedom as well as the realization of interdependence, individual happiness and collective peace and harmony can be achieved.