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Master in Buddhist Existentialism

PROGRAM of 2 years

Module 1. The True Word: poetry and psychoanalysis

Module 2. Practice of the Real

Module 3. Openness and the logic of Phantom’s Veil

Module 4. Serenity

Module 5. Lacan with Heidegger, Foucault and Deleuze

Module 6. Post-Lacanian and Derrida Philosophy

Module 7. Existential Analysis: liberty, temporariness, transference

Module 8. Dialectics, Liberty and Analytical Cure

Module 9. Tyche and Automaton: from Aristotle to Lacan

Module 10. Therapeutic philosophy and silence of the analyst

Module 11. Mystical language as an opening to the Real

Module 12. The forgetfulness of Being and the subject of the unconscious

Module 13. Real-Symbolic-Imaginary

Module 14. Being-for-the-death and Being-Time

Module 15. Existential Structures: perversion, psychosis, neurosis, transference, sublimation

Module 16. Philosophical discourse and analytical discourse

Module 17. Revelation and realization of the being in the word

Module 18. Existential Psychoanalysis: Sartre and Lacan

Module 19. Analytical spirituality

Module 20. God is Unconscious

Module 21. Lacan and Derrida: Deconstructive Analysis and Dismissal Analysis

Module 22. The End of Analysis: Love, Emptiness and Femininity

Module 23. Ethics and aesthetics of jouissance

Module 24. Ego or Self

Master in Buddhist Humanism

PROGRAM of 2 years

Module 1. Dream Analysis

Module 2. Symbols, Myths and Unconscious

Module 3. Relational Psychology

Module 4. Gestalt

Module 5. Personality study

Module 6. Humanistic Psychology, Psychoanalysis and Neurosciences

Module 7. Psychotherapy by Carl Rogers

Module 8. The Path of Being toward self-realization and Sublimation

Module 9. Evanescence of conflicts and psychical suffering

Module 10. Subjectivation and Individuation

Module 11. Psychoanalysis in Education

Module 12. Transpersonal Psychology

Module 13. Phenomenological psychology

Module 14. Intersubjectivity

Module 15. Sexuality

Module 16. Angst and Depression

Module 17. Psychological experience of death

Module 18. Neurosis and ordinary subjectivity

Module 19. Logotherapy and the interpretation of Meaning

Module 20. Psychoanalysis and Existentialism

Module 21. Social Psychology

Module 22. Jungian Analysis

Module 23. Psychotherapy and Spirituality

Module 24. Self-analysis

Master in Psychoanalysis & Philosophy

PROGRAM

First Semester

Module 1. Psychoanalytic Theories

Module 2. Eros and Thanatos

Module 3. Ego, Super-ego and It

Module 4. Consciousness, Preconsciousness and Unconsciousness

Module 5. Fantasy and Veil

Module 6. Sexuality, symptom and jouissance

Module 7. Transference and Love

Module 8. Unconsciousness, Language and Other

Module 9. Angst and object of Desire

Module 10. Free association, Floating attention and interpretation

Module 11. Direction of the Cure and ethics of well-saying

Module 12. Art and Psychoanalysis: aesthetical unconsciousness

Second Semester

Module 1. Psychoanalysis of the Liberation from repetition

Module 2. Being and the Real-Symbolic-Imaginary

Module 3. Ethics of Psychoanalysis

Module 4. Existential Analytics: Freud, Heidegger and Lacan

Module 5. The outcome of the analytical practice: the Real and the Truth

Module 6. God and the Non-Everything

Module 7. Position and desire of the analyst

Module 8. Sublimation as subjective structure

Module 9. Pass Practice and End of Analysis

Module 10. Empty subject: beyond psychology

Module 11. Ethics and Aesthetics of the Psychoanalytic Cure

Module 12. Remember, repeat and re-elaborate

2013

Dear Gustavo Gutierrez,
First, I congratulate you on your spiritual path. I think we both have not attended to the “funeral of the Liberation Theology”. The seeds which your work left will have fruits for all humanity soon.For my own part I am trying to restore a type of ancient system that can be termed as “Theology of the Enlightment”. Although it has profound mystical implications, it also has an important libertarian socialist vocation.Hopefully I may count on your spiritual blessing.Cordial greetings, my dear brother,
With a Spirit of Reconciliation (Maitri),
Master Maitreya
President of Indian Buddhist Federation

The MBU has created this space of thought not only to explore the parallels between Buddhism and Christianity from the East and West, which is something developed by hundreds of authors, but also to produce a fascinating interdisciplinary synthesis called Buddhist Christianity, which is a fundamental pillar of the spiritual development of Maitriyana. However, Buddhist Christianity is only the contemporary expression of the gnostic and contemplative ancient Christianity. The Institute of Buddhist Christianity transmits this avant-garde discipline created by Master Maitreya Samysaksambuddha, Rector of the MBU.

