teachings on peace and harmony of the 14th dalai lama and selected peace advocates (sum)

CANDIDATE: TRAN THI NHI TEACHINGS ON PEACE AND HARMONY OF THE 14 TH DALAI LAMA AND SELECTED PEACE ADVOCATES Major: English Language and Literature SUMMARY OF Ph.D DISSERTATION IN

Thai Nguyen University Batangas State University

Socialist Republic of Vietnam Republic of Philippines

PHD CANDIDATE: TRAN THI NHI

TEACHINGS ON PEACE AND HARMONY

OF THE 14 TH DALAI LAMA AND SELECTED

PEACE ADVOCATES

Major: English Language and Literature

SUMMARY OF Ph.D DISSERTATION

IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

Advisor: Dr Maria Luisa A Valdez

Reviewer No.1:

Reviewer No.2:

Reviewer No.3:

The Dissertation will be evaluated at the State Council held at:

………

At: hour date month year 2014

Dissertation can be found at the libraries:

- National library of Vietnam;

- Learning Resource Center - Thai Nguyen University;

- Library of International Training and Development Center;

- Library of Batangas State University, Philippines

6 That the members of the community may realize, through this

paper, that peace and harmony is most effective when it highlights

the positive interdependence existing among the people, groups,

organizations and nations

7 That future researchers conduct other literary studies on the theme

of peace along lines of this research for academic enhancement This

would bring a wider crosssection of views of life and to substantiate

the present study

Chapter I THE PROBLEM

Introduction

There exist myriad problems in the current world which threaten the existence of humanity Violence is accelerating everywhere Ceaseless wars and conflicts are taking place in several regions, killing thousands of people and causing suffering for millions of human beings Furthermore, more and more modern weapons with massive destruction capacity are being produced, threatening the whole mankind in every minute Meanwhile, the world is also faced with terrorism, environmental pollution, racial religious conflicts, political disputes, social and economic inequality, the large gap between the rich and the poor, diseases and poverty

Making the situation worse, these problems happen in every continent without exception, and tend to happen to not only one nation or a few nations but also bigger groups of nations

For example, the United States and Western countries have recently experienced terrorist attacks, civil unrest and violent massacres; the political disputes between Russia and other European countries around the issues related to Ukraina has resulted in the embargo and trade and business sanctions which creates hardships for of millions of citizens in the European continent; the rise of terrorist country self-called Isis has created turmoil and terrible violence in Middle East and North Africa; constant conflicts in the China Sea are threatening the stability and the maintenance of peace

in the South East Asia

All of these catastrophic events beg the question of how to save

humanity

As stated in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization (UNESCO) constitution, the statement that

“Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that

the defenses of peace must be constructed” is an appeal for a

psychology of peace, a movement which seeks to find a the solution

to conflicts without violence but via mutual and harmonious

relationships

Accordingly, peace education is a principal means to maintain and

promote peace To establish and foster a culture of peace is a

necessity for any nation, including Vietnam - a country vulnerable to

peace

Aligning with UNESCO constitution, the country has been a long

time advocate for peace, maintaining and promoting education for

peace via its education policies implemented in both informal

teaching and formal education

Peace education as a social movement can be traced back from

religious traditions For centuries, peace and peaceful resolution of

conflict was primarily discussed in the teachings of religious leaders

such as Lao Tse, Jesus Christ, the Buddha, the Dalai Lama, and

Bahau llah, who taught that people were supposed to promote peace

in their lives and in the world as a whole

The contribution that religious figures can make to peacemaking

has been increasingly studied and recognized Peace education has

evolved from radical values in religious traditions of love,

peace and harmony can access the academe and spawn peace and nonviolent-related activities in the curricula that will educate the academic community of the beneficial outcomes of these virtues to all people

2 That the working professionals integrate the recommendations of this study in the mainstream of their disciplines, their lives and the world And, organize workplace peace initiatives to nurture and challenge people of all ages working in various sectors of society to live peaceful and harmonious lives

3 That media practitioners and professionals be inspired to develop

an intervention strategy that incorporates educational messages on peace and harmony into popular media such as soap operas and other media programming on the television and radio to change cultural attitudes, norms and behaviors that would benefit audiences

4 That college instructors of literature may use this analysis as one

of their methodologies in teaching literature specifically the appropriate materials, media, and literary theories and approaches in literary analysis in their literature classes and to develop their students’ appreciation and sense of value in order to guide and allow them to crystallize and synthesize what philosophy of life is best to learn and to live by

5 That the students of literature realize the significance of peace education and may be inspired to treat literature as a work of art distinguished from other texts through content and form, and intensify their appreciation of prose and poetry as well as inspire them to engage in literary analysis as an academic activity

Conclusions

Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions are

drawn:

