Beyond Tolerance and Pleasure

Somdet Phra Buddhaghosacariya (P. A. Payutto)

The Middle Way to Establish Peace

It is for the purpose of solving human problems that religions came into existence. Religion has been, throughout history, a potent force behind world events. Fundamentally, religion identifies itself with the role of delivering people from fear of the unknown or from the suffering of mundane life. In playing this role, religion works towards creating peace both inside and outside. The fundamental inner or spiritual peace is often emphasized more than the external one.

However, out of the motive of clinging to view or ideology, religious institutions and religious people have caused innumerable breaches of peace. A long list of religious wars and persecutions can be recited. Only through hard struggles has the current civilization secured a degree of religious freedom and tolerance. Surely, the maintenance of world peace would not be possible without universal respect for religious freedom and the observance of this tolerance. In spite of all the measures recommended and decided upon by the UN, breaches of peace on account of intolerance are sporadically witnessed. It seems that much more needs to be done to make sure that world peace can be strengthened.

Even the concept of ‘tolerance’ has yet to be clarified. There is a tendency to go to one or the other of two extremes.

One of these extremes is the attitude of monopolizing truth to the point of strangling people. This is, of course, intolerance, which may go so far even to be bigotry or fanaticism. An intolerant person thoughtlessly refutes others’ ideas and assumes that all people must convert to his or her faith. They may develop hostility and a tendency to force others to adopt one’s religion. This surely leads to conflict and persecution.

The other extreme is the attitude of pleasing people to the point of strangling truth. One may say that all religions teach the same thing or that the teachings of all faiths are right and true.

One should develop right attitudes toward people on one side and toward knowledge and truth on the other. Friendly relations with one’s neighbors should be maintained. A compromise between people can be worked out by adjusting feelings, desires and interests. We can compromise with neighbors, but we cannot compromise with nature.

To maintain friendly relations among people who hold different views of Truth does not mean that they will have to compromise their views or to compromise Truth. To do so would amount to a human conspiracy to blind humanity. Truth is as it is. Things are as they are in the ways of the natural order. We have to learn to know them and treat them with knowledge. Of what we know it is right to say that we know. And of what we do not know, it is right to say that we do not know.

In short, one should treat neighbors with loving-kindness and compassion, but relate to nature and truth through learning and knowledge. This is the middle way for people to live peacefully with one another, while at the same time being free to proceed to search for knowledge and truth.

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