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Buddhist
Peace Fellowship
2005: Cultivating Peace, Dismantling War
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What?
In 2005, the Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF) invites its more than
4,500 members and 45 chapters across the world to join in reflection
and action on the theme, "Cultivating Peace, Dismantling
War."
We hope that the Buddhist community at large takes this call to
heart and explores the connection between dharma teachings and peacemaking.
Throughout the year, BPF will publish writings on
disarmament, demilitarization, and peacemaking from a Buddhist perspective;
organize events and actions related to this theme; work in coalition
with other activist and faith-based organizations on this theme;
and offer other resources, including a list of suggested readings
and a Peace and Justice
Calendar for 2005.
We encourage our members and the entire Buddhist community to take
this year as an opportunity to explore what peacebuilding means
on many levels, both internal and external.
| What might this look like? During
2005, our vision is that Buddhists and friends in other activist
and faith-based communities will: |
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show up in large numbers to offer a presence for
peace at some of the key disarmament events taking place during
the year, especially the May 1 New York City march and August
events to commemorate the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima
and Nagaskai (see calendar); |
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study about and participate in actions to dismantle
the voracious war machine, by engaging in projects such as Peace
Tax legislation efforts and the Mayors for Peace Campaign; |
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take part in the Reconciliation and
Action Project, an initiative that BPF will launch in Spring
2005 to encourage respectful communication among groups of diverse
viewpoints and perspectives. |
Why?
The past few years have brought many reminders of the ways in which
we arm ourselves with weapons of all kinds: conventional, nuclear,
chemical, and just as significantly, ideas and beliefs to which
we hold tenaciously. This array of weaponry, both physical and psychological,
is a major source of suffering in our contemporary society.
The year 2005 offers a sad reminder, in the form of the 60th anniversary
of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. More than 270,000
people were killed in the bombing itself or as a result of radiation
fallout in the years afterward. After all these years and attempts
to negotiate limits to nuclear arms, there are still approximately
36,000 nuclear weapons in the world's arsenals, primarily in the
USA, UK, Russia, France, and China—about 2,667 times the firepower
experienced in the entire six years of World War II. For this reason,
BPF will focus a good part of our resources on the work of nuclear
disarmament.
We are also dismayed that the United States, the dominant nation-state
in today's world, has attempted to legitimize the idea of launching
a pre-emptive war on a country that was not an imminent threat to
it. In such a time, it is more important than ever to raise awareness
of nonviolent means to defuse and transform conflicts.
The Buddhist Peace Fellowship has a long history of working for
peace, and toward nuclear disarmament in particular. Since 1978,
our members have been present as witnesses for peace at interfaith
vigils and nonviolent direct actions at the Nevada Desert Test site
(Nevada), Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory (New Mexico), Livermore
Laboratory (California), Missile Silo N3 (Colorado), and other locations
across the world. In 2005, we invite you to continue this legacy
and to join with us in growing a robust peace.
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BPF members in Colorado
engage in sitting meditation
at missile silo N3, July, 2003
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How?
Buddhist teachings offer numerous opportunities to explore what
it means to both dismantle the weapons of war and conflict, and
to cultivate a true, lasting peace. Skillful means can be applied
both internally and externally. The dictionary defines "dismantling"
as "putting an end to in a gradual, systematic way." We
recognize that the process of dismantling war requires persistent
effort and happens over the long-term. The dictionary defines "cultivating"
as "to grow or tend; to nurture and foster." Our dharma
practice can be a source of strength as we prepare the ground for
peace to flourish.
Cultivating and dismantling are complementary processes.
| "Cultivating"
is the task of creating and nourishing. It involves the act
of imagining a peaceful society and then seeing that society
into being. We encourage people to actively explore this proactive,
positive aspect of peace building. This can be done: |
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individually, through our meditation practice; |
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interpersonally, in how we mindfully communicate
and listen to others, and the ways we build diverse, inclusive
communities. Examples include participating in or hosting cafes
where conversations between people with opposing views can listen
and come to mutual understanding, and BPF's Reconciliation and
Action Project (to be launched in Spring 2005); |
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institutionally, through support of
life affirming methods for addressing conflict and cultivating
peace; and through support for alternative institutions based
on life-affirming principles, such as the Department of Peace
and a justice system based on restorative principles (the recognition
of Buddha nature). |
| "Dismantling"
is the task of de-constructing, which may involve nonviolent
resistance and non-compliance with life-destructive forces.
People can take part in these actions at a variety of levels,
according to their lives' constraints. Possible actions might
include: |
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conscientious objection to combatant military
duty; |
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war tax resistance; |
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taking a clear stand against the building
of more nuclear weapons. |
We invite you to use the 2005
Peace and Justice Calendar to take part in and organize
events that connect Buddhist teachings with actions toward a more
just and peaceful world. At the end of 2005, our journal Turning
Wheel will publish reflections on what we have learned throughout
this year of exploration. Please visit our website www.bpf.org
often to see what's new, and please take part in this sangha-wide
effort to alleviate suffering of all beings.
The Buddhist Peace Fellowship
P.O. Box 3470, Berkeley, CA 94703
510-655-6169 • www.bpf.org
Bringing Together Buddhism and Progressive Social Change
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