1 The 14th Dalai Lama simplifies the thousand-year Buddhist

philosophical wisdom and turns it into the principles which are

comprehensible and relevant to any ordinary person in the modern

time who wants to practice them in the daily life in order to attain

peace

2 Powerful and distinctive concepts of peace are found in Rumi,

Tagore, Pope John Paul and Ikeda’s poems and proses

3 Although the selected peace advocates represent four different

religions and they come from different cultures, much common

conception is found in their teachings on peace

4 All the teachings on peace by the selected peace advocates which

emphasize “learning to live in harmony together” the universal and

permanent moral values and principles which promote a spirit of

respecting cultural pluralism, cultivate human good qualities and

responsibility must be integrated in education so that the young

generation’s peace spirit is fostered, energized and enlivened through

literature and culture

Recommendations

From the findings and conclusions of this study, the researcher

offers the following recommendations:

1 That the academic managers educational policy makers and

administrators utilize this study as a frame of reference when they

prepare developmental priorities, programs, projects and policies in

the educational institutions This would ensure that the value of

compassion, tolerance and charity to modern theories revolving interpersonal relations and environmental issues (Harris, 2002) Buddhism, the religion which was introduced to Vietnam about two thousand years ago, despite ups and downs, has tremendously influenced all facets of Vietnamese culture, especially the spiritual life and the system of moral values Historically, most Vietnamese have dentified themselves with Buddhism Buddhism was introduced

to Vietnam as being a peaceful way, aimed at seeking justice, compassion, freedom for humans from sufferings These beliefs are close to the long standing cultural values of the Vietnamese and suitable with Vietnamese people, who advocate peace and always desire happiness and freedom for their nation Therefore, the religion was easily accepted and quickly spread by the Vietnamese

Throughout the country, there exist thousands of Buddhist pagodas in the cities and the countryside, playing an important part in the spiritual life and making an identified culture of the Vietnamese people These pagodas function not only as the place for communal activities but also a place for ideological teachings to be conveyed Buddhism has been considered as the national religion of Vietnam During the Ly dynasty in the eleventh and twelfth century, Buddhism was so popular and vibrant that half of the Vietnamese population at that time followed it

In the 20th century, the country experienced a series of harsh historical events, affecting the development of the religion However, with recent changes in economics and social developments, the picture of religious life within Vietnamese people has become more vivid If in the past, only old women went to the temples and

practiced Buddhist rituals, nowadays, there seems to be an increasing

interest in practicing the religion in both men and women, and in

both old people and young ones This trend likely creates a a

favorable environment to promote peace education for the whole

nation in general and for its young generation in particular It is

undeniable that Buddhism has deep roots in Vietnamese culture,

since its principal beliefs and values can be found in various facets of

Vietnamese culture, from folklore, arts and literature to many aspects

of everyday life The religion has been imbedded in the common life

of the Vietnamese communities

The core value in the philosophy of Buddhism largely recognized

by the Eastern Buddhist countries and recently by Western countries

is its interpretation of peace and harmony, its nature and the way to

attain it

For centuries, Buddhist countries have practiced the doctrine and

followed the teachings of Buddha However, in the modern era where

rapid development in information technology is at hand, it is very

timely to contemplate if the Buddhist philosophy on peace and

harmony is still appropriate for the hectic and busy and frenetic life

style experienced by people in the present day

The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, a Tibetan Buddhist monk,

has been the primary proselytizer and advocate of the philosophy of

peace and harmony from the perspective of Buddhism in recent

times Notably, he has been successful in making relevant the

thousand-year wisdom of Buddhism to the specific and practical

teachings for the modern life of the new millennium

14th Dalai Lama and Daisaku Ikeda for Buddhism, Mawlana Rumi for Islam, Pope John Paul II for Christianity and Tagore for non-formative religion, much common conception is found in their teachings on peace Their perspectives to the existence of human beings and the world and their concepts on peaceful and harmonious relationships are universal despite the time and geographical distance Regarding peace and harmony at three aspects - intrapersonal, interpersonal and international, these peace advocates all desire peace, seek ways to attain peace for the humanity and bring man back

to the original soul which is infinite and beautiful part of human beings Peace is radical need and ultimate goal of man

To achieve peace, man needs to cultivate good qualities such as love for nature and for human beings and responsibility with himself, with his community and with the whole of mankind They all emphasize the respect of various races, diverse cultures and different religions as a necessity for a peaceful and harmonious world