 

TEACHINGS

Gautama Peace Prize 2013

Ecumenical Dialogue with Roshi Arokiasamy

Spiritual Dialogue with the Dalai Lama

Interreligious Dialogue with Pope Francis I

Buddhas Project

Letter to Priest Gustavo Gutierrez

 

 

Buddhist Defense on Social Justice

The perspective of Buddhist Law is that poverty, together with war, ignorance and pollution, are aberrations and crimes against humanity, peace and justice. If the apprentice seeks the Truth, then he cannot fail to perceive this oppressive and alienating fact. Although Maitriyana is in favor of a lifestyle based on humility and simplicity, it is certainly against poverty and depravity (daliddiya).[1] By implementing teachings of compassionate wisdom (karuna-prajna) in society, the Buddhist Law is the maximum advocate of social justice, seeking to create a world without poverty. This goal is the path to which libertarian meditation is aimed, which is a form of thought and solidary action that seeks the Salvation of all beings, without distinction of social class or economic and political status.[2] Obviously, this passion for the Liberation and Cure (Nirvana) of society entails breaking unjust norms, just as Gautama did,[3] who provided a revolutionary system of ethical education as a way to fight against social injustice. In this way, the Maitriyana seeks the Awakening (Bodhi) of the entire great human family, realizing that the ill of a member is the ill of all, given the fundamental interconnection of the world. In this sense, the spiritual master teaches that the concept of subject separated from the others is an illusion. Thus, the Buddhist Law states that an ethical and righteous government is the one that provides refuge and protection to all segments of society, including animals, redistributing wealth to the poor,[4] such as the radical structure of a socialist commune does.[5] In this sense, the Free and Enlightened Being (Arhat-Bodhisattva) rejects the idea of individual Salvation to work for the good of the world.[6] This self-sacrificial love is the impulse to purify the mind and society, because one cannot be completely free while the others are not. Undoubtedly, this means challenging the dominant political, economic and cultural system, denouncing the oppressive, malignant and despotic powers.[7] The spiritual commune (sangha) is clearly a revolutionary counterpower that coexists with governments as long as they are not socially unjust.

The Maitriyana recalls that the Buddhist Civilization of antiquity was a social system in which there was a relationship of mutual interdependence or balance between the State, society and the spiritual community (sangha), since the State and the people protected and supported the spiritual commune (Sangha), while it ethically corrected the State when it deviated from the Law (Dharma), at the same time it acted as a spokesperson for the conscience of the people in cases of violation of their welfare or depredation of their collective rights.[8] The ethical framework of Buddhist Law to perform this supervisory function was the assignment of ten duties of the government (dasa-raja-dhamma): charity (dana), ethics (sila), self-sacrifice (pariccaga), honesty (ajjava), Kindness (maddava), austerity (tapa), non-anger (Akkodha), non-violence (Avihimsa), patience (khanti) and social integration (Avirodha). These principles constitute the basic guidance of the spiritual master in order that the governments act legitimately, so that the spiritual communes (sanghas) have a duty to report when governments violate this model of social justice. Thus, the Maitriyana seeks to reestablish the tripartite relationship of the Buddhic Civilization in which the government, society and the spiritual commune (sangha) functioned harmoniously. However, when governments are despotic, as is the case of the military dictatorship of contemporary Burma,[9] The monopoly of Power considers the institution of the spiritual commune (sangha) as a powerful rival, which always has a tendency to maintain its autonomy in the face of the State. While governments follow the principles of violence, force and oppression, the Buddhist Law rather follows the foundations of tolerance, love and non-violence to be sure that the international community lives in peace, harmony and social justice.

Maitriyana is an international movement that expresses the utopia of achieving the Cure (Nirvana) from suffering or dissatisfaction (dukkha) of society, creating a just, wise and compassionate civilization. This implies criticizing the social injustice of political, economic, cultural and environmental structures. In this way, the Buddhist Law created by Gautama takes care of achieving social justice, which has been shared by Confucius, Plato, Aristotle, Marx and Rawls,[10] among others. For the Free and Enlightened Being (Arhat-Bodhisattva), social justice is the realization of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, understanding at all times that the apprentice interexists with society. Thus, in Maitriyana, Justice is the realization or Awakening (Bodhi) of the dharmic nature of human being, so that the correct action is inseparable from an authentic way of being.[11] This vision of social justice is characterized as a process of spiritual development of all humanity in its relationship with the Real, so it is positioned as a trans-cultural metadiscourse. Through paradoxical dialectical logic (koan), the spiritual master expresses a pluralistic and holistic vision in his approach to Truth. On this basis the Buddhist Law positions itself as a global juridical system that is concerned with the human rights and environmental rights, overseeing that governments and international organizations comply with ethical and legal standards.

