New world order for betterment of humankind - Minister

"Let us all wish together on this 2600th Sambuddhatva Jayanthi for a new world order and a better world for humankind," said Construction, Engineering and Common Amenities Minister Wimal Weerawansa addressing the UN special ceremony to mark the 2600th Sambuddhatva Jayanthi on May 16, 2011.

Following is the speech:

"I consider it an honour to be able to address you at this distinguished occasion of commemorating the 2600th year of Sambuddhatva Jayanthi. I also believe that we all as world citizens are privileged to gather here under the roof of the world's highest forum.

Buddhism is known as the religion for the intelligent.

'For the intelligent' means any human being with an ability to distinguish between good and bad. Also a person should be able to look at worldly matters with an open mind. According to the Kachchanagotta Suttra the whole world either has extremist ideas or preconceived notions about all worldly matters. However, to understand Buddhism in its true spirit and meaning one must look at it with a mind devoid of extreme views.

Two thousand six hundred years ago, Lord Buddha preached Dhamma to the world as a religion of love and compassion. The social problems prevalent at that time are still visible today amongst our societies. Although the outward appearance of the society has changed, the core issues have continued to remain the same. Simply speaking, they are none other than greed (Lobha), hatred (Dvesha) and ignorance (Moha). It is based on these that individuals and societies interacted then, and still continue to do so. Human beings fall out with each other due to actions lead by such defilements. Societies fall out with each other due to the same reasons. All those struggles in the past have today evolved to be wars waged by powerful nations to control smaller and weaker nations worldwide. This pattern of behaviour of mankind has become a huge threat against the entire world today. The power-struggles in the world among nations to become super powers has created the current chaos in our world.

One nation attempts to outdo or weaken the other in order to have control over the geo-political sphere, natural resources and the markets around the world. By such actions the physical world is currently faced with issues such as global warming and other devastating environmental changes, which in turn creates catastrophic weather conditions such as La Ninaand El Nino etc. All these disasters have been brought about by the selfish actions by us; unsatisfied and greedy humans.

By any chance, if a new species more intelligent and proactive than humans emerge, there is no doubt in my mind that they will consider the human being as the most destructive animal on this planet. Therefore, I believe, today this self-destructive species have to choose whether to continue with the same behaviour and perish or change.

In Ambatta Suttra, Lord Buddha preached that even a very small bird like Latukika should have the fundamental right to talk and act according to its free will within its nest. However, we see that in today's world, small sovereign nations are gradually loosing that right. Regrettably today this situation has gone too far where the world bodies such as the UNO seems to have abandoned its fundamental duty of defending its member states. In Buddhist perspective the reason for all these is the selfish hunger for power which is applicable to individuals as well as nations. It is now high time for all civilized men and women on this earth to look back and see what has gone wrong. We are all forced by the law of nature to re-discover ourselves. It is Lord Buddha's path to enlightened social living that would help us in that exercise. The practice of five precepts (Pancha sila) calmed the society long ago and feelings such as fear, anger and greed were calmed through dana or giving of alms. The time has now come to calm today's society worldwide, on an urgent basis. In order to do so people should start to practise Meththa-loving kindness, Karuna-compassion, Muditha-sympathetic Joy, Upekkha-equanimity.

Although all requisites for the survival of the human race are available in this world, there still isn't enough to satisfy the appalling greed of humans. Why do I say so? That is because as humans, we are not only very consumerist but also never satisfied with how much we have. The only recourse is to learn to lead an enlightened social life where individuals will learn to share and love each other. In today's context even a single person's effort to enter this path will be a blessing to the whole world. Millions are counted by starting with one. So we all must be hopeful of changing the minds of our people, societies, political leaders, governments and nations in the world. In the end, time will come when we as responsible world citizens will make our leaders free of political pressure to exploit and subdue other nations. That is where the process of waging wars against innocent people and making their loved ones suffer will cease. That is where hunger and ignorance will cease to exist.

I am hopeful that we all will be fortunate enough to witness this profound change in our lives, societies, nations and finally in the whole world. Let us all wish together on this 2600th Sambuddhatva Jayanthi for a new world order and a better world for humankind.

May theTriple Gem bless you!"