The possibility of utilizing Buddhist teachings for world peace with special

reference to selected discourses in Sutta Pitaka

Shantha Nimala Bandara Attanayake

Master of Arts (Buddhist Studies) – (Candidate)

Sri Lanka International Buddhist Academy - SIBA CAMPUS - Kandy

shanthaattanayake@gmail.com, +94777665817

Introduction

Reconciliation and world peace is an essential concern worldwide today. Maintaining peace in
countries, regions, and throughout the globe has become a necessity due to disastrous
experiences that the human kind has experienced throughout the history and still being
continued due to lust, hatred, and social injustice. Since Buddhism emphasizes the importance
of practicing loving kindness to all beings, it can be utilized to establish reconciliation and
world peace in many ways. According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary,
reconciliation means ending a disagreement and the start of a good relationship again. The
same dictionary defines peace as the situation or period of time that war or violence is not
prevalent in a country or an area. Therefore, it would be beneficial to investigate the contents
of Buddhist teachings to find out means for establishing reconciliation and world peace.
Generally, peace in the world, comes to an end based on the conflicts of religions, ethnicity,
and political rivalry etc. If peace is maintained among, religions, races, and kingdoms, the
necessity for reconciliation can be minimized since peace remains as a shield to protect the
unity among diverse cultural aspects in society. Therefore, this study endevours to investigate
how Buddhism has involved in maintaining peace with close reference to Sutta Pitaka of the
Three Baskets.

Research Problem

Can there be Buddhist teachings in Sutta Pitaka that help maintaining and establishing world
peace?

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Methodology

This study is based on the qualitative method and subsequently, primary sources are studied to
identify the Buddhist teachings related to establishing peace among individuals, tribes, and
kingdoms through a content analysis. After investigating the contents of suttas, those historical
incidents are compared with the contemporary circumstances that has led to cease peace among
individuals, tribes, and kingdoms.

Discussion

The Pāli canon includes many instances which Buddhism points out the value of maintaining
peace for the wellbeing of humankind. For instance, ‘Nahī verena verānī…’1 which means
hatred does not cease by hatred and it ceases only by non-hatred, is a teaching of Buddhism
that can be practiced to encourage and establish peace among violent individuals and warring
tribes or kingdoms. It can be identified that individuals, tribes, or kingdoms in the
contemporary society are full of hatred and they intend to destroy the others whom they do not
tolerate due to diversity in race, religion, and nationality by treating them as their enemies.
When one tribe or nation is attacked by another, it is inevitable to be attacked by the formerly
harmed tribe or nation since revenge is a prevalent human quality that can be identified
throughout the history and still appears in various forms of violence. According to the
commentaries of Manorathapūranī of Ańguttara Nikāya and Sarattappakāsinī of Sańyukta
Nikāya, the Buddha once visited and advised the two clans Sākya and Koliya not to fight for
water since human lives are more valuable than protecting crops on their fields. Wassakāra
Sutta of Ańguththara Nikāya contains an incident that King Ajāsat wanted to invade a tribe
called Vajjis, when this intention of the king was conveyed to the Buddha by a minister of the
king, the Buddha explains that if a certain kingdom possess 07 principles such as meeting
regularly, meet in harmony, and leave in harmony etc., they cannot be invaded. Therefore, it
would be impossible to cease peace in such a kingdom through an invasion.

In Singālowāda Sutta of Dīga Nikāya, the Buddha advises, Singāla, a householder about five
trades that a person should not engage in. One of them is the trade of weapons. Countries such
as Iran, Pakistan, and Russia are known for supplying disastrous weapons to warring countries.
If such countries refrain from such harmful trades, it would allow many nations to be free from
warfare and maintain peace.

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Dammapada in Khuddaka Nikaya

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In Pańcasīla Sutta of Sańyukta Nikāya, the teaching about Five Precepts include a precept to
refrain from killing. Therefore, if this teaching is practiced by individuals and nations, it would
lead to maintain and establish peace since revenge of being killed comes to an end. In the
Cakkhawatti Sīhanāda Sutta of Dīga nikāya , Ten Royal Virtues have been mentioned as Dāna,
Sīla, and Pariccāga etc. All these virtues would lead to maintain and establish peace in a
kingdom. Moreover, Akkhoda, Khanti, Avihimsā, and Avirodha that have been included under
the ten Royal Virtues. They can be the essential building blocks that are directly related to
establish and maintain peace. Therefore, these virtues can be utilized to establish peace among
individuals, kingdoms and nations worldwide.

Conclusion

The canonical contents that were discussed above imply that teachings of Buddhism contain
many instances that exhibit the value of maintaining peace for the wellbeing of humankind.
Accordingly, it can be concluded that there are Buddhist teachings in Sutta Pitaka that can be
utilized to maintain and establish peace among individuals, tribes, and nations for the sake of
mankind.

