His Eminence Master Maitreya Samyaksambuddha
His Eminence Desmond Tutu
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In May 2017, Master Maitreya Samyaksambuddha has performed the Spiritual Transmission of the GAUTAMA PEACE PRIZE to His Eminence Desmond Tutu, for his contribution to World Peace, Friendship and Reconciliation for all humanity.
Letter from His Eminence Desmond Tutu
BIOGRAPHY
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Born in 1931 in South Africa, Desmond Tutu established a career in education before turning to theology, ultimately becoming one of the world’s most prominent spiritual leaders. In 1978 Tutu was appointed general secretary of his country’s Council of Churches and became a leading spokesperson for the rights of black South Africans. During the 1980s he played an almost unrivaled role in drawing national and international attention to the iniquities of apartheid, and in 1984 he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. He later chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and has continued to draw attention to a number of social justice issues over the years.
Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born on October 7, 1931 in Klerksdorp, South Africa. His father was an elementary school principal and his mother worked cooking and cleaning at a school for the blind. The South Africa of Tutu’s youth was rigidly segregated, with black Africans denied the right to vote and forced to live in specific areas. Although as a child Tutu understood that he was treated worse than white children based on nothing other than the color of his skin, he resolved to make the best of the situation and still managed a happy childhood.
“We knew, yes, we were deprived,” he later recalled in an Academy of Achievement interview. “It wasn’t the same thing for white kids, but it was as full a life as you could make it. I mean, we made toys for ourselves with wires, making cars, and you really were exploding with joy!” Tutu recalls one day when he was out walking with his mother when a white man, a priest named Trevor Huddleston, tipped his hat to her — the first time he had ever seen a white man pay this respect to a black woman. The incident made a profound impression on Tutu, teaching him that he need not accept discrimination and that religion could be a powerful tool for advocating racial equality.
Tutu was a bright and curious child with a passion for reading. He especially loved reading comic strips as well as Aesop’s Fables and the plays of Shakespeare. His family eventually moved to the capital city of Johannesburg, and it was during Tutu’s teen years that he contracted tuberculosis, spending a year and a half at a sanatorium to recuperate. The experience inspired his ambition to become a medical doctor and find a cure for the disease. Tutu attended Johannesburg Bantu High School, a grossly underfunded all-black school where he nevertheless excelled academically. “…many of the people who taught us were very dedicated and they inspired you to want to emulate them and really to become all that you could become,” Tutu remembered when speaking to the Academy of Achievement. “They gave you the impression that, in fact, yeah, the sky is the limit. You can, even with all of the obstacles that are placed in your way; you can reach out to the stars.”
Tutu graduated from high school in 1950, and although he had been accepted into medical school, his family could not afford the expensive tuition. Instead he accepted a scholarship to study education at Pretoria Bantu Normal College and graduated with his teacher’s certificate in 1953. He then continued on to receive a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Africa in 1954. Upon graduation, Tutu returned to his high school alma mater to teach English and history. “…I tried to be what my teachers had been to me to these kids,” he said, “seeking to instill in them a pride, a pride in themselves. A pride in what they were doing. A pride that said they may define you as so and so. You aren’t that. Make sure you prove them wrong by becoming what the potential in you says you can become.”
Tutu became increasingly frustrated with the racism corrupting all aspects of South African life under apartheid. In 1948 the National Party won control of the government and codified the nation’s long-present segregation and inequality into the official, rigid policy of apartheid. In 1953 the government passed the Bantu Education Act, a law that lowered the standards of education for black South Africans to ensure that they only learned what was necessary for a life of servitude. The government spent one-tenth as much money on the education of a black student as on the education of a white one, and Tutu’s classes were highly overcrowded. No longer willing to participate in an educational system explicitly designed to promote inequality, he quit teaching in 1957.
