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\tqr\tx4792\adjustright \fs20\lang2057\cgrid {\fs47\cgrid0 The Dharma Centre
\par }\pard \qc\nowidctlpar\tqr\tx5332\adjustright {\i\cgrid0 HEAD TEMPLE KWAN UM }{\i\fs21\cgrid0 SCHOOL OF ZEN \_ AFRICA}{\fs21\cgrid0 
\par }\pard \nowidctlpar\tqr\tx5332\adjustright {\fs21\cgrid0 
\par }\pard \nowidctlpar\tqr\tx7779\adjustright {\fs21\cgrid0 Date: June 25, 1997
\par To: The Chairperson of the Human }{\cgrid0 Rights }{\fs21\cgrid0 Violations Committee
\par }{\fs22\cgrid0 Fax: }{\b\fs22\cgrid0 011\_333 0832
\par From. The Dharma Centre
\par }{\fs22\cgrid0 Re: }{\b\fs22\cgrid0 Submission by the Churches to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
\par Pages: 5, including this page
\par 
\par }\pard \nowidctlpar\tqr\tx1027\adjustright {\b\fs22\cgrid0 
\par }{\fs22\cgrid0 Dear Sir,
\par 
\par We thank you for your fax dated 3 June 1997 and your invitation to put forth our perspective of human rights in relation to the gross violations perpetrated in South Africa during the past three decades. In add
ressing the specific issues raised by you, it is useful to present a brief profile of our community as well as the issue of human rights within the overall context of Buddhist principles and practices.
\par 
\par }{\b\fs22\cgrid0 THE DHARMA CENTRE}{\fs22\cgrid0 
\par 
\par We are a Den Buddhist Centre and t
he official Head Temple of the Kwan Um School of Zen in Africa. Formed in 1981 in Somerset West, our practice promotes an understanding of one's self. With little more than a handful of members, we are part of a wider community of approximately 40 affilia
ted Zen Centres in other parts of the world including Korea, Hong Kong, USA, Western and Eastern Europe. The Centre has recently relocated to Robertson and has a small branch in Rondebosch, Cape Town.
\par 
\par The Kwan Um School of Zen was founded by Zen Master Seu
ng Sahn, the first Korean Zen Master to teach in the West.  He is the School's guiding teacher and is recognised as one of the world's foremost contemporary teachers in Zen Buddhism.  Zen Master Seung Sahn has published numerous books and over the years, 
h
ea has encouraged people of all faiths to realise their true nature through their own practice or through Zen.  With this in mind, he has led retreats at the Gethsemani Monastery and other Christian Groups and came to South Africa in 1989 where he led ret
reats all over the country.
\par 
\par What is Zen? In this world everyone searches for happiness outside, but nobody understands their true self inside.  Everybody says "I want this, I am like that." But before you are born, where did you come from?  When you die, w
here will you go to? If one sincerely asks, "what am I?" sooner or later one runs into a wall where all thinking is cut off. We call this "don't know" mind and together with our formal meditation practice, if forms the essential cornerstone of Zen Buddhis
t tradition in cultivating a sense of just being, independent of all concepts, clich\'e9s and dogmas.  This allows us to respond simply to whatever the situation, with clarity and with purpose.
\par 
\par }{\b\fs22\cgrid0 BUDDHISM AND HUMAN RIGHTS}{\fs22\cgrid0 
\par 
\par Buddhism is an all pervading philosoph
y and religion, strongly motivated by human rights and the rights of everything that exists, man, woman, animal and the environment in which they live.  The leading moral concept in Buddhism is that of compassion.  The Buddhist view on human rights is ded
i
cated to the understanding of persons in a parameter-free ambience, so to speak, where feelings that are extremely soft and tender, but nevertheless present and translated into human traits or virtues that we uphold, make up the very fibre of human relati
ons. }{\b\fs22\cgrid0 /pp1-2/}{\fs22\cgrid0 
\par 
\par These relations, though largely intangible, are founded in human characteristics such as openness and honesty, patience and humility, tolerance and sharing, love and understanding.  In the Buddhist view, these basic and natural qualities prece
de any statutory legal rights, which must be complemented by and based on something deeper and written in the very feelings of all sentient human beings.
