An excerpt from an Interview with An-Nahar, the first political (daily) newspaper in Lebanon. It appeared in Arabic in June 2017.
Note from the Interviewer: The purpose of the interview with Matthieu Ricard is to send a message of peace in this troubled region, to give people positive ideas to think of and spread. It is an interview to open people's mind about things other then wars and killings and partisan views.
Q: We live in a region where killings and persecutions are made constantly in the name of God, of religion. In your opinion, is it the failure of religion (s) that made men in this way, or it is the failure of men who are making religion (s) fit their formula?
MR: Once, when I was at Davos World Economic Forum, during a meeting between representatives of the major religions, Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu, Prize, said: “I know no religion that states it is permissible to kill.” When he uttered these words, I felt very happy and suggested that we make a clear, common declaration on this point. But, the question was evaded under the pretext that there were “a variety of points of view on this subject.” For Buddhism, there is no difference between killing in peacetime and killing in wartime. A sincere Buddhist can do nothing but refuse to take part in acts of war.
Since all religions claim to convey a message of love, we expect from religions a clear, unequivocal condemnation of all acts of killing. But stances are sometimes, to say the least, ambiguous, especially on the question of war. A young US Christian soldier stationed in Iraq read one day, above the door of the military chaplaincy, “We are doing the work of God.” That seemed so aberrant to him that he lost his faith. This indeed quite common unfortunately among Muslims, Catholic, Protestants, Hindus and even Buddhists, sadly, in Myanmar. As the Dalai Lama remarked, “Both sides kill each other and in the meantime, they pray to God. God must be very confused.”
It is indeed possible to carry out a firm, determined action without feeling the slightest hatred, in order to prevent a dangerous being from doing harm. One day the Dalai Lama was asked what the best conduct would be to follow if a criminal entered a room and threatened its occupants with a revolver. He replied in a half-serious, half-teasing tone, “I would shoot him in the legs to neutralize him, then I’d go over to him to stroke his head and take care of him.” He was quite aware that reality is not always so simple, but wanted to get it across that an energetic action was enough, and that it was not only useless but harmful to add hatred to it. If hate replies to hate, hate will never end. But one must fall in the tragic mistake of this Colombian general who declared (twenty years ago), “I love peace. Therefore, I must eliminate all those who are against peace.” That will not work.
Q: Is it possible to build “free”, “happy”, “peaceful” men in our region, in spite of the atmosphere of extreme violence, wars and persecutions that we are witnessing?
MR: The more circumstances are challenging and the more society is prone to violence, the more we should energetically promote love and compassion. These are not just nice, utopian ideals disconnected from reality. Have you ever heard of hatred bringing peace? We must realize that we are all human beings, brothers and sisters. No one wakes up in the morning thinking “may I suffer the whole day, if possible my whole life.” We have one thing in common: all sentient beings — including animals by the way — do not want to suffer. So, let’s acknowledge that common wish in and work towards removing the causes of suffering. We cannot keep one’s hand in the fire and hope not to be burned. Benevolence, tolerance, cooperation, dialogue - these are the only way.
Q: What is your message to the Lebanese and the Arabs?
MR:You are bound to live side by side for generations to come. If you keep on retaliating to each other, how can you expect a good life? As Gandi said if you apply “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, the world will soon be blind and toothless.” Do you want your children and grandchildren to continue killing each other? Please accept your difference and live in peace with each other. Accepting difference means that all parties must accept that the other has a a particular set of beliefs and that for the sake of peace, all parties must give up the idea that others must adopt your own beliefs. This will never happen, so why trying to do so at the cost of so much suffering? Be reasonable, be open-minded and be good persons, with love and compassion. That is the only way to happiness.