The next year, in 1958, Tutu enrolled at St. Peter’s Theological College in Johannesburg. He was ordained as an Anglican deacon in 1960 and as a priest in 1961. In 1962 Tutu left South Africa to pursue further theological studies in London, receiving his master’s of theology from King’s College in 1966. He then returned from his four years abroad to teach at the Federal Theological Seminary at Alice in the Eastern Cape as well as to serve as the chaplain of the University of Fort Hare. In 1970 Tutu moved to the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland in Roma to serve as a lecturer in the department of theology. Two years later, he decided to move back to England to accept his appointment as the associate director of the Theological Education Fund of the World Council of Churches in Kent.
Tutu’s rise to international prominence began when he became the first black person to be appointed the Anglican dean of Johannesburg in 1975. It was in this position that he emerged as one of the most prominent and eloquent voices in the South African anti-apartheid movement, especially important considering that many of the movement’s prominent leaders were imprisoned or in exile.
In 1976, shortly after he was appointed Bishop of Lesotho, further raising his international profile, Tutu wrote a letter to the South African prime minister warning him that a failure to quickly redress racial inequality could have dire consequences, but his letter was ignored. In 1978 Tutu was selected as the general secretary of the South African Council of Churches, again becoming the first black citizen appointed to the position, and he continued to use his elevated position in the South African religious hierarchy to advocate for an end to apartheid. “So, I never doubted that ultimately we were going to be free, because ultimately I knew there was no way in which a lie could prevail over the truth, darkness over light, death over life,” he said.
In 1984 Desmond Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize “not only as a gesture of support to him and to the South African Council of Churches of which he was a leader, but also to all individuals and groups in South Africa who, with their concern for human dignity, fraternity and democracy, incite the admiration of the world,” as stated by the award’s committee. Tutu was the first South African to receive the award since Albert Luthuli in 1960. His receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize transformed South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement into a truly international force with deep sympathies all across the globe. The award also elevated Tutu to the status of a renowned world leader whose words immediately brought attention.
In 1985, Tutu was appointed the Bishop of Johannesburg, and a year later he became the first black person to hold the highest position in the South African Anglican Church when he was chosen as the Archbishop of Cape Town. In 1987 he was also named the president of the All Africa Conference of Churches, a position he held until 1997. In no small part due to Tutu’s eloquent advocacy and brave leadership, in 1993 South African apartheid finally came to an end, and in 1994 South Africans elected Nelson Mandela as their first black president. The honor of introducing the new president to the nation fell to the archbishop. President Mandela also appointed Tutu to head the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, tasked with investigating and reporting on the atrocities committed by both sides in the struggle over apartheid.
Tutu wed Nomalizo Leah on July 2, 1955. They have four children and remain married today.
Although he officially retired from public life in the late 1990s, Tutu continues to advocate for social justice and equality across the globe, specifically taking on issues like treatment for tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS prevention, climate change and the right for the terminally ill to die with dignity. In 2007 he joined The Elders, a group of seasoned world leaders including Kofi Annan, Mary Robinson, Jimmy Carter and others, who meet to discuss ways to promote human rights and world peace.
Tutu has also penned several books over the years, including No Future Without Forgiveness (1999), the children’s title God’s Dream (2008) and The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World (2016), with the latter co-authored by the Dalai Lama.
Desmond Tutu stands among the world’s foremost human rights activists. Like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., his teachings reach beyond the specific causes for which he advocated to speak for all oppressed peoples’ struggles for equality and freedom. Perhaps what makes Tutu so inspirational and universal a figure is his unshakable optimism in the face of overwhelming odds and his limitless faith in the ability of human beings to do good. “Despite all of the ghastliness in the world, human beings are made for goodness,” he once said. “The ones that are held in high regard are not militarily powerful, nor even economically prosperous. They have a commitment to try and make the world a better place.”
THE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION OF THE WORLD ASSOCIATION OF THERAVADA (WAT), ACTING ON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE WAT STATUTES AND WITH THE CONSENT OF THE FELLOWS JURY MEMBERS OF INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST ETHICS COMMITTEE, HAVE CONFERRED ON
Master Maitreya Samyaksambuddha
The Degrees of Vinayadhara, Agga Maha Pandita, Abhidhaja Maharatthaguru and Sangharaja,
For being a Buddhist Jurist in the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights, a Great Chief Scholar in the Maitriyana Buddhist University, a Most Eminent Spiritual Master in the Indian Buddhist Federation, and a Supreme Patriarch in the Maitriyana Spirituality.
