"Do not kill; and do not let or cause others to kill.
Find whatever means to protect Life and to prevent war."
- The Buddha
.
.
.
I am ending the series of "How Foolish Can We Get?" with the greatest foolishness of all - War.
The following is taken directly from a book written by the late Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda in 1964, "What Buddhists Believe".
Please read it carefully and realise the foolishness of Mankind and his creation.
"The history of mankind is a continuous manifestation of man's greed, hatred, pride, jealousy, selfishness and delusion.
During the last 3000 years, men have fought 15,000 major wars.
Is it a characteristic of man?
What is his destiny?
How can men bring destruction to one another?
Although men have discovered and invented many important things, they have also made great advances towards the destruction of their own kind.
This is how many human civilisation have been completely erased from this earth.
Modern man has become so sophisticated in his art and techniques of warfare that it is now possible for him to turn the whole of mankind into ashes within a few seconds.The world has become a storehouse of military hardware as a result of a little game called 'Military Superiority'.
We are told that the prototype of a nuclear weapon which is more powerful than the atomic bomb which was dropped at Hiroshima Japan in August 1945, is being planned.
Scientists believe that a few hundred thermonuclear weapons will chart the course towards universal destruction.
Just see what we are doing to our human race!
Think what sort of scientific development it is!
See how foolish and selfish man is!
But for all their efforts, they have not succeeded in removing the threat to mankind.
The reason is that we have all failed to educate our young to truly understand and respect the need for selfish service and the danger of selfishness.
To guarantee true peace, we must use every method available to us to educate our young to practise love, goodwill and tolerance towards others."
- Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda (What Buddhist Believe)
"How often do we make war - not just nation to nation, but also within a nation itself, communities to communities, groups to groups, individuals to individuals, and the culmination of it all - within ourselves."
"Fight, Fight, Fight.
Attack, Attack, Attack.
When are we ever going to learn to make peace and not war?"
"All religions teach people not to kill, but unfortunately this important precept is conveniently ignored."
- Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda
"There is no justice in war or violence. When we declare war, we justify it.
When others declare war, we say it is unjust."
- Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda
"The belief that the only way to fight force is by applying more force has led to the arms race between the great powers.
And this competition to increase the weapons of war has brought mankind to the very brink of total self-destruction.
If we do nothing about it, the next war will be the end of the world where there will be neither victors nor victims -- only dead bodies."
- Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda
"We must try to build schools instead of cruisers, hospitals instead of nuclear weapons.
The amount of money and human lives that various governments waste in the battlefield should be diverted to build up the economies to elevate the standard of living."
- Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda
" 'Hatred never ceases with hatred; by love alone does it cease.' - The Buddha
This is the only correct method to solve any problem.
If everyone were to follow the advice of the Buddha, there would be no reason for war to take place in this world."
- Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda
"Tolerance must be practised if peace is to come to this earth.
Force and compulsion will only create intolerance.
To establish peace and harmony among mankind, each and everyone (of us) must first learn to practise the ways leading to the extinction of hatred, greed and delusion, the roots of all evil forces.
If mankind can eradicate these evil forces, Tolerance and peace will come to this restless world."
- Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda
"It is the duty of every cultured man to find all possible ways and means to settle disputes in a peaceful manner, without declaring war to kill his fellow men."
- Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda
"Who's right? Who's Wrong?
As long as you hurt, harm, destroy and/or kill,
You are wrong."
"Happily the peaceful live, giving up victory and defeat."
- The Buddha
