The Five Live Basic Principles
for World  Peace

Rev. Saik Kong Ghee

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pp. A29-A31


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    The five basic principles for world peace have been promulgated two thousand five hundred years ago by no other sage than the Lord Gotama Buddha.

    The Buddha was especially born into the world to save all sentient beings from Suffering. His very words are. "Just as the sea has only one taste, the taste of salt, so my teaching has only one purpose, that of Deliverance from Suffering". Anyone who practises the sublime teachings of the All Compassionate One is bound to attain indescribable peace and happiness. The world too, by following His Path, would become an Utopia: free from fear, hatred and the threat of annihilation.

    Twenty five centuries ago, a panaca had been found to eradicate all the ills that ever affect mankind. These diseases are of the mind, namely greed, anger, envy and hatred. In the Pancha-sila of the Buddha is embodied the perfect code of morality which would save mankind. It is opportune that the world should take note of this ancient teaching at this critical period of history in order to escape total self-destruction. Let us see what this Pancha-sila is, and how it constitutes the Five Basic Principles for World Peace.

    Briefly the Pancha-sila means The Five Precepts. These Precepts are scientifically arranged so that the practice of one automatically leads to the practice of the other, and in the end. Perfection may result.

    The First precept is NOT TO KILL. This may sound simple but it is not so. How many of us can claim not to have killed anything during our lives. See the amount of slaughter that occurs everyday of creatures that walk, crawl, swim and fly! And periodically, when Greed dethrones Reason in man, then the rivers run red with human blood.

    When the Buddha enjoins us not to kill, He has in mind the for- reaching effects which non-killing has upon the character and destiny of the upholder of this precept. When one refrains from killing, compass- ion is born in the heart. This compassion grows and grows, making the

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person kinder and kinder until violence becomes absolutely impossible for him and he would not even hurt a fly. Any mercy or compassion is the first step to charity.

    When this non-violence is carried to the letter, a person becomes a total vegetarian and he would prefer death to killing an animal for food. Apply this principle to the international field, and war would then become impossible, for no man would take up arms against his fellow men. Compassion and charity having been established in the heart, then it is relatively simple to practise the second precept which is "Do not take what does not belong to you".

    All forms of cheating, stealing, robbing and shady dealings would have been eliminated with one stroke. Greed, the arch-motivator of countless crimes through time, would be uprooted from the face of the earth. Every man would be earning his bread by the sweat of his brow. Implicit faith and trust prevails in all spheres of human intercourse. A strong nation would never think of exploiting or colonising another nation. Doors and windows could remain open twenty four hours a day. Surely by then jails would have become obsolete. Think, what peace and security would envelop mankind if this precept were made the guiding code of life! Absolute honesty is not enough, one must be absolutely pure in mind too. And this leads us to the Buddha's third precept of the Pancha-sila which is "Abstain from unchastity".

    Besides Greed, Sex is responsible for most of the crimes and unhappiness in the world. Because of unchastity, some murder, some break up homes and families; bigamy, polygamy, adultery and prostitution thrive. Seduction of the innocent is rampant.

    How godlike a man looks when his mind is pure! How conducive it is to concentration which is the secret of success in all human endeavours! Unmoved by the temptations of the flesh, the mind becomes calm and collected. His thinking is unimpaired. As head of the family, he devotes all his energy to wife and children who need not fear that the father would fail them. When man learns to regard a woman as a mother or a sister, then jealousy and immorality, which cause so much unhappiness, would disappear from this planet.

    Another potential source of wrong-doing is our mouth. Therefore the Fully Enlightened One, in the fourth precept, admonishes us always to refrain from falsehood. Sharper than the blade is the tongue. It can kill

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without a sword. Think of the ruins that lies have caused to numberless people since the world began and you will realize how terrible are the consequences which an evil mouth could create.

    Back-biting, slandering, setting one against another's throat by means of incitement and instigation, are some of the heinous sins committed by the tongue. Misunderstanding and suspicion usurp the place of mutual trust and candour. Sometimes a lie might continue to create havoc years afterwards. Speaking the Truth, thinking of the Truth, can become a habit. Once this is accomplished, one becomes incapable of lying. The beauty of it is, that speaking Truth, conforms to the character of Truth.If a person would not tell a lie, he would not live a life of hypocrisy. Truth is already in his character.

    A man's word should be his bond. In business as in pleasure how happy it would be if Truth governed every intercourse. The propaganda which countries indulge in for ulterior motives would be a thing of the past.

    When the tongue only speaks to soothe and to comfort, to teach and to help, then this world would be transformed into a paradise.

    Suppose one has already mastered the four precepts. Still there lurks a danger of his falling. And the Lord Buddha in His infinite wisdom has seen that unless the disciple abstains from all intoxicants. he might, when drunk, commit anything, destroying all the good he has accumulated in his life time. The perniciousness of drinking is that it tends to form a habit. The craving would make the drinker a slave to alcohol. To a man of average income, what privations would be caused to wife and children when all his earning goes to allay his insatiable thirst. Not only degradation of body and mind would set in, but the drinker might end in suicide. Such is the potential danger of liquor, the Lord Buddha having seen its importance has included it in his fifth and last precept.

    You now have heard the Pancha-sila. Do you not agree that the whole world should practise the Five Precepts? That whether long ago, now,or in the distant future, these Five Principles for World Peace should remain fresh and true.

    Confucius said that a journey of a thousand li starts with one steps so, dear brothers and sisters and all who revere the Lord Buddha, begin the practice of the Five Precepts with yourself. If each does this, the whole world would soon be going fine, and what a wonderful world it would be!

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