Date: October 10, 2016
President of WAT: Panhasiri Pandito Guru Tep Vuthy
Vice-President of WAT: Master Yan Maitri-Shi
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Activity Supported and Endorsed by
Vice-President Venerable Ashin Acara, May 10, 2017
President Rev. Dr. ILukpitiye Pannasekara, May 10, 2017
President Bhante Sathindriya, May 10, 2017
President Ven. Bhikkhu Saddharakkhita, May 11, 2017
President Ven. Laka Mitra Bhikkhu, May 17, 2017
President Ven. Yon Bunyom, June 14, 2017
President Dr.Ven. Sheelratna Bodhi, October 1, 2017
THE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION OF THE WORLD ASSOCIATION OF THERAVADA (WAT), ACTING ON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE WAT STATUTES AND WITH THE CONSENT OF THE FELLOWS JURY MEMBERS OF INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST ETHICS COMMITTEE, HAVE CONFERRED ON
B.R. Ambedkar
The Degree of Vinayadhara,
For being a Buddhist Legal Expert in the Navayana Buddhism, drafting the Indian Constitution and struggling against the caste system with a message of Justice and Equality.
Date: October 10, 2016
President of WAT: Panhasiri Pandito Guru Tep Vuthy
Vice-President of WAT: Master Yan Maitri-Shi
———————————————————————————————————————-
Activity Supported and Endorsed by
Vice-President Venerable Ashin Acara, May 10, 2017
President Rev. Dr. ILukpitiye Pannasekara, May 10, 2017
President Bhante Sathindriya, May 10, 2017
President Ven. Bhikkhu Saddharakkhita, May 11, 2017
President Ven. Laka Mitra Bhikkhu, May 17, 2017
President Ven. Yon Bunyom, June 14, 2017
President Dr.Ven. Sheelratna Bodhi, October 1, 2017
THE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION OF THE WORLD ASSOCIATION OF THERAVADA (WAT), ACTING ON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE WAT STATUTES AND WITH THE CONSENT OF THE FELLOWS JURY MEMBERS OF INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST ETHICS COMMITTEE, HAVE CONFERRED ON
His Holiness XIV Dalai Lama (*)
The Degree of Abhidhaja Maharatthaguru,
For being a Most Eminent Great Spiritual Master in Vajrayana Buddhism, performing a Spiritual Dialogue with the main Traditions of the Western society, searching World Peace and the Liberation of Tibetan People.
Date: October 10, 2016
President of WAT: Panhasiri Pandito Guru Tep Vuthy
Vice-President of WAT: Master Yan Maitri-Shi
———————————————————————————————————————-
Activity Supported and Endorsed by
Vice-President Venerable Ashin Acara, May 10, 2017
President Rev. Dr. ILukpitiye Pannasekara, May 10, 2017
President Bhante Sathindriya, May 10, 2017
President Ven. Bhikkhu Saddharakkhita, May 11, 2017
President Ven. Laka Mitra Bhikkhu, May 17, 2017
President Ven. Yon Bunyom, June 14, 2017
President Dr.Ven. Sheelratna Bodhi, October 1, 2017
(*) Spiritual Recognition ANNULED by the International Buddhist Ethics Committee & Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights
THE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION OF THE WORLD ASSOCIATION OF THERAVADA (WAT), ACTING ON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE WAT STATUTES AND WITH THE CONSENT OF THE FELLOWS JURY MEMBERS OF INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST ETHICS COMMITTEE, HAVE CONFERRED ON
Master Thich Nhath Hanh
The Spiritual Degree of Agga Maha Pandita,
For being a Great Wise One in Zen Buddhism, transmitting Mindfulness, Engaged Spirituality and Interreligious Dialogue in the world.
