RELIGIONS AND MEDIATION, PART FOUR

In previous postings I discussed Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions as they relate to mediation. The subject of this posting is Buddhism. Unlike Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions, Buddhism is not a religion in the sense of worshipping a God. Rather it is a path of practice and spiritual development leading to insight into the true nature of reality.

The first of the Buddhist Four Noble Truths is the reality of suffering. According to the second, the source of suffering is craving and ignorance. Craving is always directed at what is external to one’s own self, which is assumed to be stable, permanent and separate. Buddhist teaching denies the existence of a permanent self, so clinging to the idea of a separate self leads to suffering, especially in conflict, where one constructs a separate “other” to distinct from one’s self. The Third Noble Truth refers to the end of suffering, which implies letting go the idea of the separate self.

The application to mediation then is that for resolution to be possible, the disputants must let go of their self and embrace the reality of “us.” In some ways, then, this establishes the basis for what mediators do by encouraging disputing parties to recognize their interdependence. This also leads to the mediator’s encouraging disputing parties to stop considering the each other as “the problem” and identify the shared problem that the parties can work together to effect.

From a Buddhist perspective, to be a mediator one must possess several virtues including the practice of non-violence, compassion, wisdom, empathy and benevolence. Additionally, the mediator must have learned self-management and mindfulness.

I once observed these virtues in a Thai Buddhist mediator.

Intercultural counseling educator Paul Pedersen and I were co-planners of a conference of mediators in the Asia Pacific region as detailed in our book, “Constructive Conflict Management: Asia-Pacific Cases.” In Southern Thailand, locals worked with rubber trees and agreement over ownership and control of the land came under dispute, which escalated into violence. After local police and government officials failed to resolve the conflicting complaints, a local Buddhist monk who was respected by the disputing parties for his self control and nonconfrontational attitude, brought the conflicting parties together. He first taught the Buddhist lesson that hatred cannot be stopped by violence but by forgiveness. He then asked that all knives and guns be place in a container, which he flooded with water. He then asked the parties to drink from the water pledging to stop the violence and the altercations ended.

Again I invite those with more knowledge than I to correct my understanding.