9 11

9 11

ISBN : 974-218-337-6

This book has been printedfor free distribution

through the kind generosityof Mrs. Nuanchan Pornpibul.

Copyright is reserved onlywhen reprinting for sale.

Permission to reprintfor free distribution is hereby given

as long as no changes are madeto the original.

PrintedbyVibulkij Publishing Group

Bangkok, THAILANDTel. (662) 331-9789

9 11

9 11

ABUDDHIST

REFLECTIONON THE TRAGEDY

OFSEPTEMBER

11Ajahn Jayasaro

9 11

9 11

ABUDDHIST

REFLECTIONON THE TRAGEDY

OFSEPTEMBER

11Ajahn Jayasaro

9 11

9 11

n the wake of the September 11,2001 terrorist attack in New YorkCity, a ceremony was organised atBenjamabopitr Temple, Bangkok,Thailand in remembrance of thosewho passed away in that tragic event.Ajahn Jayasaro gave a Dhamma talkon September 17, 2001 to anaudience including members of thediplomatic corps giving a Buddhistperspective on the tragedy .

I

Foreword

9 11

Ajahn Jayasaro’s main point was thatthe root cause for such an inhuman actwas a fundamental lack of wisdomand understanding of the humancondition. In this connection, hereiterated that one of the Buddha’steachings is that all human beingsare companions in birth, in old age, insickness and in death. Buddhists maytrain themselves to cope with thattype of situation through stillness,wisdom and reflection. Throughforgiveness, more lives may not havebeen lost and peace may have beenbetter maintained.

9 11

We are profoundly grateful to AjahnJayasaro for his kind permission topublish this Dhamma talk. Wesincerely hope that this book willprovide a different but usefulperspective to those who aredetermined to maintain global peaceand security.

May all beings live in peace,respecting and understanding oneanother.

9 11

9 11

Na hi verena veranisammantidha kudacanamaverena ca sammantiesa dhammo sanantano.

Dhammapada Verse 5

At anytime in this world,Hatred never ceases by hatred,But through non-hatred it ceases.This is an eternal law.

9 11

9 11

9 11

9 11

9 11

9 11

uddhists believe that goodactions create what is called pu��a,a positive karmic force, the benefitsof which may be shared with thosewho have departed from the humanrealm. Consequently, ceremonies

B

9 11

involving dedication of pu��a lieat the heart of Buddhist funeralrites. We have gathered here todayin order to take part in just such aceremony. Although such an eventis very common in Buddhist tem-ples throughout Thailand, today’sproceedings are unusual for anumber of reasons. To begin with,those with whom we are sharingpu��a, lost their lives not here inBangkok but many thousands ofmiles away in New York. Secondly,

2

9 11

3

most of them, and indeed many ofthe people here today are notBuddhist. And thirdly, I myself,although ordained in the Thai mo-nastic order for over twenty years,am not Thai by birth, but English. It isan unusual event then, but one that Ithink bears testament to a re-assuring fact: that globalization ofsympathy and concern can be everybit as real as the globalization ofhatred and aggression. We meet inresponse to the wish of the Buddhists

9 11

of Thailand to share pu��a withthose who died on September 11, andalso to formally offer condolences toall who have lost loved ones.

My particular role in the proceed-ings today is to give a Dhammadiscourse. It is the Buddhist customthat at times of bereavementmonks are invited to speak aboutthe nature of human existence.

4

9 11

5

Buddhists believe that beingreminded of simple truthsabout the human condition atsuch times helps us to cometo terms with grief and pain,

9 11

and may enable us to respond wiselyto the unwelcome changes in our livesthat have occurred. Listening toreligious teachings that help us tounderstand things more clearly, isalso considered to be one of the bestways of creating the pu��a that weintend to share with the departed.

I would like to start by making afew remarks about the Buddhistattitude to the fundamental question oflife and death. Despite the widespread

6

9 11

7

dissemination of the Buddhistteachings in the West over the pastfifty years or so, a number ofmisconceptions about them remain.One of the most unfortunate of theseis the tendency to perceive inBuddhism a religion of indifference,one which gives scant importance tothe sanctity of human life. In thispresentation Buddhists are said tothink that everything awful thathappens to people is just their“karma”; in other words it is fated, it

9 11

serves them right, it’s their own fault.Buddhists believe, it is said, that thewise person should simply accept theworkings of karma and remain calmand indifferent. This may soundsomewhat familiar; it is however notat all what the Buddha taught. It is aview that misrepresents the nature ofkarma, and the wise relationship to itthat the Buddha encouraged us todevelop. Fatalism and passivity arenot Buddhist teachings. How werespond to experiences is also karma.