4 With the contemporary world full of conflicts and violence today, there is a necessity to devise a form of education which can help resolve its problems and turns it into a safe, peaceful and happy home for mankind All the teachings on peace by the selected peace advocates which emphasize “learning to live in harmony together” should be one of the major issues in education today The universal and permanent values and principles which promote a spirit of respecting cultural pluralism, cultivate human good qualities and appraise responsibility must be integrated in education so that the young generation’s peace spirit is fostered, energized and enlivened through literature and culture

present time, the Dalai Lama calls for a sense of universal

responsibility and proposes a spiritual revolution as a solution to

achieve peace and harmony for human beings at all levels - personal,

community and global

2 Powerful concepts related to the value of human life and

humanity are found in Rumi, Tagore, Pope John Paul and Ikeda’s

writings and speeches

Rumi’s thought that human beings must delve deeper into the soul

and need to accept the physical differences to find the commonality

of humanity can be instrumental in creating peace and harmony in

society

Tagore, as a symbol of harmony, sees the beauty of the universe

in the face of diversity and the bond between human beings and

nature Through his poems, he prays for the whole humanity to live

in peace and harmony by discarding all evils and taking up good

deeds

Daisaku Ikeda promotes dialogue as a principal means to peace

and he stresses value of man in contribution to the well-being of the

community of three levels - the local community, national

community and global community Ikeda also encourages the

transmission of the value of peaceful coexistence and wisdom gained

from generation to generation

Pope John Paul considers freedom of conscience, justice, truth,

respect for rights and responsibilities as crucial values to ensure

peace and harmonious existence

3 A noticeable finding from the research is that although the

selected peace advocates represent different religions, namely, the

Beside the Dalai Lama, there have been a great number of peace advocates, including religious figures, political leaders, literary writers and philosophers, who have advocated the teachings of peace and harmony in their books, sermons and speeches All of this have provided a basis for a trend and a growing movement for peace and harmony in modern times Because of the importance of this peace movement, the researcher has decided to focus on studying the works of the Dalai Lama and a few other selected advocates of the peace movement to have a deeper and holistic view on understanding

of the concepts of peace in current time and discuss the implications

of this movement for life in modern times, particularly its impact on Vietnamese student values

Statement of the Problem

This study is an analysis of the teachings on peace and harmony

of the 14th Dalai Lama and selected other notable peace advocates and to integrate their viewpoints into a global peace education perspective

Specifically, the study seeks answers to the following questions:

1 What are the teachings on peace and harmony held by the 14th Dalai Lama?

2 What are the peace concepts that may be drawn from the works of the following peace advocates:

2.1 Mawlana Rumi;

2.2 Rabindranath Tagore;

2.3 Pope John Paul II; and 2.4 Daisaku Ikeda?

3 What are the common aspects on the teachings of peace held by

these individuals ?

4 How may the varied teachings on peace be integrated in a global

peace education perspective and program?

Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study

This study analyzes the philosophy of nonviolence as embodied in

the selected literary pieces of the 14th Dalai Lama and the selected

peace advocates Mawlana Rumi, Rabindranath Tagore, Pope John

Paul II and Daisaku Ikeda and focuses on its implication for

Vietnamese students’ values This study employs the qualitative

method of research in analyzing the selected writings and speeches of

the personages and uses sociological and philosophical approaches as

the bases for analysis

This study is anchored on Gultung’s theory on peace Other

approaches in literary criticism that may be employed in the analysis

such as the Formalist Criticism, Biographical Criticism, Historical

Criticism, and Psychological Criticism are not part of this study

The researcher also uses content analysis, which is a systematic

technique in analyzing message content and message handling The

data analysis in this study centered on pattern seeking and the

extraction of meaning from the selected peace advocates’ selected

literary narrative or image data

Much effort was focused on the task of recording data or making

notes through concepts and categories; altering or creating new codes

or more subtle categories; linking and combining abstract concepts;

extracting the essence; organizing meaning; creating theory from

This study employed the qualitative method of research and sociological and philosophical approaches as the bases for analysis This paper also involved content analysis, which is a systematic technique in analyzing message content and message handling

The representative literary works were analyzed: Dalai Lama’s The Power of Compassion, Infinite Compassion for an Imperfect World, Beyond Religion - Ethics for a Whole World, Ancient Wisdom, and Modern World - Ethics for the new Millennium Other elected writings analyzed were: Rumi’s Nasnavi, Tagore’s Gitanjali and Nationalism, Pope John Paul’s Messages on the World Peace Day and Daisaku Ikeda’s For the Sake of Peace – Seven Paths to Global Harmony: A Buddhist Perspectives

Findings

The results of analysis and interpretation revealed the following:

1 The 14th Dalai Lama’s teachings are a reinterpretation and restatement of the thousand-year Buddhist philosophical wisdom into principles that are comprehensible and relevant to any ordinary person in the modern time, enabling people to practice them in the daily life to attain peace