Date: October 10, 2016
President of WAT: Panhasiri Pandito Guru Tep Vuthy
Vice-President of WAT: Master Yan Maitri-Shi
———————————————————————————————————————-
Activity Supported and Endorsed by
Vice-President Venerable Ashin Acara, May 10, 2017
President Rev. Dr. ILukpitiye Pannasekara, May 10, 2017
President Bhante Sathindriya, May 10, 2017
President Ven. Bhikkhu Saddharakkhita, May 11, 2017
President Ven. Laka Mitra Bhikkhu, May 17, 2017
President Ven. Yon Bunyom, June 14, 2017
President Dr.Ven. Sheelratna Bodhi, October 1, 2017
THE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION OF THE WORLD ASSOCIATION OF THERAVADA (WAT), ACTING ON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE WAT STATUTES AND WITH THE CONSENT OF THE FELLOWS JURY MEMBERS OF INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST ETHICS COMMITTEE, HAVE CONFERRED ON
Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
The In Memoriam Degree of Sangharaja,
For being a Supreme Patriarch in the Theravada Spirituality, transmitting Peace, Dhammic Socialism and Interreligious Dialogue in Thailand.
Date: October 10, 2016
President of WAT: Panhasiri Pandito Guru Tep Vuthy
Vice-President of WAT: Master Yan Maitri-Shi
———————————————————————————————————————-
Activity Supported and Endorsed by
Vice-President Venerable Ashin Acara, May 10, 2017
President Rev. Dr. ILukpitiye Pannasekara, May 10, 2017
President Bhante Sathindriya, May 10, 2017
President Ven. Bhikkhu Saddharakkhita, May 11, 2017
President Ven. Laka Mitra Bhikkhu, May 17, 2017
President Ven. Yon Bunyom, June 14, 2017
President Dr.Ven. Sheelratna Bodhi, October 1, 2017
Buddhist Defense of the New Legal Profession
The international juridical system should be updated or renewed, because professionals with advanced technical, normative and humanitarian training are needed, being undoubtedly interested about social issues. The practice of law profession cannot be nourished only from the contribution of social sciences, but can also learn a lot from traditional legal systems of tribal peoples, such as the Buddhist Tribal Law. In this regard, the international juridical system faces two important challenges: first, the contemporary law needs to be open to the future, incorporating the highest standards of human rights as the center of its theory and practice; secondly, the contemporary law needs to honor the past, respecting the complexity of tribal juridical institutions to understand the historical transformations and ethical values that are the basis of Law. Therefore, the Maitriyana teaches a new kind of law with political, economic, cultural and environmental grounds. The state legal system, on its own, is not enough to understand the complex phenomenon of Law which means that it must incorporate interdisciplinary trainings in psychology, philosophy, sociology and history, such as the Buddhist Tribal Law does, contributing to the professional formation of lawyers of the future. Particularly, perspectives such as those of the analysis of human right to peace, modern theories of social justice, study of direct democracy and the examination of the principles of responsibility in the light of environmental rights should be incorporated. These tools which are prioritized by the Maitriyana are useful to better understand the criminal and civil cases, as well as to propose new legal regulations inspired by human rights. The apprentices of Buddhist Tribal Law have training in critical thinking, by developing the ability of a clear, rigorous and original argumentation, reason by which they learn paradoxical dialectical logic by drafting ethical positionings beyond dualism. This kind of righteous argumentation seeks that laws are consistent with ethics and intuitive reasoning of Natural Law. Thus, the ethics committees and tribunals of consciousness of Maitriyana make use of the peak knowledge (satori) when evaluating cases of violations of the rights of the Buddhic people, of humanity, animals and the Mother Earth (Pachamama). The Jurists (Vinayadharas) of Buddhist Tribal Law are not necessarily experts in all matters, although they must certainly have the capabilities to wisely evaluate cases and compassionately interpret laws, even considering the metadiscussions concerning the appropriate methods to reach Truth and Justice. The spiritual masters are ethical and legal mentors of individuals, being reference sources for their psychical and social development. The Maitriyana then approaches the legal profession of future with the intention that the new generations of apprentices have professional tools to boost their practice of commitment with the Liberation of others. The Buddhist Tribal Law is a metapower whose practice is juridical teaching, by promoting the defense of ethics, human rights and fundamental freedoms. Therefore, the ethics committees and tribunals of consciousness of Maitriyana embody an improvement and evolution of the international system of Justice, which can import these traditional juridical practices of tribal peoples and adapt them to the needs of the global community. These skills of the Buddhist Tribal Law will be fundamental in the world of tomorrow, which will develop democratization and purification of Justice to unprecedented levels.