Maitriyana’s ethics committees and courts of conscience have the Purpose (Dharma) to build peace and reconciliation in the world, seeking the restoration of justice and harmony in society, which is essential for the survival and evolution of civilization. This means that the laws established by Gautama in the legal code (vinaya) have objectives similar to the State Law,[12] despite the fact that the orientation of Buddhist Law is certainly not the condemnation but teaching, by solving problems with the power of reconciliation and not with the power of violence. In fact, spiritual love (metta) and solidarity are capable of solving the problems of society and the environment peacefully. Thus, the Free and Enlightened Being (Arhat-Bodhisattva) shows that forgiveness (Abhayadana) is fundamental for psychic harmony and social justice.

Maitriyana is inheritor of a social justice system even older than the French revolution of the XVIII century, since the Buddhist Law has an antiquity of two thousand six hundred years in the defense of the dignity of human being, which has been the basis of politics, economy, culture and environment of the Buddhic Civilization. This ethical and humanistic system of rights and duties harmoniously unifies the Liberation with Responsibility, demonstrating that Gautama was a champion of social justice and human rights, by highlighting Liberty, Equality and Fraternity against tyranny, hierarchization and conflictivity.[13] This contributes to the creation of a civilization governed by the rule of law (Dharma) and justice, where each individual is the architect of his own destiny, since Liberation is intrinsic to the nature of the human being. However, for this to happen, Maitriyana establishes that civilization must be ethically regulated by the interdependence of the spiritual commune (sangha), society and the State.[14] In fact, the harmony or balance between these three powers can be called social justice, which is the expansion of the compassionate wisdom (karuna-prajna) in the world, since the spiritual master is deeply interested in the cooperation and reconciliation of peoples.[15] In conclusion, without the guidance of the Free and Enlightened Being (Arhat-Bodhisattva) it is impossible to reach the Kingdom of Righteousness or Pure Earth where humanity reaches the Middle Way between opulence and need. This concept of work proposed by Buddhist Law helps the apprentice to abandon egocentricity and also to join others in a common Purpose (Dharma), functioning in a way that is similar to the Marxist economic system. Certainly, the cooperative collective functioning that was introduced by the spiritual commune (sangha) constitutes a primeval socialism.[16] Thus, to reach the Cure (Nirvana) from the suffering of all humanity, it is essential to achieve a system of civilization based on social justice. Therefore, the Maitriyana positions Gautama as a socially reformist spiritual master who provides teachings with political, economic, cultural and environmental implications,[17] for the Buddhist Law establishes a framework that protects the rights of children, students, women, the sick, the elderly, prisoners, dying persons, drug addicts, homosexuals, the poor, the marginalized, refugees, indigenous peoples, animals and even ecosystems.

 

[1] M. Fenn, Two notions of Poverty in the Pali Canon.

[2] R. A. Ray, Buddhist saints in India: A Study in Buddhist Values and Orientations.

[3] Drew Miller, Buddhist perspectives on Social Justice and Poverty.

[4] Cakkavatti-sihanada Sutta.

[5] Drew Miller, Buddhist perspectives on Social Justice and Poverty.

[6] R. A. Ray, Buddhist saints in India: A Study in Buddhist Values and Orientations.

[7] S. Mydans, Monks protest is challeging Burmese junta.

[8] Ven. Rewata Dhamma, Buddhism – Human Rights and Justice in Burma.

[9] Ven. Rewata Dhamma, Buddhism – Human Rights and Justice in Burma.

[10] J. Rawls, A Theory of Justice.

[11] Michael von Brück, An Ethics of Justice in Buddhism seen in a Cross-Cultural Context.

[12] Phramaha Hansa Dhammahaso, Buddhist Values towards Conflict and Peace: Truth, Justice, Forgiveness and Reconciliation.

[13] Abha Singh, Social Justice: one of the greatest gifts of Buddhism to the world.

[14] Abha Singh, Social Justice: one of the greatest gifts of Buddhism to the world.

[15] Brahmajala Sutta.

[16] Abha Singh, Social Justice: one of the greatest gifts of Buddhism to the world.

[17] V. P. Varma, Early Buddhism and Its Origins.

