Zalta, Anja (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia and Nan Tien Institute, Australia)
The necessity of implementation of Buddhist mindfulness in conflict transformation
Applications of the centuries of Buddhist teaching relevant to the causes of conflict are present in all strands of Buddhist teaching. Although Buddhist traditions have developed a number of social teachings, such as the movement introduced by AT Ariyaratne in Sri Lanka, Thich Nhat Hanh from Vietnam, Sulak Sivaraksa in Thailand, the major emphasis has been on the individual transformation based on the tradition of mindfulness.
The paper is planning to present the theoretical background for so-called Buddhist conflict transformation strategies and methods, such as the understanding of “dependent co-arising” (paticca-samupāda), the ‘three marks’ of all conditioned phenomena: impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoryness (dukkha), non-self (anatta), and their connection to the identity and self-formation building as one of the root causes of a (personal as well as inter-personal) conflict.
The paper will try to re-interpret and re-evaluate the Buddha’s message in a new context and historical period. It will introduce educational and training plans for implementing different Buddhist practices of conflict transformation, such as mindful mediation, the practice of naikan, so-called Insight mediation, based on mindfulness, into different settings and situations.
The necessity of implementation of Buddhist mindfulness in conflict transformation
Applications of the centuries of Buddhist teaching relevant to the causes of conflict are present in all strands of Buddhist teaching. Although Buddhist traditions have developed a number of social teachings, such as the movement introduced by AT Ariyaratne in Sri Lanka, Thich Nhat Hanh from Vietnam, Sulak Sivaraksa in Thailand, the major emphasis has been on the individual transformation based on the tradition of mindfulness.
The paper is planning to present the theoretical background for so-called Buddhist conflict transformation strategies and methods, such as the understanding of “dependent co-arising” (paticca-samupāda), the ‘three marks’ of all conditioned phenomena: impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoryness (dukkha), non-self (anatta), and their connection to the identity and self-formation building as one of the root causes of a (personal as well as inter-personal) conflict.
The paper will try to re-interpret and re-evaluate the Buddha’s message in a new context and historical period. It will introduce educational and training plans for implementing different Buddhist practices of conflict transformation, such as mindful mediation, the practice of naikan, so-called Insight mediation, based on mindfulness, into different settings and situations.