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戰爭的由來
戰爭的起因太多太多了，列出來都難，何況做知識性的探討。我們在這裡討論的，是佛所認為的戰爭的基本原因－－那熱湯下的火。戰爭不是抽象的，戰爭是因為時勢的變遷在兩個團體之間所引起的；戰爭的起因也不是抽象的，至今為止，我們還未曾有以電腦中的邏輯思路引起及控制的戰爭；戰爭不是設定好的，它是「人」所引起的。雖然戰爭可以變成世界性的，但它的起因是在於「人」的決定。所以在我們討論世界戰爭前，我們先來討論「人類個體間」的互爭階段。
戰爭，開始於一個國家領導人的惱恨，或貪念沒有得到滿足。例如貪利益，貪錢財，貪經濟上的利益，貪權力，又或者他們的欲念被阻礙了，或他們的自尊心被觸怒了等等，這些都可以在種族或國家間的驕慢上顯示出來。他們誤認為答案可向外求得，武力是解決問題的方法，但事實上，解決問題的方法在於他們對事情的心境和所持的態度。
水戰的故事
佛陀證悟四年後，有兩個城市國家 Kapilavastu 和 Kilivastu 有場「爭水」之戰。當佛陀知道這事後，在兩國開戰前就連忙趕去阻止這場戰爭。當佛陀莊嚴地站在兩國大軍中間，軍隊中引起了好大一陣騷動。有人說：「現在我們看到聖者佛陀，我們不能射殺我們的敵人了。」因此士兵們都把他們的武器丟在地上，佛陀傳喚兩國的將軍問他們：「為什麼你們聚集在此？」兩國將軍回答：「打戰。」佛陀又質問他們：「是什麼原因使你們要打戰呢？」他們回答：「爭水來灌溉」。釋迦牟尼佛又問：「那麼你們認為水和人的生命，哪個比較有價值呢？」答：「水的價值是微不足道的。」佛陀又問：「那麼你們為什麼為了微不足道的水，而殺害寶貴的生命呢？」然後釋迦牟尼佛給了他們忠實的啟示：「人因為誤解而引起戰爭，而互相殺戮和傷害；人應該用正確的態度試著互相了解。」換句話說，釋迦牟尼佛勸告他們，誤解會帶來人類的悲劇，因此兩大軍隊在佛陀的勸阻下止息了戰爭。
業報使我們知道暴力、強壓，甚至殺害都不能解決任何事。殺害，聚集了恐懼不安、驚慌憤怒，那只會增加更多的恐懼不安、驚慌憤怒，這是個錯誤的循環。這世你殺了你的敵人，轉世後你的敵人會找機會來殺你；一個國家侵略、殺害、征服另一個國家，不久被征服的國家會有機會報復，去征服當初侵略他們國家的人。到目前為止，有哪一個戰爭我們是真正用正面的態度來解決的？我們所稱的「以戰止戰」這句話，只會引起更大的破壞性和更大的戰爭。
現代武器越來越進步，所以人的殺心能夠殺死的人也越來越多。古代的人憤怒時，只會用他的棒棍打死幾個人；現代，假如美國的總統發脾氣了，誰能預料現代的科技武器會殺死多少人？然而，我們現在正處於世界大戰的邊緣，世界大戰威脅到全地球的生命。世界大戰哪時候會發生呢？或許是當人類聚集他們的自私自利及追求他們的慾望－－對於性、財富和權力的貪念，而把憤怒、怨恨、不滿都發洩出來時，又當人類壓抑相互間的慈悲、尊敬和期待心時，然而這種隱形的心靈壓力，會使不安的心更不安定，而促使我們用手去按原子彈的開關。當人類的心靈傾向祥和較重時，這個世界就會比較和諧；相反的，如果我們的心靈傾向暴力，那麼這世界就會有戰爭。
待續
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THE CAUSES OF WAR
The causes of war are too numerous even to list, let alone discuss intelligently. What we discuss here are what the Buddha considered the most fundamental, the fire under the boiling pot of soup. War is not something abstract. War is waged between one group of individuals and another. The reasons for war are also not abstract. [We have not yet had a war started and directed according to logical paradigms programmed into a computer.] It is individuals who decide to wage war. Even if the war is global, its beginning can be traced back to the decisions of individuals. And so before we talk about global war, let us first talk about war on the level of the individual.
Wars begin because the people of one country, or at least their rulers, have unfulfilled desires—they are greedy for benefits or wealth (i.e., economic greed) or power, or they are angry or hateful. Either their desires have been thwarted or their pride, their sense of self, has been offended. This can also manifest as racial or national arrogance. They wrongly feel that the answer to problems, which are essentially within their own minds, a matter of attitudes, can be sought externally, through the use of force.
THE STORY OF THE WATER WAR
Four years after his [the Buddha's] attainment of enlightenment, a war took place between the city-state of Kapilavastu and that of Kilivastu over the use of water. Being told of this, [the Buddha] Sakyamuni hastened back to Kapilavastu and stood between the two great armies about to start fighting. At the sight of Sakyamuni, there was a great commotion among the warriors, who said, "Now that we see the World-Honored One, we cannot shoot the arrows at our enemies," and they threw down their weapons. Summoning the chiefs of the two armies, he asked them, "Why are you gathered here like this?" "To fight," was their reply. "For what cause do you fight?" he queried. "To get water for irrigation."
Then, asked Sakyamuni again, "How much value do you think water has in comparison with the lives of men?" "The value of water is very slight" was the reply. "Why do you destroy lives which are valuable for valueless water?" he asked. Then, giving some allegories, Sakyarnum taught them as follows: "Since people cause war through misunderstanding, thereby harming and killing each other, they should try to understand each other in the right manner." In other words, misunderstanding will lead all people to a tragic end, and Sakyamuni exhorted them to pay attention to this. Thus the armies of the two city-states were dissuaded from fighting each other.
The doctrine of karma teaches that force and violence, even to the level of killing, never solves anything. Killing generates fear and anger, which generates more killing, more fear, and more anger, in a vicious cycle without end. If you kill your enemy in this life, he is reborn, seeks revenge, and kills you in the next life. When the people of one nation invade and kill or subjugate the people of another nation, sooner or later the opportunity will present itself for the people of the conquered nation to wreak their revenge upon the conquerors. Has there ever been a war that has, in the long run, really resolved any problem in a positive manner? In modern times the so-called 'war to end all wars' has only led to progressively larger and more destructive wars.
The emotions of killing translate into more and more deaths as the weapons of killing become more and more sophisticated. In prehistoric times, a caveman could explode with anger, take up his club, and bludgeon a few people to death. Nowadays, if, for example, the President of the United States loses his temper, who can tell how many will lose their lives as the result of the employment of our modern weaponry. And in the present we are on the brink of a global war that threatens to extinguish permanently all life on the planet. When will that happen? Perhaps when the collective selfishness of individuals to pursue their own desires—greed for sex, wealth and power; the venting of frustrations through anger, hatred and brutal self-assertion—overcomes the collective compassion of individuals for others, overcomes their respect for the lives and aspirations of others. Then the unseen collective pressure of mind on mind will tip the precarious balance, causing the finger, controlled ostensibly by an individual mind, to press the button that will bring about nuclear Armageddon. When the individual minds of all living beings are weighed, if peaceful minds are more predominant, the world will tend to be at peace; if violent minds are more predominant, the world will tend to be at war.
To be continued
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