 

Buddhist Defense on Tribal Courts

The Buddhist Law criticizes the model of state justice because it guarantees impunity, inequity, corruption, privileges, indifference and disappointment in face of the thirst for justice and peace to the citizens. Therefore, Maitriyana’s legal system proposes seeking for the Cure (Nirvana) of war and injustice through a harmonious and unselfish path of life, guaranteeing human coexistence based on an ethical and spiritual contract in society. In order to achieve this, it is not necessary the arbitration of the State, with its institutions, norms and fictitious laws, but rather it is necessary for humanity to commit itself to abandon a pathway that leads to its disappearance and extinction. The Buddhist Law is an alternative pathway that guides the human being toward learning and not toward punishment, affirming that only the ethics empire can adequately regulate the functioning of politics, economics, culture, justice and environment, guiding society toward the construction and conservation of a healthy and sustainable international community. This passion for ethical justice kept by the Maitriyana is absent in all bodies of the State, which is a mask and simulation of justice. The Buddhist Law is a Way that dialectically returns to the justice of tribal peoples, so it is part of a transcultural Discourse based on the virtue of equality, generosity and practical knowledge of the spiritual masters.

Historically, the Buddhic-people has developed a coherent and satisfactory system of justice. But this system of ethical justice prioritizes collective rights rather than focusing only on individual rights, so that the justice of Maitriyana is at the forefront of international Law. The Buddhist Law is based on a righteous balance between the needs of the individual and the needs of society, practicing a conflict resolution based on reconciliation (maitri) and never on coercion, because the latter is antithetical with regard to the social model of the spiritual commune (sangha). Maitriyana has a system of ethical justice which transcends criminal and civil justice of the capitalist State, seeking the Liberation of the apprentice rather than his/her alienation, exploitation and domination. Thus, the Buddhist Law aims at Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, criticizing the State Law as an oppressive, unjust and conflictive system.

The courts of tribal peoples are often considered as providers of illegal and non-official sanctions in the eyes of the State, which ignores that the tribes or communes (sanghas) possess sovereignty and self-determination, not needing state legitimacy to operate their political, economic, cultural and juridical institutions. However, the ethical justice of Maitriyana confirms that tribal courts (panchayat) are illegal only when, in order to restore social honor, resort to feudal,^[1] violent and atrocious judgments violating the human rights.^[2] This demonstrates that the tribal system of Buddhist Law is much more civilized than modern procedures of the criminal and civil justice system of the State, functioning as an alternative to local and international official courts. Maitriyana’s ethical justice does not resort to violence to resolve conflicts, so that its sentences do not contradict the legal spirit of Constitutions and treaties of the world. In this way, even though it is considered as a non-official court, the Buddhist Law works effectively on the legal basis of the autonomy of Buddhic people. This means that the tribal courts (panchayat) should not be abolished but reformed according to the principles of ethical justice and compassionate wisdom (karuna-prajna), maintaining their sovereign immunity as long as they function righteously and appropriately. Although Maitriyana’s justice is traditional, ancestral and tribal, it is certainly not primitive, barbaric or uncivilized, by establishing a system capable of guiding the subject toward Liberation and self-determination. This libertarian capability of the Buddhist Law can be especially implemented in India and Pakistan, where there are thousands of tribal peoples who wish to exercise their sovereignty and autonomy.^[3] In this sense, in this type of countries multiple legal systems coexist, existing state, colonial, tribal and religious laws.^[4] Even, in India, the State traditionally has provided official status to the tribal courts (panchayat),^[5] Which are a system where the power of justice is maintained close to society, as it allows the tribes or communes (sanghas) to govern themselves.^[6] The tribal system of ethical justice of Maitriyana seek the conflict resolución not by means of punishment but through consensus, mediación and reconciliation (maitri),^[7] ending the problems in a peaceful way such as was sought in Ancient India,^[8] so that it is an advanced system with respect to the state justice, despite its judgments take place in only thirty days.^[9] The tribal courts (panchayat) have the potential to provide autonomy to religious traditions and ethnic minorities.^[10] However, the Buddhist Law denounces that when the tribal courts (panchayat) lack of compassionate wisdom (karuna-prajna) they violate the human rights of the members of the tribe or commune(sangha), even sentencing to death or sexual torture to the accused ones.^[11] In conclusion, without the ethical and spiritual guidance of the Free and Enlightened Beings (Arhats-Bodhisattvas) the Buddhic-people, like the rest of the tribal peoples, is condemned to be perverted and to cultural extinction. Instead, when tribes or communes (sanghas) follow the guidance of spiritual masters, then their cultures survive, prosper, and evolve in the Path toward the Awakening (Bodhi).

 

^[1]  Criminology Research Institute, Punjabi Gang Rape Victim Fears For Her Life After Six Are Sentenced to Hang.

^[2]  Muhammad Saleem Sheikh, The Meerwala Incident: Shame in the Name of Justice.

^[3]  I. Talbot, Inventing the Nation India & Pakistan.

^[4]  A. S. Ahmed, Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity.