8

9 11

On many occasions, the Buddha madeit very clear that he considered birthin the human realm to be a wonderfulthing. He said, “Monks, it is a greatgain, it is great good fortune to be bornas a human being”. Why? Well,firstly, due to the great difficulty ofattaining such a birth and secondly theunique advantages that it provides forthe realization of enlightenment. In oneof his most graphic similes, the Buddhadescribed a small wooden hoopfloating in the middle of a great ocean,

9

9 11

from the surface of which everyseveral hundred years a blind turtleemerges. The Buddha compared thechances of that blind turtle emergingin exactly the spot where that woodenhoop is floating, its head passingthrough the hoop, as exceeding thoseof a being wandering through thevarious realms of existence being bornas a human being. Given the rarity ofhuman birth and the advantages itconfers for spiritual liberation, thesanctity of human life is stressed in

10

9 11

11

the Buddhist teachings. Every singlelife, without exception.

In Buddhism we are encouraged todwell on those truths which en-noble the mind. One of them is ourcommon humanity. We learn to re-flect on the things which bring ustogether rather than those thingswhich separate us. Of course, thedifferences between each of us —even those born in the same countryor in the same city or come from the

9 11

same social background — arealready considerable. But if weconcentrate on those things that setus apart, then they will come to seemmore and more real, and we willdespair of finding true peace andharmony in our lives together in thisworld. The Buddha encouraged usto consider that every one of us onthis planet are companions: com-panions in birth, companions in oldage, companions in sickness, com-panions in death. Every single one of

12

9 11

us sitting here today will, withoutdoubt, sooner or later, have to facethe reality of death. Everyone of ushas already experienced the reality ofsickness to some extent or another.And unless any of us is unfortunateenough to meet a premature death wewill all have to experience the in-firmities of old age. When we giveserious consideration to our com-panionship in birth, old age, sickness,and death with all other beings in theworld, it gives us a fresh perspective,

13

9 11

14

— and I think a wise one — on thatwhich separates us.

We can see all around us the humandesire to escape the pain of in-security through identification witha group or belief system, to feel rightor special or chosen. It is also clear,isn’t it?, how that desire encouragesthe exaggeration of ethnic, religious,political differences, and engenders somuch needless conflict in the world.We grasp onto things so tenaciously

9 11

even though they constantly let usdown. So many people feel safe onlyby keeping their eyes tightly shut.

And the remedy? Simply to stop andlook more closely — more devoted-ly and yet less dogmatically — at ourhuman nature. Before we areCaucasians, Asians or Africans;before we are Buddhists, Christians orMuslims, we are vulnerable, mortalbeings. It’s an old truism, isn’t it?, thatwe’re all just one big human family, but

15

9 11

the familiar saying contains within itan invitation to transformation of theway we lead our lives. What I’madvocating here is not so much asuperficial acceptance of a clich� butfor us to work hard for a moreprofound insight into the simple truththat lies behind the words. It wouldsurely be impossible to get everyonein the world to see things in the sameway. Fortunately it is neithernecessary nor indeed desirable. Whatis needed, I would like to suggest, is

16

9 11

for us all to try to make the difficultjourney of human life with a humbleintegrity and empathy based onwisdom.

Self knowledge is praised by allreligions. The problem is, of course, howto develop it. The Buddhist path is oneof wisdom and reflection, and it isdistinguished by its emphasis on thenecessity for a comprehensiveeducation of the way we live our lives.Unlike most animals, which after a few

17

9 11

hours or a few days can fend forthemselves, human beings aredependent for many years on theirparents and teachers for survival andsocialization. This long-term de-pendency is a defining characteristicof human beings; we become fullyhuman through education rather thaninstinct. Seen in a positive light, thistruth demonstrates our basiceducatableness. That is an ungainlyword that probably doesn’t exist butnever mind. What I’m trying to point

18

9 11

to here is the wonderful innatecapacity we have to learn and changein beneficial ways. Buddhism teachesus to exercise this capacity to the full.It extends the concept of educationto cover every aspect of our lives —the way we relate to the materialworld, the way we relate to the peoplearound us and the society in which welive, the way we conduct our innerlife; it encompasses the education ofour moral, intellectual, emotional andspiritual life.

