POWER OF THE VOID THE VOID OF POWER
Written by Writer on Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
IN SPIRIT
POWER OF THE VOID THE VOID OF POWER
The country is plunging into deep conflicts and anarchy because the powers-that-be, as well as those who want to overthrow them, are trapped in the we/they dichotomy, violating the Buddhist duty to transcend the false illusion of self - the root cause of hatred and violence
SANITSUDA EKACHAI
In 1973, Seksan Prasertkul stood tall among the revolutionary young leaders in the Students’ Uprising that ended the military dictatorship in Thailand.
Back then, when the charismatic student leader spoke, other young idealists who shared his dream for change listened.
Today, the comrades who once fought side by side to usher in democracy are not only bitterly split into anti- and pro-Thaksin camps, they are also ready to jump at one another’s throats to push for their version of democracy. Ideological conflicts have plunged Thailand into its deepest political divisiveness ever.
Throughout the conflicts, Seksan has kept mum on the current political mayhem and the power struggles among his friends-turned-foes.
What does he think about the future of the pro-Thaksin government? How does he feel about the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD)? Which side does he think will prevail? As a friend, what does he have to say to make them come to their senses? And as a Buddhist and prominent intellectual, what dharma teachings does he think could shine the light for the self-proclaimed Buddhist society out of violence?
When Seksan gave a speech entitled “Power of the Void, the Void of Power” to honour the late reformist monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu recently, those who listened carefully heard answers to all those questions - and more - through the lens of dharma.
The crux of the problem, he said, is the we/they dichotomy which good Buddhists must try to transcend in order to free themselves from the false illusion of self - the root cause of greed, anger, fear and violent desire to eliminate perceived threats at all costs.
The answer is to go back to the Lord Buddha’s teachings on the void (sunyata) and interconnectedness (idappaccayata), which were much emphasised by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu when he was alive.
So what does sunyata, or voidness, mean?
“In dharma speak, voidness does not mean emptiness. It means that the states of existence of all matters are interdependent and so each matter is essentially void of self-nature. In other word, there is no such thing as separate, enduring identities,” explained Seksan.
This does not mean that things do not exist physically. “But they exist in relation to other matters, meaning that nothing arises independently.”
In essence, sunyata or voidness is the state that is in a constant flux of change, endlessly corresponding to ever-changing factors. This makes the Lord Buddha’s teachings on voidness part and parcel of the teachings on idappaccayata (the processes of causality) and paticca-samuppada (dependent co-arising).
The late Buddhadasa Bhikkhu himself considered voidness and interdependency or idappaccayata as the supreme natural law, equivalent to God in the monotheistic religions.
“This law gives birth to all things in the universe, shaping them, subjecting them to decay, their passing away and then their resurrection. This is the God of idappaccayata at work,” once explained the late Buddhadasa.
Like God, this supreme natural law both rewards and punishes. “The question is how to live in accordance with this natural law so that we are not punished by it.”
It pays to observe how nature functions, Seksan suggested. “Everything in the natural world is in the embrace of voidness. All things borrow from other things to form their existence. In the sea, there is rain. In the raindrops, there is a vast sea. The vapour in the clouds is actually the sea on a journey. When we see the rain, we see the sea, when we see the sea, we see the rain.”
Seksan Prasertkul.
Consequently, nothing is an island. “All are made up of components from other things. Nothing arises independently. If we understand this, we’ll realise that pinning blame on one particular factor or one sole person as the cause of an undesirable situation is the view against truth.”
Unable to see that there is no such thing as an in-dwelling self and separate identity, people remained trapped in duality, dividing the world into black and white, good and bad, ugly and pretty, pure and contaminated, he explained.
“This view is rooted in the false sense of self, leading to constant conflicts, because each side wants to determine the world from one single factor, which is oneself, accusing others as the sole cause of the problem without seeing related factors.”
To understand the void of the world in order to get out of the trap of duality is a near impossibility, short of one’s first-hand experience of the void within, said Seksan.
“According to Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, when people realise the void of self, then they’ll realise the void of everything.”
This is because the external and internal worlds are interrelated. “And the key is the world within. If people still don’t realise the truth of voidness, their views will be inconsistent with reality, leading to endless problems.”
While duality is about relative truth, which is useful in daily living, elevating it to the level of absolute truth is considered extremism, which the Lord Buddha cautions against, he noted. To get out of this mental trap, the Lord Buddha teaches the Middle Path.
“The Middle Path doesn’t mean being in the middle of two sides. It doesn’t mean not taking sides to save oneself. And it certainly doesn’t mean resorting to a referendum of those who are directly involved in the conflict,” he commented, referring to the frequent calls that are dubbed the middle way to settle the current crisis.
The Middle Path means freeing ourselves from extreme and static views. It means the ability to see through the duality and the falsehood of whatever ideas are used by the different sides to fight each other, he said.
“For example, many Thais have a fixed idea on what is or what is not democracy. They argue with one another to death, forgetting that all is but relative truth dependent on different factors, that all is impermanent.”
In Buddhism, growing attached to one’s idea is frowned upon because it is essentially an attachment to ego and self, a particular weakness to intellectuals, he noted.
“They love and protect their ideas like they do their own children. No one can touch them. No one can oppose them. I know, because I used to be in that trap.