Key words

Peace, reconciliation, Buddhism, Sutta Pitaka, teachings

References

Khuddaka Nikāya, 2019, Dammapada, C5, Sutta Central

Aṃguttara Nikāya, 2019, Manorathapūranī , Sutta Central

Saṃyukta Nikāya, 2019, Sarattappakāsinī, Sutta Central

Aṃguththara Nikāya, 2019, Wassakāra Sutta, Sutta Central

Dīga Nikāya, 2019, Singālowāda Sutta, Sutta Central

Saṃyukta Nikāya, 2019, Pancasīla Sutta, Sutta Central

Khuddaka Nikāya, 2019, Jātaka tales, Sutta Central

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Citations from Sutta Central

Parallels for AN 7.22//AN 7.20 Vassakāra Sutta (AN iv 17): EA 40.2//T 125.40.2 (T ii 738a11);
MA 142//T 26.142 (T i 648a24)

Parallels for AN 7.22//AN 7.20 Vassakāra Sutta (AN iv 17): DN 16#1-#38 (DN ii 72)

Retrieved from https://suttacentral.net/an7.22/en/sujato on Fri Nov 29 2019 09:52:14

GMT+0530 (India Standard Time).

References
Buddharakkhita, A., 1985. buddharakkhita. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net/dhp1-20/en/buddharakkhita
H.T.Francis, 1905. https://suttacentral.net/ja536/en/francis. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net
[Accessed 5 December 2019].
U.Thittila, 1969. https://suttacentral.net/vb14/en/thittila. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net/vb14/en/thittila
[Accessed 5 December 2019].

References
Buddharakkhita, A., 1985. buddharakkhita. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net/dhp1-20/en/buddharakkhita
H.T.Francis, 1905. https://suttacentral.net/ja536/en/francis. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net
[Accessed 5 December 2019].
U.Thittila, 1969. https://suttacentral.net/vb14/en/thittila. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net/vb14/en/thittila
[Accessed 5 December 2019].

References
Buddharakkhita, A., 1985. buddharakkhita. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net/dhp1-20/en/buddharakkhita

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H.T.Francis, 1905. https://suttacentral.net/ja536/en/francis. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net
[Accessed 5 December 2019].
Sujato, B., n.d. https://suttacentral.net/an5.177/en/sujato. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net/an5.177/en/sujato
[Accessed 5 December 2019].
U.Thittila, 1969. https://suttacentral.net/vb14/en/thittila. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net/vb14/en/thittila
[Accessed 5 December 2019].

References
Anon., n.d. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+3%3A18&version=NIV.
[Online]
Available at:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+3%3A18&version=NIV
[Accessed 5 December 2019].
Buddharakkhita, A., 1985. buddharakkhita. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net/dhp1-20/en/buddharakkhita
H.T.Francis, 1905. https://suttacentral.net/ja536/en/francis. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net
[Accessed 5 December 2019].
Sujato, B., n.d. https://suttacentral.net/an5.177/en/sujato. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net/an5.177/en/sujato
[Accessed 5 December 2019].
U.Thittila, 1969. https://suttacentral.net/vb14/en/thittila. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net/vb14/en/thittila
[Accessed 5 December 2019].

References
Anon., n.d. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+3%3A18&version=NIV.
[Online]
Available at:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+3%3A18&version=NIV
[Accessed 5 December 2019].
Buddharakkhita, A., 1985. buddharakkhita. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net/dhp1-20/en/buddharakkhita

5
H.T.Francis, 1905. https://suttacentral.net/ja536/en/francis. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net
[Accessed 5 December 2019].
Sujato, B., n.d. https://suttacentral.net/an5.177/en/sujato. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net/an5.177/en/sujato
[Accessed 5 December 2019].
U.Thittila, 1969. https://suttacentral.net/vb14/en/thittila. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net/vb14/en/thittila
[Accessed 5 December 2019].
Zubair, K. M., 2016. https://www.khaleejtimes.com/ramadan-2016/ramadan-news/most-
quranic-verses-are-based-on-peace-kindness. [Online]
Available at: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/ramadan-2016/ramadan-news/most-quranic-
verses-are-based-on-peace-kindness
[Accessed 5 December 2019].

References
Anon., 2019. https://www.inspirationalstories.com/quotes/t/bhagavad-gita-on-war-peace/.
[Online]
Available at: https://www.inspirationalstories.com/quotes/t/bhagavad-gita-on-war-peace/
[Accessed 5 12 2019].
Anon., n.d. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+3%3A18&version=NIV.
[Online]
Available at:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+3%3A18&version=NIV
[Accessed 5 December 2019].
Buddharakkhita, A., 1985. buddharakkhita. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net/dhp1-20/en/buddharakkhita
H.T.Francis, 1905. https://suttacentral.net/ja536/en/francis. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net
[Accessed 5 December 2019].
Sujato, B., n.d. https://suttacentral.net/an5.177/en/sujato. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net/an5.177/en/sujato
[Accessed 5 December 2019].
U.Thittila, 1969. https://suttacentral.net/vb14/en/thittila. [Online]
Available at: https://suttacentral.net/vb14/en/thittila
[Accessed 5 December 2019].
Zubair, K. M., 2016. https://www.khaleejtimes.com/ramadan-2016/ramadan-news/most-
quranic-verses-are-based-on-peace-kindness. [Online]
Available at: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/ramadan-2016/ramadan-news/most-quranic-
verses-are-based-on-peace-kindness
[Accessed 5 December 2019].

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