\par 
\par In the Conference on Buddhism and Human Rights in October 1995, the participants affirmed the charter
 that every human being should be treated humanely, both by other individuals and governments in keeping with the Buddhist commitment to non-violence and respect for life.  The Buddhist teaching shows that suffering does not really "belong" to anyone. In 
i
ts teachings Buddhism recognises the interdependency of all forms of life and the reciprocal obligations which arise from it.  To repress our basic sympathy by abusing other sentient beings, human or otherwise, cripples our own potential and increases the
 
amount of suffering in the world for both others and ourselves.  Our lives are intertwined, and abusing others can only be done when we are blind to this fact. As vulnerable beings in a conditioned world, our mutual dependency indicates that whatever can 
be done to reduce suffering in the world should be done.
\par 
\par Buddhism has long been the subject itself of human right abuse and violation - in Tibet, in China, Laos and Korea.  At the United Nations World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, His Holiness the 
Dalai Lama said, "Respect for fundamental human rights should not remain and ideal to be achieved but a requisite foundation for every human society.  No matter what country or continent we come from, it is the inherent nature of all human beings to yearn
 
for freedom, equality and dignity. We all seek happiness and try to avoid suffering regardless of our race, religion, sex, or political status. Human beings, indeed all sentient beings, have the right to pursue happiness and live in peace and in freedom. 
As free human beings we can use our unique intelligence to try to understand ourselves and our world."
\par 
\par "The rich diversity of cultures and religions could help to strengthen the fundamental human rights in all communities, because underlying this diversity
 are fundamental principles that bind us all as members of the same human family. Diversity and traditions can never justify the violations of human rights.  Therefore, the protection of these rights and freedoms are of immense importance both for the ind
ividuals affected and for the development of the society as a whole."
\par 
\par His Holiness the Dalai Lama went on to say that "lack of understanding of the true cause of happiness, is the principal reason why people inflict suffering on others.  In the long run ca
using others misery and infringing upon their peace and happiness creates anxiety, fear and suspicion for oneself.  The key to creating a better and more peaceful world is the development of love and compassion for others."
\par 
\par Buddhism shares the notion that
 when we demand the rights and freedoms we all so cherish, we ought also to be aware of our commensurate responsibilities. Buddhism's first weapon against suffering is acceptance.  Demanding one's rights without accepting reciprocal responsibilities and e
ssential principle of life and the dignity of mankind, seems to contradict that.
\par 
\par A Buddhist articulation of "rights" must address that issue.  It must also address the question of authority. It is not enough merely to provide people with food, shelter and 
clothing. The deeper human nature needs to breathe the precious air of liberty. The fate of a people in any country is the legitimate concern of the entire human family to protest when our brothers and sisters are being treated brutally, but it is also ou
r
 duty to do whatever we can to help them. It is not enough to merely state that all human beings must enjoy equal dignity.  This must be translated into action.  We have a responsibility to find ways to achieve a more equitable distribution of world's res
ources.