19

9 11

When we try to look at the causesand conditions contributing to theterrible events that occurred at theWorld Trade Center some few daysago (and indeed, the terrible eventsthat occur all over the world everymonth of the year) I think we candiscern a pattern. I would proposethat the root cause for “man’sinhumanity to man” lies in a basicfailure of education, a fundamentallack of wisdom and understanding ofthe human condition. Immorality is a

20

9 11

21

function, in other words, of immaturity.

Buddhism considers the quest for adirect experiential understanding of thehuman condition as the heart ofspiritual life. It employs a vast arrayof skillful means and ways of reflectingon life, which people of other religioustraditions or indeed people of noreligious tradition, might benefit. Themore profound our understanding ofour existence as human beings is, themore we are protected from blind

9 11

identification with narrow categories,whether they be social, ethnic or re-ligious. We all as human beings havethe capacity to reflect on experience,to learn from it. Whatever religionwe profess we can, for instance, lookat the effect on our mind of the strongattachment to ideas of us and them.Theists, atheists, polytheists areequally capable of observing how theidea of us and them affects how andwhat information we absorb from oursurroundings, how we interpret that

22

9 11

23

information, and how we expressourselves in our actions and words.We can begin to notice our tendencyto believe in the labels we attach tothings, and what strong negativeemotions are conditioned by thosebeliefs.

As Buddhists, we devote ourselves tolearning how to maintain clarity ofmind, fundamental compassion andintelligence, as a constant inner refuge.

9 11

It is not so difficult to be clear aboutissues which don’t personally affect us,or those which provoke no strongfeelings. The real challenge is to beawake even in the midst of a hurricaneof emotions — when we are hurtand betrayed, angry and afraid. Clarityof mind means that when things getrough we can still receive the bless-ings of the principles we uphold. Innerclarity is thus the ground in which thedignity and meaning of life can grow.

24

9 11

An inner refuge does not come easily.It can only be brought about by athoroughgoing commitment to this life-education, a training of the way we liveinternally and externally. Buddhistteachings are seen then, in summary,not as dogmas to be believed in (orrejected), but tools to be made use of.We use the teachings to understandourselves and our experiences in life,to understand other people and theworld we live in. Then basing ourselves

25

9 11

26

on that understanding, we seek tocreate as much authentic happinessand benefit for ourselves and othersas we can.

It is very easy to brand people whodo terrible things as being evil, andperhaps almost as easy to assumethat because we find evil actsrepugnant, that therefore we aregood. But when we look moreclosely, we see that our bogeymen,the so-called “evil people” sometimes

9 11

act well and “good people” may, onoccasion, act cruelly. There is no fixedentity, “the evil person”, who is evil24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.Similarly, (apart from fully enlightenedbeings), there is no unchangeablygood person. That being the case, themost constructive response to thesuffering that human beings inflict oneach other is surely to seek tounderstand and affect the factorsconditioning the arising and cessa-tion of good and evil in the human

27

9 11

mind. Armed with this knowledgewe may then look at ways of re-ducing the power of evil wherever itarises, no matter whether it be in thegroup of people that we consider asthem, or within the group of peoplethat we consider as us. At the sametime, we must be constantly lookingto develop and support those qualities— both within that group we considerthem and that group we consider us— which are good, wise and com-passionate. Our most pressing task

28

9 11

though, because nobody else can dothis for us, is to look within our ownhearts.

The approach being outlined heremay seem idealistic, and certainly itis a long-term strategy. But even in theshort-term, in dealing with traumaticevents, it is the people who have madethe effort to understand those innerqualities that purify the mind and thosethat sully it, that are most capable ofmature, constructive responses. Of

29

9 11

course, when a great wrong has beendone on a national level, governmentsbecome involved. But in a societywhere people have been educated tolook at the nature of fear, insecurity,rage, the desire for revenge and knowthem clearly for what they are, ratherthan believing in them blindly, it maybe expected that, on every level,intelligence and compassion will bemore likely to prevail.