^[5]  Kimberly A. Klock, Resolution of Domestic Disputes Through Extra-Judicial Mechanisms in the United States and Asia: Neighborhood Justice Centers, The Panchayat and the Mahalla

^[6]  Shalini Bhutani & Ashish Kothari, The Biodiversity Rights of Developing Nations: A Perspective from India-

^[7]  Amnesty International, Pakistan: Tribal Councils Must Stop Taking Law Into Their Own Hands.

^[8]  Theodore A. Mahr, An Introduction to Law and Libraries in India.

^[9]  A. H. Nadeem, Pakistan: The Political economy of Flawlessness.

^[10]  W. Kaelin, Legal Aspects of Decentralisation in Pakistan.

^[11]  Amnesty International, Pakistan: Tribal Councils Must Stop Taking Law Into Their Own Hands.

 

Buddhist Defense on Social Activism

Buddhist Law is faced with the enormous challenge of being the ethical guardian of the world’s democratic systems, by strengthening the responsible and socially committed role of human rights activists as an indispensable condition for the republican and pluralistic health of planetary civilization. Maitriyana is an advocate of the spiritual values, understanding them as an inseparable practice of responsibility and commitment with the Purpose (Dharma) of a better world. For this reason, the Buddhist Law is independent from all state and corporate powers, developing itself as a cultural counterpower that imposes ethics both to the spiritual communes (sanghas) of the Buddhic people and the rest of the international community. Maitriyana does not accept to be confused with an expression reduced to what is religious, which is the manipulation of mind through deceptive ideas, because Maitriyana is closer to an advanced reason that reproduces the Sublimation and Purification of the drives and passions. The Buddhist Law adheres to the ideal of an education-oriented society, which is intertwined with peace, social justice and ecology, guiding humanity through the criterion of respect for the inner and outer world. Since it is an integral cultural voice, Maitriyana adheres to the project of a Republic of Law (Dharma), where social activists have the task of strictly supervising the rulers, legislators and judges, so that they are efficient, effective and incorrupt. This is the key for building a better world, since States tend to gradually degrade their democratic and republican systems, which is also related to the modification of social relations that in contemporary times are based on superficiality and technology. In this way, Buddhist Law works for the rising of a new kind of civilization which is not based on the mere technological mutation but on the profound ethical evolution. This spiritual transformation of humanity is crucial to survive self-destruction of capitalist civilization and authoritarian governments. In this sense, the Maitriyana proposes to go beyond both wild capitalism and dictatorial communism, seeking the consolidation of the direct democracy as the only way to revolutionize politics, economy, culture and environment, by creating ways to endow the planetary society with the capability of decision making. Thus, social activists emerge in a globalized society to deal with injustices of governmental and corporate system, without falling into hatred and resentment. Buddhist Law is then expressed as a new metapolitical movement that challenges governments and criminal courts that are devoid of ethics and righteousness. Therefore, the spiritual masters promote Liberty, Equality and Fraternity in all parts of the planet, but at the same time criticize superficiality of a society in which everyone talks yet no one listens. The ancient experiences of tribal peoples provide the Maitriyana with a tradition of cultural renaissance in which the fundamental rights of both the individual and nature are protected. This synthesis between the past and the future turn the Buddhist Law into a utopia that is anchored in the present, by opening the Path to evolution in the here and now. The Free and Enlightened Beings (Arhats-Bodhisattvas) then teach social activists how to fight adequately against greed, hatred and deceit of hegemonic Power, denouncing corruption and impunity of States and corporations. For the Maitriyana it is essential the abandonment of individualistic interests and selfish conceptions, by developing a renewing ethical leadership that has Mindfulness to the essential needs of society. While the capitalist economy is shaken and authoritarian politics is denounced because of its corruption, a generation of social activists who fight peacefully against the illegitimacy of institutions is growing. However, in order that this struggle is not a mere feeling of distrust, the Buddhist Law provides an ethical course without which social activists and democratic systems can be perverted and falling apart. In short, the function of the spiritual masters is to show the Truth, by passing through the veil of what is Hidden and unmasking the Real. By being part of a Spirituality that has a history of two thousand six hundred years, the Maitriyana calls for pluralism, which is a quality without which social activists cannot work properly. The Buddhic people have always been pluralistic and democratic, allowing the multitude of voices, styles and ways of being. However, this attitude of Openness (Sunyata) does not mean lacking the ability to set limits to governmental Power, non-violently displacing of governors and offering other better alternatives. Precisely, the task of Buddhist Law is to protect democratic pluralism, accepting social differences and simultaneously proposing to take an evolutionary step in the system of civilization. Obviously, this presupposes denouncing the aggressiveness, intolerance, divisiveness and inequality of materialistic societies. The challenge of the contemporary world should not consist in the accumulation of money and power, but rather in the accumulation of learning and goodness, incorporating the experience and willingness of social activists to have better executive, legislative and judicial systems. Therefore, the role of the Maitriyana is the task of building a more just and inclusive society, teaching that the Free and Enlightened Beings (Arhats-Bodhisattvas) have much to say about how to fulfill this Purpose (Dharma). Apprentices must live from this path of righteousness and abnegation as the only horizon for their thinking, speech and action. The Buddhist Law, as a Socially Engaged Spirituality, is positioned in history as the most dignified Path for detachment from war, injustice, ignorance and pollution, promoting the democratic renewal of the international community. Thus, through the practice of contemplative reason, the spiritual master develops areas of pluralism and utopianism in society, recommending the social activists to denounce when it is necessary to denounce and criticize when it is necessary to criticize, as taught by Raymond Aron. For Maitriyana, the individual should be forbidden to reflect on what is desirable independently of the well-being of others, since only this social commitment can save civilization from its quasi-inevitable technological self-destruction. However, this necessary ethical and spiritual evolution preserves the ancient teachings of the Free and Enlightened Beings (Arhats-Bodhisattvas) that have led humankind toward the Awakening (Bodhi) or Cure (Nirvana) of suffering. Therefore, to evolve is to return to the sources, maintaining the pathway of Liberation and rebuilding the fabric of spiritual culture of the tribal peoples.