Buddhist Defense on the struggle against Impunity
By Buddhist Master Maitreya
At the opening of the Path of Spirituality, 2600 years ago, Siddhartha Gautama called on the three pillars of the Analytical-Existential-Libertarian Discourse (Buddha-Dharma-Sangha) to peacefully fight for a better world. This requires that Buddhist Law puts an end to impunity, which is the absence of Justice and Truth. This is why the Maitriyana is responsible for hearing the claim of society to urgently trying to transform reality. This metapolitics of Buddhist Law copes with impunity of powers of the State and religion, by promoting a legal process with a clear Purpose (Dharma) and an ethical judgment. The spiritual master ensures that the first step of this pathway of Superior Justice is the investigation of what is Real, because without this investigative process there is no Truth. Indeed, the Maitriyana works for the advance in creating a planetary body of judicial politics, revaluing the role of International Law and the Human Rights in the political processes of the future, but always in tune with democratic processes of popular debate. In the Buddhist Law it is considered the libertarian meditation as a laboratory where hypotheses can be tested for the construction of a new civilization, since the contemplative experience is the laboratory of juridical science of the Maitriyana. Although the powers of State do not cooperate to effectively bring Justice and Truth to the people, the court of Buddhist Law calls for an end to impunity of the political, economic and cultural Power, seeking to weaken the institutions that develop evil and deception in the world. The Free and Enlightened Being (Arhat-Bodhisattva) points out that every individual has the right to a just result, reason by which the courts of Maitriyana help the poor and oppressed ones to obtain the Cure (Nirvana) from suffering by helping them to enjoy life through the defense of their basic rights. In this sense, the Buddhist Law is the highest incarnation of the fight against impunity, which is not necessarily the lack of a prison sentence or the application of an economic penalty, but rather is an attempt of Power to try to hide the Truth of the facts, demonstrating the insensitivity of the State and religion faced with frustration (dukkha) of victims.
In the pathway of struggle against impunity, the Maitriyana highlights the initiative of the spiritual commune (sangha) which for millennia created an ethics committee to combat war, corruption, prostitution, covering-up and drug trafficking, by teaching the apprentice to purify his/her mind from these social ills. Thus, the Buddhist law considers such issues as very close to Peace, Justice, Education and Ecology, adopting a holistic approach to solve conflicts. The spiritual master calls for changing the perspective of life of the entire humankind, by directing most of his resources to fight against greed, hatred and delusion. The Maitriyana indicates that the whole civilization needs a change of direction, abandoning the path of impunity and the lies of the State in order to move toward the path of Justice and Truth of the people.