To a certain degree, Buddhism is

30

9 11

optimistic about humanity. It is anoptimism based on a strong belief inthe innate human capacity to abandonevil, develop good qualities and purifyour hearts. The proof of this capacitymay be deduced very simply. I’m sure,every one of us here has had in thepast some kind of bad habit, somedestructive character trait or whatever,and has subsequently been able toreduce or abandon it. That is amarvelous thing. Similarly, we maylook at ourselves these days and see

31

9 11

certain noble qualities in our heartsand minds that weren’t there a yearago, five years ago, ten years ago. Theabandonment of unwholesomequalities and development ofwholesome qualities I’m talking abouthere do not need to be anythingparticularly spectacular — it might bemerely that we notice ourselves a littlebit more forgiving of others these days,or not so easily discouraged whenthings go wrong for instance — it’s theprinciple which is important, the ability

32

9 11

to change that is revealed by thesemodest advances.The smallestimprovements in our life can reassureus that we can do this: we canabandon unwholesome qualities, wecan develop wholesome qualities, andwe can create a quality of existencewithin ourselves and promote noblequalities in the community in which welive and the society as a whole.

In the same way, if we look at thefailures and small betrayals in our lives

33

9 11

34

wisely we feel humble rather thanguilty or depressed. We see that anyadvances we make are fragile, mustbe cared for. Heedlessness can leadat any moment to our position beingundermined. We must be patient.

There are always going to be actsof violence and cruelty in humansociety. What we can do is to seek tominimize the causes and conditionsfor them to arise, and to maximizethe causes and conditions for kind -

9 11

35

ness and empathy to flourish. This isnecessary on the individualpsychological level, and also on thelevel of social and economicorganization. All things occur as afunction of causes and conditions.It is in our ability to investigate anddiscover the causes and conditionsunderlying existing phenomena andadapt our behavior wisely. Herein liesour hope for the future.

I would like to say a little more at

9 11

this point about the Buddhist visionof wide-ranging education I men-tioned earlier. It begins with moralconduct. In Buddhism, the teachingof morality differs somewhat fromthat of theistic religions. Moralstandards are not considered to havebeen passed down from God throughprophets to the human race; they arenot to be known through study of aholy scripture. A psychologicalstandard is taken. In Buddhism, weconsider the morality or immorality

36

9 11

of an act to depend on the volition ofthe actor. If the volition behind an actis accompanied by greed, hatred,delusion in any of its many forms,then the act is inevitably immoral. If,on the other hand, the volition isuntainted by greed, hatred, delusion(i.e. is unselfish, kind, intelligent), thenthe act is moral. That being the case,we find here no justificationwhatsoever for acts of violenceagainst other human beings. What-ever the provocation. Buddhists are

37

9 11

proud of the fact that no war has everbeen waged in the name of theirreligion. Certainly, Buddhists haveconducted wars — and harsh onestoo — but they have never been ableto justify them on religious grounds.There have never been Buddhistjihads or crusades because thedeliberate taking of life must, from aBuddhist perspective, always bewrong.The desire for revenge isconsidered both immoral andimmature.

38

9 11

The severity of immoral acts isconsidered to vary. The extent of badkarma produced by an evil act isdependent primarily on the intensityof the mental defilements in the mindof the actor. Obviously, the karmicresult reaped by someone who killsout of self-defence or to save his familyfrom destruction is far milder than thatexperienced by someone who plansa cold-blooded murder of hundredsor thousands of innocent people. But,nevertheless, whenever the volition

39

9 11

to take life is acted upon, whateverthe justification might be, karma isinevitably created.

Linking morality to volition hascertain implications. It means that tobe consistently moral we need toeducate ourselves about volition, notin the abstract as an intellectualexercise, but in the concrete present,as it manifests in our experience.The central role played by volitiondemands that we develop a power

40

9 11

of introspection, an honesty andwillingness, and an ability to lookvery clearly at our mind. We needto develop this form of education tothe extent that we don’t rationalizeour cravings and fears so auto-matically, that we are unable to lie toourself as we used to do. In respond-ing to a painful situation, for instance,we have to observe to what extent weare affected by the desire for justice,and to what extent for revenge. Isanger present, self-righteousness,

41

9 11

42

fear? Are these wholesome orunwholesome qualities of mind, — tobe trusted or not? Morality here thenis not a matter of following a numberof rules or commandments, but ofusing precepts as tools in which to beclearly aware of and responsible forthe motives behind one’s actions.