 

Buddhist Defense on the Opposition to a Just War

Buddhist Law affirms that the concept of just war is ethically illegitimate, using the power of aggression rather than the power of justice. For the Maitriyana war is an organized violence that systematically causes the destruction of life,^[1] so that the only just recourse is the pacifism shown by spiritual masters such as Gautama, Jesus and Francis of Assisi. The Free and Enlightened Beings (Arhats-Bodhisattvas) maintain that non-violence (ahimsa) is a powerful ethical force with the ability to evade hatred within the mind and heart of the aggressor. Therefore, the Buddhist Law considers that there is no valid right to war (jus bellum), but rather there is a human right to peace (jus pax). Unlike Catholic morality, the Maitriyana considers that there is no just war, considering that violence and militarism are intrinsically unjust and savage. Both the notion of holy war of religion and the notion of just war of the state are rejected by the Buddhist Law as false justifications, considering that equanimity and love of fellowmen must be the real resources in the face of aggression. This means that the human right to peace is superior with respect to the right to sovereignty and territoriality. However, this supreme human right to peace is not only intrinsic to humanity but also to all living beings, so that it is an absolute right of the whole existence. In this sense, even if they did not attack civilian populations, the traditions of holy war and just war are crimes against humanity and life, being resources that forget the dignity of every living being. The Purpose (Dharma) of Maitriyana is then the evanescence of all form of war, which go completely against the lifestyle of justice, righteousness and Spirituality. The Buddhist Law seeks to protect and preserve the ethical values as a guidance to Salvation, considering that political, economic, cultural and environmental problems have to be confronted by adequate and non-violent means. This leads the spiritual master to condemn nationalism and State cult,^[2] which are contrary to the internationalist vision of world peace. The Maitriyana criticizes war as one of the most powerful evils in the world, as it worsens conflicts rather than leading to resolution. In this way, pacifism is an ethical horizon for Buddhist Law and its legal code (vinaya), which is oriented toward compassionate wisdom (karuna-prajna) and never toward harm or coercion against other living beings.^[3] Indeed, Maitriyana confirms that the notion of righteous war (dharma yuddha) does not refer to a violent conflict but rather to a struggle through ideas and messages of peace, love, tolerance and benevolence.^[4] This pacifist doctrine is the ethical duty and contemplative practice of the Free and Enlightened Beings (Arhats-Bodhisattvas), whose social tradition is governed by the principle of autonomy, self-determination and responsibility on the Path to Salvation.^[5] However, since suffering is inevitable, the Buddhist Law does not assume an absolutist moral position, stating that the apprentice should seek to cause the least possible harm, reason why within the spiritual commune (sangha) there is no place for the violent resources of holy war or just war,^[6] seeking the Sublimation of the forces of greed (loba), hatred (doha) and deceit (moha). For this reason, the system of justice of Maitriyana is based on conciliatory methods of conflict resolution,^[7] instead of justifying war, xenophobia and nationalism just as States and religions ideologically do. The The Buddhist Law is the defender, protector and guardian of the Purpose (Dharma) of life, seeking the expansion of consciousness of ever living being instead of seeking their destruction and death. The political and juridical paradigm of Maitriyana never justifies violence and war, proposing a model of response which is guided by righteousness, solidarity and peace. This metapolitical model proposes the total incorporation of the Purpose (Dharma) and spiritual commune (sangha) within the state ideology,^[8] seeking peace and social harmony through the principles of agreement, consensus and pluralism. Thus, the Buddhist Law proposes an open and democratic society,^[9] where the espiritual commune (sangha) acts as the ethical consciousness of society,^[10] ensuring that Justice and Truth exist.

