🏛 Politics
Rival governments or groups fight over power, borders or who should rule. Buddhists would see craving for power and pride, which are forms of greed, behind many of these struggles.
Buddhist Beliefs about Peace and Conflict » Buddhism, Conflict and the Dalai Lama's Exile from Tibet
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 1, 3.1 (Buddhism)
- The problems conflict causes in society, and how Buddhists explain its causes
- How politics, resources, history, culture and religion lead to conflict
- Why the Dalai Lama left Tibet in 1959
- Buddhist responses to the causes of conflict
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Unlock This CourseConflict in society
The lessons Why Conflicts and Wars Happen and Three Conflicts in the World Today explained what conflict is and gave real examples. Here we look at how Buddhists see it.
Buddhists begin with dukkha, the suffering that runs through life. Conflict makes dukkha much worse. It can kill and injure people, destroy homes, farms and hospitals, and force families to flee as refugees. It divides communities, spreads fear and leaves memories of anger that can last for generations. Money that could feed people is spent on weapons. Buddhists also say that conflict damages the minds of those who take part, because it feeds the very feelings that cause suffering.
Key terms:
- Dalai Lama: the title of the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. Many Tibetans also looked to the Dalai Lama as their political leader.
- Exile: being forced to live away from your homeland.
- Dharamsala: a town in northern India where the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile are based.
The causes of conflict
Conflicts have many causes. Five that the specification names are shown here, with a Buddhist way of looking at each.
🛢 Resources
Land, water, oil or minerals can start arguments about who owns them. Buddhists call this greed, one of the three poisons (see The Three Poisons: Greed, Hatred and Ignorance in Buddhism).
📜 History
Old wrongs are remembered and passed on, so anger lives on. This is hatred feeding on itself.
🎭 Culture
Differences in language, customs or way of life can lead to fear and mistrust. Buddhists call this ignorance: not really knowing or understanding other people.
🙏 Religion
Religious differences can be used to divide people, especially when they are mixed with the other causes. Buddhists teach that using religion to justify violence goes against its own teaching.
Buddhists do not blame one cause alone. They trace them all back to greed, hatred and ignorance. A war may look like a fight over land, but behind it are people who crave, hate or misunderstand.
The expulsion of the Dalai Lama from Tibet
This is a real example that the specification asks for. Tibet is a high plateau in Asia, north of India. Tibetan Buddhism has long been the main religion there, and the Dalai Lama was its spiritual leader. The facts below are agreed by historians. Tibetans and the Chinese government give different accounts of Tibet's earlier history and of what followed, and this lesson sticks to the events.
- 1950: troops of the Chinese army entered Tibet. The present Dalai Lama, then 15, took over political leadership of Tibet.
- 1951: an agreement placed Tibet under Chinese control. Tibetan leaders later said they signed it under pressure.
- 1950s: there was growing unrest in Tibet, as many Tibetans feared for their religion, their way of life and the Dalai Lama's safety.
- March 1959: large crowds gathered in the capital, Lhasa, and an uprising began. It was put down by Chinese forces, and many Tibetans died.
- 17 March 1959: the Dalai Lama left Lhasa in secret. After a journey across the mountains, he reached India, which gave him a home.
Since then he has lived in exile. Many thousands of other Tibetans followed him over the years. They set up the Tibetan community in exile at Dharamsala, where there are monasteries, schools and a government in exile that look after Tibetan religion and culture.
The Dalai Lama's response has been non-violent. He has not asked Tibetans to take up arms. He has spoken for dialogue with China, asking for real self-government for Tibet within China rather than war. In 1989 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. His life and teaching are studied in more detail in the Paper 2 lessons.
This example shows several causes at work together: politics (who rules Tibet), history (the two sides tell different stories of the past) and culture and religion (Tibetan Buddhists feared for their way of life).
Buddhist responses to the causes of conflict
Buddhists try to deal with the causes, not just the fighting.
- Non-violence. The first precept asks Buddhists not to harm living beings. The Dhammapada (verse 5) says hatred is never ended by hatred, only by non-hatred. Violence starts a cycle of revenge.
- Compassion. Buddhists develop karuna and metta for everyone, including enemies. Seeing others as people who also suffer makes it harder to hate them.
- Dialogue. Talking, listening and seeking agreement tackles ignorance and mistrust. The Dalai Lama's call for talks is an example.
- Training the mind. Meditation helps people notice anger and greed and let them go, so that they act with more calm. Peace in the world begins with peace in the mind.
- Letting go of craving. Sharing resources and living with less greed removes some causes of quarrels. The Dhammapada (verse 201) says victory breeds hatred, while those at peace live happily.
Buddhists agree that peace is the goal, but not all agree on how far non-violence must go. Later lessons look at what Buddhists teach about war, including defence.
Common mistakes
Saying Buddhists believe religion is the only cause of conflict, or that conflict has only one cause. Describing the events in Tibet without saying why they matter for Buddhists. Taking sides in the exam: describe what Buddhists believe and what happened, in a calm way. Saying the Dalai Lama led an army: his approach has been non-violent.
Exam-style question
(a) Identify three causes of conflict. [3 marks]
(b) Choose one religion. Outline two ways in which followers of this religion respond to the causes of conflict. [4 marks]
(c) Choose one religion. Explain why followers of this religion try to respond to conflict without violence. [6 marks]
(d) "Talking is always better than force for solving a conflict."
Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks]
Model answer
(a) 1. Politics, such as a struggle for power (1). 2. Resources, such as land, water or oil (1). 3. History, such as old wrongs that are remembered (1).
(b) Buddhists respond with compassion (1), developing karuna and metta even for enemies, so that they find it harder to hate them (1). They also support dialogue (1), because talking and listening deal with the ignorance and mistrust that lead to conflict (1).
(c) Buddhists try to respond without violence because the first precept asks them not to harm living beings (1). They believe violence feeds hatred, and the Dhammapada teaches that hatred is never ended by hatred, only by non-hatred (1). So violence is likely to start a cycle of revenge instead of ending the conflict (1). Buddhists also believe that conflict is caused by greed, hatred and ignorance, so fighting does not remove the cause (1). Compassion for all beings, including enemies, means that they want to reduce suffering, not add to it (1). The Dalai Lama's non-violent approach to the loss of Tibet shows this belief in practice (1).
(d) Plan. For: Buddhists teach that hatred is never ended by hatred, so dialogue can break the cycle of revenge; talking deals with ignorance and mistrust, which are causes of conflict; the Dalai Lama has urged talks with China and not war; fewer people are killed and homes are not destroyed. Against: the other side may refuse to talk or talk only to gain time; some people believe force is needed to stop an attack or protect the innocent, and some Buddhists accept that defence may sometimes be needed; humanists and others may say that international law and sanctions are also needed. Conclusion: "always" is too strong. Buddhists would say dialogue should be tried first and for as long as possible because it deals with the causes, but it cannot work if only one side is willing, so it is best, not always possible.
Exam tip
In part (b), the "Choose one religion" wording means that you must use the religion's own words, such as karuna, metta or the first precept. Give each response, then develop it with "because" or "which means".