You are here: Frontpage > Issues > 2463 >
| A lesson for us all |
Satish Kumar , The Buddha and the Terrorist (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2005; ISBN 1 903998 43 3; 80pp; £4.95 )
Reviewed by: KATY BOTHWELL
World leaders could benefit from this simple parable set in North India. "The transformation of a terrorist into a Buddha still inspires hope that even the terrorists today - whether stateless murderers on the run or leaders of governments - can face the fear that lies within and begin the healing of themselves and others." These are the words of author Allan Hunt Badiner who wrote a foreword to Satish Kumar's new short book.
Buddhist scripture and a story about the unfairness of the Indian caste system come together in a lucid account of forgiveness and compassion. Kumar, who is editor of Resurgence magazine and director of Schumacher college, is influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and Bertrand Russell.
Monks in The Buddha and the Terrorist renounce all material possessions but the message they preach is less absolute. It is simply not to fight fire with fire, anger with anger and violence with violence. The best teacher of Buddhist values turns out to be the terrorist Angulimala ("finger necklace") who, once reformed, finds that reverence, compassion and loving-kindness are the route to happiness.
Satish Kumar also explores the root causes of violence. He explains: "Fear is violence, caste discrimination is violence, exploiting of others, however subtle, is violence, segregation is violence, thinking ill of others and condemning others is violence." The terrorist in this short tale was born as an untouchable, the injustice of which makes him angry enough to kill people even though his parents gave him the name Ahimsaka (the nonviolent, or harmless, one).
Perhaps the most poignant and pivotal part of the tale is when the widow of a poet who was killed by the terrorist stands up and pleads for his life. She says to the King: "Your Majesty, on the one hand I wish to see Angulimala severely punished and made an example of for others. On the other hand I think that Angulimala's death will not bring my husband back to life. I ask myself, what will be the benefit of one more death, and what will I and my child gain from it?"