Psychology & Buddhism.pdf

216 Kathleen H. Dockett and Doris North-Schulte
The question for our collective survival is how can we transition from this
era of darkness and killing into an era of light and peace? Upon what values can
we create a global culture of peace? What are the principles by which we can live
in harmony with persons from different backgrounds, respecting and valuing our
differences? This is the problem to be solved in the 21st Century if society is to
survive.
This chapter describes the special contributions Buddhist psychology can
make to the understanding and prevention of ethnic conflict. We present a
Buddhist view of the root causes of ethnic conflict and how Buddhist values and
principles may be applied to the prevention of these all too prevalent occurrences.
Four Mahayana principles of integration are discussed: True Self, the Eternity of
Life, compassion for all or the Bodhisattva Way, and global interdependence or
Dependent Origination. We begin by framing the magnitude, nature, and causes
of ethnopolitical conflict.
Magnitude and Nature
Ethnopolitical Conflict
Ethnopolitical conflict is defined as “conflicts between ethnic, religious,
linguistic, and national groups within states” (Connor as cited in Rouhana &
Bar-Tal, 1998). In its extreme form, it is defined as genocide (genos [Greek] =
race or tribe, and cide (Latin) = annihilation or killing), which is an attempt to
kill many or all members of an ethnic group. Genocide “might well be identified
as Public Health Problem Number One on Planet Earth, for it is the major cause
of unnatural deaths of human beings” (Carny, 1985, p. 448).
The global nature of the problem is evident in the brutal ethnic wars in
Cambodia, Rwanda, Yugoslavia, Guatemala, Sri Lanka, and the Israel-occupied
West Bank/Gaza. Within our national borders as well, the increasing racial and
ethnic hate crimes and civil unrest for example in Los Angeles, Birmingham, and
New York, and the lawlessness of some 800 militias and paramilitary groups
across America, have been labeled by Carl Rowan (1966) as ominous signs that
portend the coming of race wars in America. Certainly, as psychologist Vickie
Mays has observed, “No continent is immune” (Mays, Bulock, Rosenzweig, &
Wessells, 1998, p. 737).
Ethnic conflicts are tremendously diverse. They are “often rooted in histories
of colonialism, ethnocentrism, racism, political oppression, human rights
abuse, social injustice, poverty, and environmental degradation” (Mays et al.,
1998, p. 737).
The following statistics only begin to highlight the magnitude of the problem:
Violent ethnic conflict between 1945 and 1990 involved an estimated 100
national and minority groups (Gurr as cited in Mays et al., 1998).