 

^[1]  Laksiri Jayasuriya, Just War Tradition and Buddhism.

^[2]  S. Hauerwas, Christian Contrarian.

^[3]  H. Saddhatissa, Buddhist Ethics: Essence of Buddhism.

^[4]  Laksiri Jayasuriya, Just War Tradition and Buddhism.

^[5]  Dhammapada.

^[6]  Laksiri Jayasuriya, Just War Tradition and Buddhism.

^[7]  P.D. Premasiri, The Place for a Righteous War in Buddhism.

^[8]  J.D. May, Transcendence and Violence.

^[9]  A. Sen, The Argumentative Indian.

^[10]  Laksiri Jayasuriya, Just War Tradition and Buddhism.

 

Buddhist Defense on the Abolition of the Death Penalty

The Buddhist Law considers that torture and death penalty are the most terrible punishments implemented by States that violate human rights. These oppressive practices are often backed by religious views or nihilistic attitudes, as is the case with governments such as Iran. In fact, both metaphysics and materialism have enormous power within judicial systems. Therefore, the struggle against the death penalty is for Maitriyana an international project that goes against the current of the contemporary world, which confuses justice with revenge. Given that the mission of Gautama was that the entire humankind achieves the Cure (Nirvana) from suffering, the Path of Buddhist Law (Buddha-Dhammapada) assumes that the death penalty is the utmost negation of intrinsic dignity or dharmic nature (buddhata) of the human being. The vehicle of Maitriyana helps society to abandon greed, hatred and deceit, by teaching a daily life based on humility, solidarity and Truth. This means that Buddhist Law fights dogmatism and fundamentalism as social evils that poison the mind of the subject, seeking their evanescence through contemplation (dhyana), compassionate wisdom (karuna-prajna) and ethics (sila). In this sense, although the legal code (vinaya) of the spiritual commune (sangha) is wide, it certainly has five essential ethical precepts that imply abstention from murder, robbery, rape, lying and drugging. Thus, a model of Buddhic Civilization fully promotes the abolition of the death penalty, preserving life with spiritual love, simultaneously resorting to the rehabilitation of the criminal – as much as possible – to his/her expulsion and exile, which was used as punishment by some ancient cultures of Asia.^[1] Thus, the Maitriyana teaches a pathway of justice without hatred, cruelty and vengeance, seeking goodness and Liberation for all beings. At the same time, the ethical precept of non-murder involves both humans and animals, insects and trees, demonstrating that Buddhist Law is a juridical movement which is a pioneer in human rights and environmental rights. However, when States have not followed these ethical precepts then the communes (sanghas) of spiritual apprentices and masters have been established themselves as sepárate communities that are autonomous and governed by their own spiritual law.^[2] Indeed, the legal tradition of Maitriyana, with its political, economic, cultural and environmental influence, is a millenary custom that has been abandoned by the countries of the Southeast Asian civilization, which is why they maintain the punishment of dead penalty even if it is contrary to the principles of non-violence (ahimsa) and compassionate wisdom (karuna-prajna) of Buddhist Spirituality (Buddha-Sasana).^[3]

In contrast to international human rights movements such as the Buddhist Law, the capitalist civilization is in favor of death penalty, even using this condemnation against mentally retarded individuals,^[4] and also against underage youth.^[5] These kind of events go against the natural evolution of International Law,^[6] a progress that is clearly embodied by the Maitriyana, because even the capitalist civilization has shown that it often uses capital punishment against racial minorities and marginalized social classes.^[7] This attitude on the part of materialism that violates human rights, paradoxically is also shared by many Christians, who ignore not only the compassionate wisdom (karuna-prajna) of Master Jesus but also the fact that he himself was executed with the death penalty.^[8] For its part, the Path of Buddhist Law (Buddha-Dhammapada) has a position of strong spiritual condemnation against the death penalty, which is evident in its five ethical precepts.^[9] In fact, Master Nagarjuna himself advised King Udayi to generate attitudes of compassionate wisdom (karuna-prajna) toward the murderous prisoners, expelling them or exiling them instead of torturing and murdering them.^[10] But obviously, Maitriyana recalls that there is also the possibility of social rehabilitation for those who have murdered, just as Gautama showed with Angulimala,^[11] teaching that this mechanism is possible within the framework of communities (sanghas) oriented toward learning and the evanescence of errors, trying to mend their damage to contribute to society. Thus, in the system of Buddhic Civilization of Ancient India the death penalty was abolished,^[12] which has been evidenced by mendicants (bhikkhus) pilgrims from China, such as Fa-Hieh and Hye Ch’o.^[13] The Buddhist Law favors all human beings to reach Awakening (Bodhi), by developing their latent intrinsic goodness, which is why their quest for spiritual rehabilitation and Cure (Nirvana) is structurally contrary to death penalty.