The Dalai Lama states the universal issues: that human beings regardless social classes, races, religions, occupations or cultures, all want happiness and do not want sufferings, that all religions share common purpose: bringing happiness and releasing human beings from misery; they all encourage good human qualities like love, compassion, tolerance, kindness, honesty and responsibility and reject cruelty, greed, selfishness, envy and hatred Through his discussion on the problems which challenge the humanity in the

CHAPTER IV

This chapter presents a thorough analysis of the selected

works to answer the questions raised in chapter I

CHAPTER V SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

This chapter presents the summary, findings, conclusions and

recommendations of the study

Summary

This study is an analysis of the teachings on peace and harmony

of the 14th Dalai Lama and selected peace advocates, and the varied

teachings on peace that may be integrated on a global peace

education perspective

Specifically, the study seeks answers to the following questions:

1 What are the teachings on peace and harmony held by the 14th

Dalai Lama?

2 What are the peace concepts of the following peace advocates:

2.1 Mawlana Rumi;

2.2 Rabindranath Tagore;

2.3 Pope John Paul II; and

2.4 Daisaku Ikeda?

3 What are the common aspects on the teachings of peace held by

these advocates?

4 How can the varied teachings on peace be integrated on a global

peace education perspective?

emerging themes; writing an understanding; and drawing conclusions

The essential features in the treatment of materials were considered by the researcher in the conduct of this study

The general rules cited by Stott (2014) as regards the seven standards a piece of literature should have in order to be considered literary served as a in the selection of works under study

Applying these standards the following literary works were

analyzed: Dalai Lama’s The Power of Compassion, Infinite

Compassion for an Imperfect World, Beyond Religion - Ethics for a Whole World, and Ancient Wisdom and Modern World - Ethics for the new Millennium The selected writings Rumi entitled Nasnavi,

Tagore’s Gitanjali and Nationalism , Pope John Paul’s Messages on

the World Peace Day and Daisaku Ikeda’s For the Sake of Peace: Seven Paths to Global Harmony – A Buddhist Perspective were also

included These prose and poetry pieces constituted the primary resource materials for of the study

However, since these individuals are not only well-known literati but also social figures, religious leaders and philosophers; this study also analyzed essays, works and recorded speeches, to provide

as comprehensive an assessments of their ideas as possible

Significance of the Study

This approach - using literary analysis as a tool for eliciting the meaning and significance of the materials analyzed makes this study extremely beneficial to academic managers, working professionals, media practitioners, college instructors of literature,

students of literature, members of the community, and other

researchers

Academic Managers This dissertation will help policy makers

such as those from Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training,

include developmental priorities, programs, projects and policies in

the educational institutions to ensure that the concepts of peace and

harmony can access the academe This will also inspire them to

develop peace-related activities in the curricula that will educate the

academic community of the beneficial outcomes of peace and

harmony to all people regardless of gender, race, nationality and

religious backgrounds and to serve as a bridge builder in interfaith

encounter

Working Professionals This study will be beneficial for them in

the sense that the selected works have showcased how the 14th Dalai

Lama’s and the selected peace advocates’ activism which helped

shaped the people’s understanding of peace as a philosophy of life

Likewise, they may be motivated to bring peace awareness in the

mainstream of their disciplines, their lives and the world and be

inspired to organize peace initiatives to nurture and challenge people

of all ages working in various sectors of society to a nonviolent life

These initiatives may help the working people to embrace this

advocacy, clarify life goals, and revitalize working relationships

within their workplaces

Media Practitioners This study may inspire them to introduce an

intervention strategy referred to as entertainment education to change

cultural attitudes, norms and behaviors that would benefit audiences

This strategy incorporates educational messages on peace and

with in the different selections; and the varied teachings on peace that can be integrated on a global peace education perspectives

These prose and poetry pieces constituted the primary sources of the study They were chosen to parallel the criteria spelled out for the purpose These works have been subject to critical analysis far less frequently than these selected peace advocates’ most popular books

In subjecting the materials to internal and external criticism and analysis, the meaning and trustworthiness of the statements in the primary and secondary sources were carefully charted and analyzed

In this analysis, the researcher was free to defend her understanding and appraisal of each literary piece This reflected her personal response to the suitability of the language to the theme, the relevance of the language to the situation, and the appropriateness of the language to the literary pieces under study

To attain congruency between the theories used in explaining the concept of peace and harmony, coding and categorization were conducted In this study, the categories which served as coding units include the following: the teachings on peace and harmony as reflected in the selected works of the 14th Dalai Lama; the peace concepts that may be drawn from the works of the aforementioned peace advocates; the intrapersonal, interpersonal and international aspects on the teachings of peace dealt with in the different selections; and the varied teachings on peace that can be integrated

on a global peace education perspective

Direct references drawn from the selections served as the primary texts and were compared with the theoretical statements discussed These passages from the chosen letters and speeches substantiated the theoretical basis of the study