\par 
\par Whilst Buddhism is generally regarded as being more reserved in emphasising certain rights, it is open and seeks to understand the implications of human behaviour, based on the fundamental nature of human beings, before turning its attention to the
 so-called "rights" of individuals.  Actually it is just a matter of perspective.  Western civilisation is often criticised by Buddhists as being excessively individualistic.  "Human rights" may be criticised on similar grounds. The notion of inalienable 
rights somehow inherent in the individual, who then is encouraged to demand recognition, not only partakes of that individualism, but intensifies it, perhaps strengthening the very "I" and resulting separation which Buddhism advises us to weaken. }{
\b\fs22\cgrid0 /pp2-3/}{\fs22\cgrid0 
\par 
\par }{\b\fs22\cgrid0 HUMAN RIGHTS AND COMPASSION}{\fs22\cgrid0 
\par 
\par Buddhist moral theory takes }{\i\fs22\cgrid0 compassion}{\fs22\cgrid0  as its fundamental value, as does Human moral theory in the West.  The currently dominant Western moral systems, on the other hand, take }{\i\fs22\cgrid0 rights}{\fs22\cgrid0 
 as fundamental.  These liberal moral theories
 make compassion an optional, private matter.  In Buddhist practice, one of the most important moral qualities to cultivate is compassion. A genuine sense of responsibility can result only if we develop compassion.  Only a spontaneous feeling of empathy f
or others can really motivate us to act on their behalf. We act compassionately, precisely when we act not from duty, and precisely when we do not simply respect the rights of others, but when we positively benefit or refrain from harming where there are 
}{\fs22\ul\cgrid0 no}{\fs22\cgrid0  rights or duties.
\par 
\par So while compassion is of the utmost moral significance, we need no moral theory or explicit social structure to ensure its operation.  Human nature takes care of this. But to extend it far enough to ensure necessary social goods, we ne
ed a mechanism - a human convention.  Conferring rights is simply the best mechanism we have devised to this end.  But having extended the sentiment of compassion, we must then ask how to turn that sentiment into tangible goods for those to whom it is dir
ected, as well as how to ensure that those goods are available even when imagination and instinctive human goodness fail, as we know they all too often do.
\par 
\par And that is where rights come in.  By extending either a basic set of general human rights to our fe
llow persons, or more particular rights of citizenship to those who share our vision of civic life and who participate with us in its institutions, we grant enforceable claims to the goods of life and against oppression.  These provide the tools with whic
h
 each individual can protect him/herself and achieve his/her own flourishing. These tools will be available even when our compassion or those of others fails, and can even be used as rhetorical vehicles to reawaken that compassion.  On the one hand, right
s
 are used as tools to fight against those who show a paucity of compassionate regard for the oppressed.  They can be asserted in courts of law, in political processes, or in diplomatic channels in order to secure the goods that would ordinarily be availab
l
e through fellowship.  In essence then, neither rights nor incentives can motivate compassionate action.  But compassion can certainly provide the motivation for constructing a system of rights, and for the creation of incentives to further compassionate 
action.
\par 
\par }{\b\fs22\cgrid0 THE DHARMA CENTRE'S ROLE IN RECONCILIATION AND UNDERSTANDING}{\fs22\cgrid0 
\par 
\par It may be true that like most of us, Buddhist institutions could have done a better job of helping people in South Africa during the years of oppression.  But we believe that from the ti
me of Buddha until today, all forms of Buddhism have been continuously trying to help people, whether in social groups or individually. It has never been the case that Buddhism did not care about the world.  The freedom and happiness of all living beings 
h
ave always been the ultimate ideal and the working goal.  Life in the monastery has much in common with the world outside. There is a need for self-discipline, concentration, awareness and co-operation.  Buddhist organisations based on ethical rules which
 govern monastic life, are less likely to contribute either directly or indirectly to the abuse of human rights.
\par 
\par Zen Buddhism goes even further in that it recognises that one's experiences must always be open to the total ambience of any momentary situatio
n.  It reflects the limitations of any preconceived idea or concept, including human rights. It simply addresses each situation exactly as it is without trying to live life according to predefined norms and principles, since in any event, it is a fundamen
tal rule that everything changes - ideas, notions, concepts, ideologies and even rules and regulations.