The Maitriyana denounces that States of the international community which are most reluctant to abolish the death penalty are those in which discrimination and violent racism persists.^[14] While prisons take convicts away from the human community, instead, the death penalty separates them from the community of life. For its part, the tradition of Buddhist Law offers a practice and theory that allows the evolution of thought, word and action, religating the individual with the holistic field of Inter-existence. Libertarian meditation produces a transformation in the apprentice’s psychic and social attitude, allowing him/her to evade any vestige of abuse, violence or lies existing in his/her life. For this reason, in Maitriyana, any kind of criminals have the possibility of being redeemed if they follow the adequate means of life, considering the death penalty as a barbaric act on the part of the State,^[15] since it eliminates that possibility of learning and redemption. The Free and Enlightened Beings (Arhats-Bodhisattvas) live in a state of ontological openness (Sunyata) to the suffering of others, and this obviously includes the suffering of criminals sentenced to capital punishment.^[16] In addition, the spiritual master is someone who has understood that he/she is in complete connection both with the rest of human beings and with the whole system of life of which he/she is a part.^[17] In this sense, the realization of Opening (Sunyata) of mind involves the recognition of the Empty Dynamic Ground of the True Self, not clinging to any personal position of the Ego. Therefore, it is a wise and compassionate response to the needs of others.^[18] By being empty of the illusions of egoism, dualism and consumerism, the Free and Enlightened Being (Arhat-Bodhisattva) devotes its life to the mission of awakening both the victims and the aggressors, being totally open and without aggression toward others.^[19] This compassionate wisdom (karuna-prajna) of detachment is the key and basic atmosphere of the Path of Cure (Nirvana).^[20] The solidarity of Buddhist Law differs precisely from the state criminal law and the media, which often consider the perpetrators or killers as inhuman.^[21] On the other hand, the Maitriyana affirms that it is a myth the excuse that the death penalty offers a sense of closure to the victims,^[22] since hatred and revenge are poisons for the mind, spreading like a cancer that infects the whole cosmovision of the individual. In short, the death penalty reduces the murderer to a mere object,^[23] violating the sanctity of life. States of the contemporary world have a duty to offer alternatives to this type of punishment, even allowing the rehabilitation and redemption of criminals, because forgiveness and reconciliation (maitri) are the true closure for suffering and dissatisfaction (dukkha) of victims. Respect for the intrinsic dignity of all living beings, together with the orientation of society toward learning, are the basis of the civilization of future.

 

 

^[1]  B. E. McKnight, The quality of mercy: amnesties and traditional Chinese justice.

^[2]  L. T. Lee & W. W. Lai, Chinese conceptions of Law: Confucian, Legalist and Buddhist.

^[3]  D. P. Horigan, Of Compassion and Capital Punishment: A Buddhist Perspective on the Death Penalty.

^[4]  E. F. Reed, The penry penalty: capital punishment and offenders with mental retardation.

^[5]  S. D. Strater, The juvenile death penalty: in the best interests of the child?

^[6]  W. A. Schabas, The abolition of the death penalty in the International Law.

^[7]  A. Aguirre & D. V. Baker, Race, Racism and the Death Penalty in the United States.

^[8]  D. P. Horigan, Of Compassion and Capital Punishment: A Buddhist Perspective on the Death Penalty.

^[9]  Nandasenda Ratnapala, Crime and Punishment in the Buddhist tradition.

^[10]  Maestro Nagarjuna, Rajaparikatha-ratnamala (The precious garland of advice for the king).

^[11]  Angulimala-sutta.

^[12]  J. Legge, A record of Buddhist Kingdoms: Being an account by the chinese monk Fa-Hieh of his travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-419).

^[13]  Hye Ch´o, The Hye Ch´o diary: memoir of the pilgrimage to the five regions of India.

^[14]  D. Garland, Peculiar institution: America´s Death Penalty in an Age of Abolition.

^[15]  M. Hamer, America´s Death Penalty is barbaric.

^[16]  M. Davidson, Compassion and the Death penalty.

^[17]  D.T. Suzuki, Passivity in the Buddhist life.

^[18]  R. A. Ray, Indestructible Truth: the living Spirituality of Tibetan Buddhism.

^[19]  C. Trungpa, The myth of freedom and the way of meditation.

^[20]  C. Trungpa, Cutting through spiritual materialism.

^[21]  C. Haney, Death by design: capital punishment as a social psychological system.

^[22]  R. Greber & J. Johnson, The top ten Death penalty myths: the politics of crime control.

^[23]  M. Davidson, Compassion and the Death penalty.