Today
we see a clash of cultures in the making with a widening gap between the East
and the West, the rich and the poor, the young and the old, the weak and the
strong, and between the conservatives and the progressives, the literate and
the illiterate, as well as between the opposite sides of the digital divide.
Darwin’s survival of the fittest or Machiavelli’s “might is right” seem the way
to survive in this power crazy world.
However,
there is a need for humanity to have its checks and balances through dialogue
for it to live in harmony and to survive.
Matteo
Ricci, one of the pioneers of the
Jesuit mission to China, remains a greatly respected figure for the Catholic Church
and for the Chinese people. He has been called “the most outstanding cultural
mediator between China and the West of all time.”
Another
concept that is very important in dialogue and which we see at work in some
notable persons is the Buddhist Middle Path, which could be a key to attaining
this balance. We take a cue from two moral leaders, one from Thailand and one
from Myanmar, nations which are predominantly Buddhist.
First,
we see this Buddhist concept of the Middle Path lived out by the much-loved and
respected King Bhumibol of Thailand under whose moral leadership Thailand has
attained its present economic success.
Second,
we also see this Middle Path taken by a very well-loved figure in these days –
Aung San Suu Kyi, who made her first trip out of her homeland Myanmar after
years of imprisonment and of house arrest, when she was recently invited to the
World Economic Forum in Thailand.
A
recent film about her, entitled The Lady, shows the courage of this woman as
she battled human rights abuses with a non-violence reminiscent of Gandhi and
Nelson Mandela. Famous moments in her life have become known
not only in Burma but also in the whole world, especially, of how she bravely
faced guns being pointed at her, defying the command to shoot her if she
continued walking during a campaign. She walked nevertheless as the soldier
trembled in front of this calm and elegant lady. For more than 20 years the
world followed her news as she was kept under house arrest.
The
world saw how the Burmese Buddhist monks were massacred, and students and
activists detained, killed and tortured. But in a historic turn of events Thein
Sein, Myanmar’s new leader, freed her last year, then allowed her to
participate in the elections, with her party winning 44 seats in the
parliament. Now we can finally see her travelling outside Myanmar.
Imagine
24 years of house arrest! We do not know what the future holds for Suu Kyi and
for the Burmese people, but we are really heartened by the news that she is now
free and can continue to work for the good of her countrymen and women.
Somehow
the Middle Path may turn out to be a good way to achieve things in this world.
In Oriental thinking, the Middle Path bridges heaven and earth, the poor and
the rich, and the weak and the strong. But there is a need for people who act
as mediators in order to avoid clashes of contrasting poles and to connect them
so as to maintain the balance.
Hopefully,
many of us will be up to the challenge to take up the Middle Path, which means
becoming men and women of dialogue in this kaleidoscopic world of many
cultures.
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