The Buddhist Law analyzes the State-Religion relationship, stating that both of them form a Power structure that is intrinsically unpunished. Both State Powers (executive, legislative and judicial) as well as factual Powers (corporative, media-related and ecclesiastic) do not lead to the Path of Truth, Justice and Reconciliation. Instead, the Maitriyana only thinks and works in the here and now as a counterpower that designs a better world. In this way, the ethical judgment of a spiritual master never is condescending with respect of the powerful ones of past and present, but it is structurally critical from its projection toward the future. The development of Buddhist Law is a transcendental happening in history, because it allow analyzing malfunctioning and impunity of the Powers of State and religion, by considering it is essential to help in the Salvation and Evolution of humanity through ethical judgments which provide the libertarian socialist framework of the future civilization. In addition, the Free and Enlightened Being (Arhat- Bodhisattva) clearly manifests that his Purpose (Dharma) is to take care of the people, so that the Maitriyana has a metapolitical function of Juridical Counterpower that calls on protecting the human rights and environmental rights, even when those who violate these rights are powerful governors or religious leaders. Certainly, the juridical metapolitics of Buddhist Law works on the general good by transmitting a vision of society that makes that its inherent dignity, which is endowed by dharmic nature, is reborn. Although the spiritual master has no duty and function to rule the world, the legal activism of Maitriyana sets limits to impunity by protecting the rights of people even at the cost of risking his own life. While governors and Popes are occupied in accumulating Power and money, on the other hand, the Free and Enlightened Being (Arhat-Bodhisattva) is addressed to humanity through a path of humility and detachment, dedicating himself to speak always with compassionate wisdom (karuna-prajna), since his main concern is the appropriate future of humankind and Mother Earth (Gaia). This is the ancient role that Buddhist Law dares to play against impunity, by protecting victims in an ethical way through the comprehension of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
Buddhist Defense of the Awakening of the peoples
The Buddhist Law seeks that the society is headed steadily toward a libertarian socialist civilization, sustainably developing itself with a specific weight in the evanescence of poverty. Indeed, the project of ascension or Awakening (Bodhi) of the peoples undoubtedly has its origin in the many Free and Enlightened Beings (Arhats-Bodhisattvas) that have existed in the history of humanity, who patiently taught world societies how to quench their thirst for peace, social justice, education and ecology. This presupposes that the spiritual master is an individual of a supreme power that makes a certain counterweight to the self-destructive deployment of the materialistic civilization, which has been crumbling due to the greatest misfortunes that have accompanied governments for generations: greed, hatred and delusion. Excepting very few cases, most of governments are a structure of corruption that profoundly impoverishes the people by not releasing it from their miseries. The Maitriyana teaches that when an apprentice can understand the reality then devotes all his goodwill to social development, by achieving unimaginable things. Instead, governments and religions do not seek the peoples to awaken, but rather seek to control society through nepotism, lack of republicanism and abuse of military forces. However, the Buddhist Law establishes that all corrupt ideology or social structure is destined to perish before the event of the future. Consequently, the spiritual master is a sign of hope in the face of the dangerous authoritarian governments, showing a direct pathway toward the new humanity. The Great Planetary Awakening (Maha Bodhi) is an innovative course change, by establishing certain measures of Opening (Sunyata) of a better world without war, poverty, ignorance and pollution. Although it is a Purpose (Dharma) that is very difficult to achieve, certainly it is not unattainable or impossible, because it is about the sudden and utopian happening of liberation from oppression. This positions the movement of Maitriyana as an influential player for the emergence of tomorrow’s civilization, by teaching how to create a Pure Land or Kingdom of Righteousness in the here and now. It has been a journey of more than 2600 years, but the Buddhist Law still maintains an ethical and legal power that does not give back to the suffering of the people. Thus the Free and Enlightened Being (Arhat-Bodhisattva) teaches the peoples to stop having loyalty toward their governors, to start having loyalty toward Law and Justice. This eloquent Detachment is key for the Awakening (Bodhi) of humanity, making the din of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity resonates in every continent. Undoubtedly, the maturation of society depends on the fact that the peoples seek to vanish their spiritual poverty, fighting peacefully against corrupt and authoritarian governments, whose tendency is never the social welfare but the accumulation of wealth and power. The Maitriyana is then a daring, unexpected and unsuspected movement for those who are attached to the hegemonic structures that oppress the peoples by setting them their destinations. In this sense, the spiritual master teaches how to make possible what is impossible, progressively restoring the relations of harmony between human beings and uniting the States in respecting Ethics, Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Through exemplary ethical judgments the Buddhist Law fights against corruption and oppression of governmental, corporative and religious institutions, fostering the investigation of Truth. Obviously, this Path differs from those who are demagogues and use the suffering of fellow beings. The Maitriyana is the creation of a future of evolution and collective maturity, profoundly transforming the society through a new libertarian vision that leads people toward a peaceful, just, wise and compassionate civilizational system.
Maitriyana Buddhist Community 