\par 
\par As a small Zen Buddhist community during the years of oppression and at all times, we are devoted to cultivate an understanding and compassion within ou
rselves. Wherever possible we have participated and will continue to participate in national and local activities and forums. By way of example, in both their personal capacities and as representatives of the Dharma Centre, Heilia Downey (the Centre's Gui
ding Teacher) and her husband Rodney Downey (Abbot of the Centre). have been working closely over the years with the WCRP, participating and speaking at various joint religious services and public meetings. }{\b\fs22\cgrid0 /pp3-4/}{\fs22\cgrid0 
\par 
\par Through their involvement with the I.E.C.
, Heilia Downey was appointed District Monitor of the Somerset West and Hottentots Holland Basin during the political elections.  The Dharma Centre further served as the headquarters for meetings of the electoral officers of that basin as well as making t
h
e Centre available to political parties to have round table discussions prior to the elections.  In fact, the Centre established a unique milestone in hosting all-party discussions to identify ways both during and after the elections of promoting harmony 
and reconciliation.  The Centre also served as an additional "expert" training centre for monitors during the election.
\par 
\par Other activities include the Dharma Centre's involvement over the past five years with the St Briavels Clinic Project. The Centre assist
ed in initiating and supporting the project which involves a team of medical doctors from England who visit South Africa annually to conduct clinics amongst the disadvantaged communities of the Townships. These clinics are aimed specifically at training t
he parents of brain-damaged children and has been so successful that there are now two clinics each year.
\par 
\par Whilst our numbers may be limited, our members have given talks on behalf of Amnesty International and indeed we have had extended and open discussion
s with Amnesty International about the foundation of our beliefs with regard to human rights. We continue to be invited by schools of all denominations to address the communities and explain the nature of our practice, whilst our weekly meetings and progr
amme or retreats are open to all members of the community regardless of race, creed or religious persuasion. In this manner, we are able to come together and share our very simple teachings and meditation practice that form part of our tradition.
\par 
\par Therefore
, although our voice has been small and often silent by the very nature of our tradition and belief in non-violence, we too share a deep sense of involvement in the process of bringing about change and reconciliation in this country.  We would accordingly
 be very pleased where possible, to participate in any future discussions and public events and to share our simply teachings and philosophy.
\par 
\par }{\b\fs22\cgrid0 SUGGESTED MEANS OF ACHIEVING LASTING RECONCILIATION}{\fs22\cgrid0 
\par 
\par Against the backdrop of deeply rooted political and racial pr
ejudice and victimisation, we feel that it will take far more than rhetoric and optimism to redress the past imbalances and restore a sense of dignity to this nation. We talk of a "rainbow nation" and yet each colour is still an island unto itself. How th
e
n do we advocate not abstract rights, but human life and welfare, both individually and collectively? Whilst this abstraction may be necessary in order to formulate legalisms through which real human beings are protected, it somehow misses the richness of
 human existence.  The human condition is problem and possibility, and human reality involves both freedom and contingency. This freedom is not abstract, but an effective power over self and situation.
\par 
\par More to the point, what can we all do now as a nation?
 We believe that it may be necessary to foster and encourage a climate of opinion in which human rights can flourish. At the same time, we must be alive to any encroachment upon the rights and freedoms of any individual. Above all, we must practice tolera
nce, and respect the rights and freedom of others.
\par 
\par We feel that it is not only through large public campaigns and national appeals, that one can cultivate this underlying compassion, but through our everyday activities, from the smallest relationship to th
e most significant - in just being open to whatever situation we are faced with, without preconceived ideas and in the understanding that we are all together and interdependent. Only with such an understanding of the interdependent reality will assertions
 of human rights contribute to a society of equals. For in this way, we will see that the person is not one among the many.
