Dialogue: The way to lasting peace
New Delhi, August 4, 2005: The Bharat Soka Gakkai (BSG) and Times Foundation today organised a symposium on ‘Towards a New Era of Dialogue: Humanism Explored’ – the 2005 Peace Proposal submitted by Buddhist philosopher, author and Soka Gakkai International President Daisaku Ikeda to the United Nations.
Welcoming the guests, Ms Naveena Reddi, Director General of Bharat Soka Gakkai said that this year’s peace proposal commemorates the 30th anniversary of the SGI, the fundamental spirit of which is an unwavering commitment to peace, culture and education based on Buddhist principles. In this year’s proposal, she said, Dr Ikeda does not offer a simple solution. “He holds out the hope that there is no need to fall into a meaningless and unproductive pessimism. Since problems are caused by human beings, they must have a human solution as well. The core of our efforts to find this solution must be to embrace dialogue,” she said, while also emphasising the need to refuse to discriminate on the basis of stereotypes and engage to transform even conflict into positive contribution. Quoting from the 2005 Peace Proposal, she said that the greatest hope of humanity is the potential that resides in each individual. Ms Reddi also thanked Times Foundation for their encouragement in holding the symposium.
Delivering the keynote address, Dr RK Pachauri, Director-General of TERI, said that there must be some fundamental truths which must define the activities of human race in the future if we are to create a period of prosperity and ensure the welfare of all beings on the planet. He drew the attention of the audience to the disastrous effects of climate change, which causes a steady increase in the sea level and could result in wiping out countries in a few decades. He then spoke about food security, and how famine-like conditions are also a threat to peace. Dr Pachauri said that the paradigm of development that we have followed so far is based on consumerism, which pays no heed to the delicate balance between cause and effect. In his peace proposal, he said, Dr Ikeda has clearly explained the relation between the causes we create and their effects on our world. Referring to Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of ahimsa, he said violence was not limited to violence perpetrated by human beings against human beings, but also that by human beings against nature and nature against human beings. He said it was time we worried about the pattern of development that societies like India must follow, a pattern that must involve pragmatism and philosophy.
Talking about his admiration for Dr Ikeda as a poet and philosopher, Dr LM Singhvi, Member of Parliament and former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, said that having worked with the Unesco, he recognises the task of peace as the most difficult to accomplish. He said Dr Ikeda has endeavoured to build peace and understanding in the minds of men through dialogue, through the mutual celebration of their humanity. He described this dialogue as heart-to-heart communication, which calls for sincerity and empathy.
Drawing attention to the difference between humanism as it is understood in the west and the humanism espoused by Dr Ikeda, Dr Singhvi said that unlike the West-espoused movement for rationality and against religion, Dr Ikeda’s humanism belongs to the Asian tradition – it is a humanism that stems from a desire to build bridges in the world, to establish equations of tolerance. He quoted a letter Mahatma Gandhi had written to commemorate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in which he said that his “wise but unlettered mother” had taught him that every right deserved is preceded by a duty that is to be performed, and a duty well performed is a right well deserved. Dr Ikeda, said Dr Singhvi, combines the compassion of the Lord Buddha, non-violence of Mahatma Gandhi and the ethics that form the basis of the United Nations and Unesco. “Referring to Dr Ikeda as Reverend Ikeda, he said the SGI president’s call was for a new era centred on humanism and what it can do to bring about a sense of togetherness, belonging, bonding, duty and a sense of remaking the world in the image of all our aspirations and ideas. He said that though he was a hard-headed lawyer by profession, the only brief he has is for peace.
Addressing the audience, Mr Lalit Mansingh, Former Ambassador to US, said that since scepticism comes easy to a diplomat, he approached Dr Ikeda’s peace proposal with scepticism, convinced that global problems such as terrorism cannot be combated by soft options. However, he said that he found that he was in virtual agreement with Dr Ikeda’s approach. Mr Mansingh focussed on four important aspects of the proposal: the importance of dialogue, reform of the United Nations, urgency of global disarmament and the need to address environmental crises through a dialogue with nature. He said dialogue was fundamental to diplomacy – when this breaks down, the threat of war emerges. He also held out hope for the reform of the UN and permanent representation for India. As the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki approaches, he said it was time to recall the curse of the mushroom cloud. Dr Mansingh said that though India refused to sign the first NPT and challenged the monopoly of the nuclear powers, it would never give up on its goal of nuclear disarmament. He said Dr Ikeda’s pleas for a new multilateral disarmament process coincide with what India has been calling for in the past five decades.
Dr Daisaku Ikeda has devoted his life to fostering personal interaction and dialogue across cultural and philosophical boundaries in order to achieve lasting peace. In his quest for peace through dialogue, Dr Ikeda has travelled to more than 50 countries, holding discussions with distinguished political, cultural and educational figures.
Every year since 1983, Dr Ikeda has presented peace proposals on behalf of the Soka Gakkai. In these, he offers solutions to the questions of human security and world peace, based on Buddhist ideals and philosophy. The peace proposals are part of Dr Ikeda’s endeavour to work with the United Nations – which he refers to as “the congress of humanity” – in order to realise the goals of peace, culture and education.
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