Although the moral training inBuddhism demands a certain amountof awareness and a capacity forintrospection, it is not the whole of

9 11

the training. There are also specificpractices for educating our emotionsand discernment. Thus we refer to athree-fold training, one which pro-vides a framework within which toaddress the difficulties or dilemmasthat we face in our lives. The trainingin morality is the foundation. It involvesfirstly the intelligent adoption ofstandards of conduct towards theexternal world and particularly otherhuman beings, and then learning howto be mindful of them in daily life and

43

9 11

bring them to bear on our behavior.It is at this level of the training that wesee the central role of self-discipline.

But self-discipline is far from beinga panacea for all our ills. We can’tdecide not to get angry as an act ofwill, we can’t decide not to feelvengeful, we can’t decide not to haveemotions. If we misapply self-discipline then we create theconditions for guilt and repression.Emotions are one natural part of our

44

9 11

life. We have to understand them.Some emotions deserve to becultivated, others do not. In ourgardens we distinguish betweenweeds and flowers. Although weremove weeds we don’t considerour garden evil for having them.So the first principle of training theemotions and mental states is thatforce doesn’t work; intelligence,sincerity and patience do. The secondcan soon be clearly seen: the abilityto abandon the unwholesome qualities

45

9 11

in our minds and encourage thewholesome is conditioned to a greatextent by our ability to focus andconcentrate our mind. This aspect ofmental culture has been neglectedin the Western world for manycenturies. An educated person, inBuddhist view, is not only someonewho can think rationally, analytically,but is also someone who can, on thenecessary occasion, stop thinkingaltogether. This absence of thoughtis by no means a blank dullness.

46

9 11

There is a state which is neither sleepnor thought — and it is the fount ofcreativity. It is the state where inplace of the usual hackneyedthoughts lurching along the same oldbeaten track, new insights can arise.If we read the biographies of greatscientists or people who’ve madeimportant breakthroughs in theirparticular fields, we find quite oftenthat their breakthroughs don’t cometo them in the lab or in their office.They find their answers in the car

47

9 11

on the way home, eating their dinneror, like Archimedes, in the bath. Why?Because their minds are temporarilyat peace. There is an importantprinciple here, one well-worthcontemplating. It is that the peace-ful mind — the mind which is free ofthe mad gush of thought — has manychoices; but the mind which is boundto a particular emotion, thought, to aparticular way of looking at things, hasfew. The mind, which is bound tomental states, tends to see things as

48

9 11

clear cut, black-and-white, and oftenover simplifies the complexity ofsituations; it reacts in habitual ways.The mind which can put downhabitual thinking processes, standback from the rush of thought andemotion, suddenly has access to farmore choices and pathways. ABuddhist teacher once said that thetraditional western response toproblems is “don’t just sit there, dosomething,” whereas the eastern orthe Buddhist way is “don’t just do

49

9 11

50

something, sit there.” Of course thisis a generaliza tion, and there is aplace for both stillness and motion.But the Buddhist insistence is merelythat the most constructive actionsprings from stillness. The wisestreflection takes into consideration,not only our own immediate interestor the interest of our particular groupor nation; it also bears in mind theinterests of our children, our children’schildren and many generations in thefuture who are yet to be born. And

9 11

51

this kind of thinking demands theability to step back from one’simmediate attachments. It isdependent on mental culture, mentaldevelopment.

The third aspect of this training isthe training of wisdom and under-standing, teaching people how toreally look at their actions and theirconsequences, seeking to understandsituations more clearly. Initially itmeans regularly contemplating the

9 11

very simple facts of life which wetend to overlook, in particular thenature of change. Changes may beslow methodical, expected, welcomebut they may also quite often besudden, unexpected and unwelcome.It is an inarguable fact that every oneof us, sooner or later, will have to beseparated from those whom welove. This is something we don’tlike to think about. But it’s true,isn’t it?, that sooner or later, we aregoing to be separated from our

