Tetsunori Koizumi, Director

“Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly/ Before they’re banned forever?” are the lines that appear in Bob Dylan’s song: “Blowin’ in the wind.” It was back in the Sixties when the song became popular as an expression of protest against the war in Southeast Asia. The end of that war did not end the relevance of the message this song conveys, for a violent confrontation is always taking place somewhere in the world between ethnic groups, or nation-states. With cannonballs flying in the plains of Ukraine now, we are once again reminded of the need to raise our voice of protest against the meaningless violence that is shattering the lives of ordinary citizens.

What is the answer that would end the vicious cycle of violence between ethnic groups, or nation-states? The answer, Bob Dylan says, is blowin’ in the wind. As a matter of fact, we all know what the answer is, whether we are Christians, Buddhists, or Atheists. People who have been brought up in the Christian tradition are well aware of Jesus’ message about love: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:43,44) The same message about the importance of love is found in the following words of the Buddha: “Cultivate the boundless loving-kindness towards the whole world—above, below, and all around—unhindered, free from hatred and enmity.” (Sutta Nipata 1:8)

The world around us is, however, full of hatred and enmity. “Why is the world full of hate, people dying everywhere?” asks Freddie Mercury in his song: There must be more to life than this, released in 1985. Why indeed? Why is it that we fail to extend our love even towards our neighbors? It was Bertrand Russell who, in his 1959 talk titled: Message to Future Generations, reminded us of the need to develop the spirit of charity and tolerance towards one another if we are to survive as a species: “Love is wise, hatred is foolish. In this world, which is getting more and more closely interconnected, we have to learn to tolerate each other. … And if we are to live together and not die together, we must learn a kind of charity and a kind of tolerance, which is absolutely vital to the continuation of human life on this planet.”

In the Buddhist tradition, hatred is one of the Three Poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion, as the Buddha reminds us: “Greed, hatred, and delusion of every kind are unwholesome. Whatever action a greedy, hating, and deluded person heaps up—by deeds, words, or thoughts—that too is unwholesome.” (Anguttara Nikaya, 3:69) The most troubling case of the Three Poisons would be a deluded person with power, for the Buddha goes on to say: “When a deluded person, overcome by delusion, with mind obsessed by it, inflicts suffering upon another under a false pretext—by killing, imprisonment, confiscation, censure, or banishment—thinking, ‘I am powerful, I want power,’ that too is unwholesome.” (Anguttara Nikaya, 3:69) The problem is that such a deluded person with power has no ears to listen to the voice of protest against his atrocities that is blowing in the wind.

What is needed to overcome the Three Poisons is to develop what the Buddha calls the “fragrance” that spreads with the wind, against the wind, and both with and against the wind. To be specific, the Buddha talks about the “fragrance” of the Three Jewels of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha in his reply to Ananda, who wants to know if there is any fragrance that spreads with the wind, against the wind, and both with and against the wind: “Here, Ananda, in whatever village or town a man or a woman has gone for refuge to the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha; he or she is virtuous and of good character, abstaining from the destruction of life, taking what is not given, sexual misconduct, false speech, and liquor, wine, and intoxicants, … delighting in giving and sharing. This, Ananda, is the fragrance that spreads with the wind, against the wind, and both with and against the wind.” (Anguttara Nikaya, 3:79)

While he is referring to village or town of his day, the message the Buddha conveys to Ananda in this statement has relevance to every social group in the global village today. What the Buddha is telling us is that any social group whose leader is enlightened and whose members faithfully follow the rules of ethical conduct as spelled out in its constitution, is a social group in which good fragrance spreads with the wind, against the wind, and both with and against the wind. Sadly, the fragrance that is blowing in the wind today is a far cry from the kind of good fragrance that is desperately needed in today’s divided and turbulent world.