“Extreme views, no matter from which side, are all self-centred. As long as the people involved don’t pull themselves out of dualistic and extreme views, the conflicts will grow into violence and suffering. That is how the power of the void manifests itself to punish those who violate its law.”
By transcending duality, the Middle Path helps one to see the whole truth which is not shadowed by self and ego, thus allowing compassion and equanimity to emerge.
“The Middle Path is about opening one’s heart, which leads us to concrete solutions to the problems at hand. All is possible when the mind is calm and aware of the void. Success is determined by the mind. The mind is the master,” he said, citing the Buddha.
The need to transcend dualism is also echoed in the teachings on the Eightfold Path, which begins with Right View. Given the parallel teachings on voidness and interdependency, Right View, said Seksan, means rising above dualistic ideas and theories.
Due to their attachment to views, each side normally keeps churning out endless views to attack the other side. “Therefore, if we really want to solve the conflicts, we must ask the competing sides to stop talking or churning out opinions for a period of time. This is the first step to get out of wrong views.”
Like everything else, power is governed by the law of the void, which is one with the law of interdependency. Those who violate these laws will soon lose grip of power, he warned.
“Power is about human relationships. It cannot be owned because it corresponds constantly to various dynamic factors for its existence and decay.
“Power has its own law of arising and passing away. The rulers then have to understand what factors determine their power, and what they have to do in order to maintain their positive relationship with those factors.”
A large number of people give power to a small group of people to govern them because they want the rulers to provide them with protection, safety, allocation of resources, conflict settlements and other higher values like freedom and justice, said Seksan, who teaches political science at Thammasat University.
“Ultimately, political power rests on the rulers’ ability to make the people feel satisfied. If not, they won’t have the legitimacy to govern, leading to instability and eventual loss of power.”
Buddhism also sees political power as a human creation to solve the problems that ordinary people cannot as individuals. To maintain power, therefore, rulers need the public’s consent, work to ease the people’s problems, and must not use the power to benefit themselves. Those who do not respect these laws face perils.
The law of power is echoed in the ancient wisdoms of ancient philosophers around the world. For example, Lao Tsu, the ancient Chinese philosopher, says the best form of government is the one under which the people do not feel that they are being governed.
For Plato, rulers must not have personal properties, not even families, and they must deploy the power only to serve their subjects. The Book of Rajaniti of ancient India on governing says good leaders must not create suffering in their realms. The ancient laws in northern Lanna, Thailand, clearly differentiate good rulers from bad rulers who are oppressive, steal from the people and commit adultery.
Buddhism also clearly outlines the qualities of good leaders in Rajadharma Ten, which include generosity, high moral character, honesty, self-control, non-anger, tolerance and integrity.
“All these teachings show that political power depends on many factors, the most decisive of which is public satisfaction. This implies that those who want to maintain power must be void of ego and self. In other word, they must be people of dharma.
“The late Buddhadasa also taught that politics and dharma are inseparable, that a true politician must be a Bhodhisattva, living and working for the good of others.”
Since power is void, the rulers who violate the supreme law of the void by insisting on putting their ego and interests first will be punished. This law also applies to those who want to usurp power. “They must realise that power is about human relations determined by interrelated factors. Power is not in a particular place. Securing state power doesn’t come from securing buildings. You have to secure the people’s hearts,” said Seksan, referring to the PAD’s occupation of Government House.
When power is in the hands of egoistic people, their power cannot solve problems at their roots, he noted. Public resistance will make their power unstable. Meanwhile, the gathering of selfish minds cannot be called sabha, the Pali term for a meeting hall of good minds, Seksan said in reference to Parliament, which is called Sabha in Thai.
How to be a good political leader in the Buddhist perspective? The message of sacrifice is clear in the religious tale about the Monkey King. When surrounded by hostile soldiers, he used himself as a bridge for his followers to cross the river for safety before dying of a fatal wound.
The anti-government captains can become political leaders, too, if they are not driven by greed, anger and delusion, he pointed out. “Or they can be mere power seekers if they are not true to dharma, if they do not see the void of power.”
Winning at all costs is not for those who understand the dharma of the void, he cautioned, apparently referring to the PAD’s break-or-make mentality.
“Calling it quits is probably a greater sacrifice to show love for the nation. Like when a mother gives up her baby when she can no longer protect it.
“Ultimately speaking, winning or losing is similarly void and non-existent. It is us that gives it values and meanings.”
“Politically speaking, power will also change hands when the rulers cannot solve problems or constantly face a legitimacy crisis.
“It’s not guaranteed, however, that change will make things better. It depends on how visionary the leaders are and how much public consensus exists for change. If the people still disagree on the direction of change, dismantling the old system or the old power cliques will only lead to anarchy.”
The history of several countries has shown that the new power is sometimes much more brutal than the old one due to the desire for speedy change and the unwillingness to wait for consensus, he cautioned.
“Buddhadasa Bhikkhu also said that the form of government is not as important as the criterion of whether it has dharma or not. For without dharma, peace is not possible. For him, the lack of peace is human beings’ worst problem.
“Our inability to live together peacefully is our country’s great misery. This is why any efforts to improve or to change the political system can bring no good if they are driven by hatred, greed and delusion.
“How can we create a peaceful society if our means are inconsistent with our goals right from the start? For Buddhists, the means is as important as the goals.”
Bangkok Post
Tuesday October 28, 2008