\par 
\par As equal subjects of this country, we believe that it is in our collective interests to recognise and act on our freedom, for in thi
s way we take responsibility for our own lives and deliberately create a future in which we may support ourselves and our families. The Buddhist ethical question is not whether or not we are free, but whether or not we accept responsibility for the freedo
m we cannot abdicate. There is nowhere to hide from freedom and responsibility. }{\b\fs22\cgrid0 /pp4-5/
\par 
\par }{\fs22\cgrid0 How then does one nurture and foster a sense of natural compassion? Through a recognition of common suffering arising more often than not out of one's own suffering and
 the insight that we are not unique - that we share this pain as much as we share in the laughter. Children learn modes of interaction and attitudes to which they are exposed in childhood. Children brought up compassionately learn to be compassionate. And
 
they are precisely the individuals who respect the rights of others and who discharge their duties. To begin from compassion, is to begin by taking the good of others as one's own motive for action. This happens quite naturally within the family and the c
ircle of one's intimate friends and associates, when those relationships are healthy and intact.
\par 
\par In the Buddhist tradition, human rights are an extension of human nature, flowing from right human relations. Human rights are legal matters which can be legis
lated, but only to a certain extent, especially in a divided world. Human nature, however, is an existential matter which can neither be legislated nor measured. Therefore one must resort to persuasion and self-realisation in order to seek one's unique ex
istence.
\par 
\par It is recognised that the primary causes of human rights violations and abuses are often vested in underlying concerns and emotions. The fear and hatred on the surface are just secondary emotions - underlying these is insecurity, fear of survival,
 guilt and criticism - it is these very areas that ought perhaps to be addressed at a national level. By instilling a sense of acceptance, that it is all right to live side by side and that there }{\fs22\ul\cgrid0 will}{\fs22\cgrid0 
 be certain problems that we have to face and overcome t
ogether, we can start to address the real issues. By reminding ourselves that it is not all going to be simple but that somehow we can share and understand these problems, we could begin to promote a sense of unity in purpose that is based on a deep sense
 
of compassion and understanding.  Goodwill and tolerance have been inadequate as evidenced in the world today. What is necessary is a new understanding of reality and a new vision of the ideal community, based on the interdependence and interconnectedness
 of life.
\par 
\par This unique coexistent nature of rights and feelings constitutes the saving truth of human existence and it is these fundamental values which we as a nation could seed to foster in establishing a basis of human rights. Attachments to doctrine and
 dogma could be openly re-examined and explored for these are often the very causes of intolerance. Wisdom rather that justice could be emphasised as this is the basis of compassion and love.
\par There could for example be open forums such as those conducted b
y the WCRP and on national media - it is an opportunity for debate amongst the people of this country where cultures can for the first time be really understood and there can be a crossover and a sharing to show what goes on at the simplest level in the h
omes of ordinary people - how they live, what their valu
es are and their traditions and their cultures. This can only be done through the inspired leadership and on an organised platform. At the same time we could try, through these open discussions, to remove the perceived notion of threat to our individual c
ultures by encouraging the rights of people to retain their own identity whilst sharing in the greater issues.
\par 
\par The nation could be encouraged to come together in an organised manner to collectively address major issues such as crime and unemployment which 
seek to undermine all the good will that has been generated over the past few years. By creating jobs and economic stability and security, we can restore the dignity of each member of our society. There is }{\fs22\ul\cgrid0 so}{\fs22\cgrid0 
 much work to do in nation building and restoring this country. There is also }{\fs22\ul\cgrid0 so }{\fs22\cgrid0 
much available labour and human resources, all crying for an opportunity to earn an honest living. And with all these resources, we need to implement a cohesive and visible strategy to address the issue or rebuilding. This might also reinforce the sense o
f collective team spirit and the Rainbow Nation can truly become a role model for the rest of the world.
\par 
\par If this spirit can be conveyed to the nation with optimistic leadership and encouragement, there is a chance for us all - by having an open and fresh "
beginners mind" and a willingness to try - to accept both success and failure. As we say in our tradition - "just do it!"
\par 
\par Thank you
\par 
\par submission by:
\par Ron Schiff DTT; Rodney Downey - Abbot; Heila Downey JDPSN - School Abbot and Guiding Teacher
\par }}