Tài liệu Teachings on peace and harmony of the 14th dalai lama and selected peace advocates

i BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam THE TEACHINGS ON PEACE AND HARMONY OF THE 14TH DALAI LAMA AND SELECTED PEACE ADVOCATES A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School Batangas State University Batangas City In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in English Language and Literature by TRAN THI NHI 2014 ii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ABSTRACT Title: Teachings on peace and harmony of the 14th Dalai Lama and selected peace advocates Author: Tran Thi Nhi Course: Doctor of Philosophy in English language and literature. Year: 2014 Advisor: Dr. Maria Luisa A. Valdez Summary This study analyzed the selected works by the 14th Dalai Lama, a modern day leading figure of peace, and some other authors namely Mawlana Rumi, Rabindranath Tagore, Pope John Paul II and Daisaku Ikeda to explore how peace and harmony is conceptualized by these peace advocates. Likewise, the study aimed to reveal the universal concepts of peace and harmony shared by the peace advocates as the representatives of different cultures and religions. The research also discussed and how their common teachings on peace and harmony have been transferred into a global peace movement. Although these peace movement leaders represent different religions and come from different cultures, they share much in common in iii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines espousing their view on peace as a way of life. In this study the author attempts to weave a mosaic of universal and permanent moral values and principles, rooted in the teachings of these advocates for peace. This mosaic promotes 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. She proposes the adoption of this new paradigm for living in the modern world. iv THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This has been a wonderful life changing experience for which I am so very grateful. It would not have been possible without the kindness and generosity of several people. I wish to acknowledge my special debt and my deepest gratitude to Dr. Maria Luisa A. Valdez, my supervisor, whose generous help and constant encouragement have been valuable. Her intellectual curiosity, dedication, openness and humility have showed me a model of scholarly endeavour that will follow me for my whole life. My study of peace and harmony began under her inspiring direction. I would also like to sincerely thank the faculty at the Graduate School, Batangas State University for their invaluable guidance and support throughout my studies. My thanks should go to my colleagues and at Thai Nguyen School of Foreign Languages, Vietnam for their encouragement and support. For setting an example to aspire to, as well as for his friendship, I thank Dr. Melvyn Sakaguchi. Finally, my special thanks should be expressed to my family and friends for their unconditional love, support and their trust in my ability to complete this. v THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE ........................................................................................... i TABLE OF CONTENTS..........................................................................ii THE PROBLEM ......................................................................................1 Introduction ....................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem..............................................................7 Scope, Delimitation and Limitations of the Study ..........................8 Significance of the Study .............................................................10 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ................................................14 Conceptual Literature ..................................................................14 Synthesis of Literature Review ...................................................57 Definition of Terms.......................................................................67 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.............................................................71 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION...................................................78 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ..................169 1 BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam 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 2 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 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 3 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 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, 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 4 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 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 5 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 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. 6 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 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. 7 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 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? 8 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Scope, Delimitation and Limitations 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; 9 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines extracting the essence; organizing meaning; creating theory from 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 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. 10 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 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 11 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 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 harmony into soap operas and other media programming on the television and radio to change the attitudes and behavior of the audience. College Instructors of Literature. This analysis will be helpful in the instructor’s methodology in teaching literature as an inquiry into using the appropriate literary theories and approaches in literary analysis. This will lead to treating literary criticism as a worthwhile exercise that includes, among others, the identification of a meaningful themes and the investigation of literary devices to reveal such themes. In addition, this will provide them with opportunities to focus on the concept of peace and harmony in their literature classes and open their students’ mind and hearts to the varied teachings on peace that can be integrated on a global peace education perspective. 12 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Students of Literature. Not only will this analysis give them an extensive and profound outlook in life with reference to peace and harmony through the lives and experiences of the writers and the characters in the selected literary pieces, it will also make them realize that issues in relation to violence should not be tolerated. In addition, this paper will make them treat literature as a work of art distinguished from other texts through content and form, and eventually intensify their appreciation of prose and poetry and inspire them to engage in literary analysis as an academic activity. Members of the Community. This paper will make them more aware of their social responsibility and peace work to curb violence that beset the community and the world today. This will make them understand that peace and harmony is most effective when it highlights the positive interdependence existing among the people, groups, organizations and nations involved and the need for joint efforts to achieve mutual benefits. It will also make them aware that integrative agreements maximize mutual benefits; and that the use of a procedure of decision making that creates a synthesis or integration of various preferences of the involved parties or takes everyone’s perspectives and conclusions into account. Likewise, the analysis will sensitive people to the fact that some of the belief systems and practices at 13 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines home and the community are oftentimes not in accordance with the establishment of valued roles in relation to peace and harmony for young Vietnamese students, and thus should be avoided. Other Researchers. This paper may inspire them to conduct more researches on ways that are most effective in integrating the nonviolent principles into the people’s dominant worldview. Researches on peace and nonviolence and tolerant values and worldviews might diminish the negative aspects of fear and mortality salience that is usually associated with terror management. Likewise, researchers will be benefitted by this study through the analysis and treatment of materials, and through the careful investigation of both theme and form in literary genres. This paper may also show them the process of drawing out literary theories and utilizing critical approaches in literary analysis. 14 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Chapter II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE The following review of literature is presented with the end view of identifying the constructs of the study. Conceptual Literature The review of the conceptual literature yields four types of constructs, which may be used in the analysis and interpretation of the novels to be dissected. These constructs include the 14th Dalai Lama and his significant works; the other selected peace advocates and their significant works; peace education and culture of peace; and philosophical and sociological approaches in literary criticism The 14th Dalai Lama and His Significant Works The incumbent Dalai Lama is the 14th and was born in 1935 as Lhamo Thondup in north-east Tibet. Tibetan Buddhists regard every Dalai Lama as a reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara1, the bodhisattva2 of compassion. Lhamo was recognized as the Dalai Lama at the age of four and was raised in Potala Palace, Lhasa. His name was changed to Jetsun Jamphel Nigawang Lobrang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, which means “Holy 15 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Lord, Gentle Glory, Compassionate, Defender of the Faith, Ocean of Wisdom”, though he is often simply called Kundun - “The Presence”. His monastic education began at the age of six, and at 23 he was awarded the Lharampa degree (the highest level geshe degree, or doctorate of Buddhist philosophy). With China's occupation of Tibet in 1959, His Holiness fled to northern India, where he established a Tibetan Government-in-Exile, shepherding the exile Tibetan community towards a modern democracy. Today His Holiness concentrates on his spiritual mission and is recognized worldwide for his message of peace, non-violence, inter-religious understanding, universal responsibility and compassion. In December, 1989 the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In October 2007 President George Bush described him as “a universal symbol of peace and tolerance” when the 72-year-old was awarded the US Congregational Medal, the highest civilian award bestowed by the US legislature for his “many enduring and outstanding contributions to peace, non-violence, human rights and religious understanding.” In encouraging the Chinese government to dialogue with the Dalai Lama, President Bush said China’s leaders will find “this good man to be a man of peace and reconciliation.”