Eightfold path – Right View and diplomacy

April 18, 2007 at 7:30 pm | Posted in buddhism, George W. Bush, international relations | Leave a comment

The Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism is the path to enlightenment. Even if you don’t seek to become a Buddha, though, considering the lessons of the Path would be a great benefit to whatever goal you want to achieve.

The Path is not a series of steps to be accomplished one after another, but as I have limited time these days, I want to examine each aspect individually and apply it to the Bush administration. Today I’ll look at Right View and Foreign Policy.

Right view is the forerunner of the entire path, the guide for all the other factors. It enables us to understand our starting point, our destination, and the successive landmarks to pass as practice advances. To attempt to engage in the practice without a foundation of right view is to risk getting lost in the futility of undirected movement. Doing so might be compared to wanting to drive someplace without consulting a roadmap or listening to the suggestions of an experienced driver. One might get into the car and start to drive, but rather than approaching closer to one’s destination, one is more likely to move farther away from it. To arrive at the desired place one has to have some idea of its general direction and of the roads leading to it. Analogous considerations apply to the practice of the path, which takes place in a framework of understanding established by right view.

One doesn’t go down a road without considering how you’ve arrived in your current location, and where the road leads. It seems like a simple enough lesson, but think of all the problems that the Bush administration’s foreign policy has created because of a lack of Right View.

The Access of Evil speech lead to a long impasse with North Korea, an increasingly menacing Iran, and a debacle in Iraq. It lead to decreased respect and power, it lead others to misunderstandings, mistrust, and general dislike of the United States. It was an unnecessary policy that examination of the past and thoughts about the future would have prevented.

When you ignore advice and facts because they do not fit with your view of the world, you are bound to failure. The world has never bent itself to fit into one person’s preconceived notions. There is only one truth, no matter how much you may wish it otherwise.