52

9 11

parents, from our loved ones, fromour children. If we don’t die beforethey do, they will die before we do.Putting it in these terms maysound blunt and callous but it isthe truth. And the more we shy awayor try to prevent ourselves fromreflecting on such subjects, theweaker we become, and the moredevastated we are when changeoccurs in the unexpected and shock-ing ways it sometimes does. TheBuddha encouraged us to be students

53

9 11

of change and to understand itsnature. We should be looking atchange, looking at uncertainty,looking at insecurity face-to-faceeveryday. Life is insecure. There isno real security in a changing worldand the frantic search for an un-realistic security is only going to leadto tension and pain. There has to bea certain point where we create theconditions for security as best wecan, but humbly acknowledge the factthat ultimately we have no defence

54

9 11

against uncertainty and change. Wehave no rights. We can and shouldcreate conventions about humanrights and it is important that suchrights are vigorously upheld inhuman society. But ultimately, wehave rights to nothing except theway things are: we are born, we getold, we get sick, and we die. We mustbe patient and willing to keep goingagainst the grain of self-indulgence,looking again and again at the waythings are; educating ourselves about

55

9 11

56

those things which brighten and clarifyour minds; those attitudes, thosethoughts, those emotions which cloudand brutalize our minds. The more wedo this work, the more we see thatwe have a choice which way wewant to go, the way of darkness orthe way of light.

And so, today we come together incommemoration of the terrible eventthat occurred in America last week.The resonances of what happened

9 11

on September 11 are being felt everywhere, not least here in Thailand.Many Thais have families and friendsliving in New York, some of themwork in the World Trade Center.Even I as a Buddhist monk whospend most of his life in a forest inthe remote part of Northeast Thailandfeel connected. I have a number offriends and students in America andlike many people have looked outfrom the top of the Empire StateBuilding over Manhattan towards

57

9 11

58

the twin towers of the World TradeCenter, seeing them as integral partsof a landscape rather than merefragile constructions. They are gonenow. More innocent peoples’ liveshave been lost. And let’s be clear aslong as human beings cling so stronglyto beliefs, ideas, emotions, and forgettheir basic humanity we cannot expectan end to such events. What we can

9 11

59

do is make the sincere effort to lookat life, to learn and try to understand,and to act from clear seeing ratherthan prejudice and emotion. It is, Ifeel, only through the effort to under-stand, and the wisdom and com-passion that comes from under-standing, that we can maintain ourdignity and our humanity.

So on behalf of the Sangha here, Iwould like to express my apprecia-tion of the merit-making that you

9 11

have all participated in today. Forsome of you perhaps it may seemlike just another ceremony: exoticperhaps or colorful or even boring.That’s all right. But I would suggestthat it is more than a mere ritual. Onmy last visit to America, I was toldthat a number of institutions inAmerica has been doing researchto see whether prayers for the sickcan actually affect their recoveryrates. In the studies I was toldabout, one group of patients knew

60

9 11

61

that they were being prayed for andone group didn’t. The researchersfound a very clear correlation: peoplewho were prayed for got better morequickly; not only those who knew andwere comforted by the fact thatsomebody cared for them, but also,incredibly, by those patients whohad no knowledge at all that theexperiment was going on. Ofcourse, different interpretations ofwhat is going on here are possible.As a Buddhist I do not consider it

9 11

62

proof of a divine being answeringappeals, but of the power generatedby the human mind. It is this samelatent power which we invoke by thepractices of sending thought of loving-kindness or dedication of merit. It isfor this reason that if ceremonies suchas this, are carried out with sinceritysomething very profound takesplace. Transference of merit and aidor assistance to those who havepassed away can at certain casescertainly take place, especially to

9 11

63

those who have died sudden or violentdeaths. So I would like to expressmy appreciation of this ceremonytoday and I’m sure, with everyoneof you, hope and wish that everyoneof those people who died so tragicallyon the September 11 will go on to ahappy rebirth.

9 11

Ajahn Jayasarowas born inEngland in 1958.He began hismonastic trainingin Thailand in1978 as a student

of Venerable Ajahn Chah, one ofthe seminal figures in con-temporary Theravada Buddhism.Ajahn Jayasaro was ordained as amonk in 1980 and has lived inThailand ever since. In 2002 after afive-year period as abbot of theInternational Forest MonasteryWat Pah Nanachat, he took upresidence in a hermitage in theprovince of Nakhon Rachasima.

9 11

9 11