Permanent Mission of India
New York
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International Day of Vesak - “Teachings of Gautama Buddha –
a Path to Internal and Global Peace”

Statement by Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, Permanent Representative
15 May, 2025

Excellencies,

Prof. Abhay Kumar Singh Vice-Chancellor Nalanda University,

Dr. Santosh Kumar Raut, Visiting Professor, Harvard Divinity School,

Colleagues Permanent Representatives

Ladies and Gentlemen

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you today to celebrate the International Day of Vesak and discuss the relevance of the life and teachings of Lord Buddha whose message of compassion, non-violence and wisdom offers us a path to inner and global peace, in a world beset with crisis and suffering.

In the recognition that there is no path to peace but peace itself is the path, the path of Buddha offers us practical means to develop lasting peace, within ourselves as also the external world. At its core Buddhism is a religion of peace, having a holistic view of peace instead of peace in separate silos, and is guided by the twin imperatives of avoiding harm and suffering, and seeking maximal happiness to all sentient beings.

The Buddha espoused four noble truths – the Chatur-Arya Satya:

1. the first – the Dukha-Satya – that life inevitably involves suffering;

2. the second – Samudaya-Satya – that suffering originates in desires;

3. the third – Nirodha-Satya – that suffering will cease if desires cease; and

4. the fourth – Marga-Satya – that this state can be realized by engaging in the noble eight-fold path.

Buddhism believes that achieving inner peace is dependent on Mental Development – or Chitta Bhavana – which is the development of compassion, joy, equanimity and mindfulness; and Intellectual Development – or Panna Bhavana – which is the development of wisdom through meditation. Similarly peace in the external world is dependent on Physical Development – or Kaya Bhavana – which is the development of the material and physical environment; and Social Development – or Sheela Bhavana which is the friendly relations with others by observing Buddha’s teachings on social justice. |

Friends, 

Buddhism has a graded effort in achieving peace along the entire “Peace Continuum”. Let us examine this in detail.

The first effort in Buddhism is to achieve intra-personal peace or peace within ourselves. The starting point here is a belief that inner peace is not so much dependent on what happens outside, rather on how we react to it and what attitude, comprehension and response we bring to bear. It calls for insightful meditation or Vipassana to develop inner reflection by cultivating the four Brahma Viharas or positive emotional faculties:

1. Metta or loving kindness

2. Karuna or compassion

3. Mudita or sympathetic joy

4. Upeksha or equanimity

The second effort in Buddhism is the practice of inter-personal peace. It calls for following the eight-fold path towards enlightenment or nirvana through: right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. Lord Buddha also describes the Panchshila or the five precepts as minimum moral obligations for inter-personal peace and harmonious life in society:-

1. Abstain from taking life

2. Abstain from theft or taking what is not given

3. Abstain from sensuous misconduct

4. Abstain from lies or false speech

5. Abstain from intoxicants

This constitutes at a minimum the daily practice of peace.

The third level in Buddhism is the practice of in-group peace or peace within a society or a nation. Lord Buddha taught that one must adhere to the six principles of cordial behavior to prevent harm and conflict. Three of these principles call for maintaining loving kindness and compassion towards other members of a group, society or nation through physical actions, verbal actions and mental actions. The fourth calls for sharing material gains with other members of the group for a fair distribution of resources; the fifth calls for following the same code of conduct, regulations or legal systems in the society or country; and lastly the sixth calls for evolving similar views by constructively dealing with differences and deviance to minimize destruction and suffering.

The fourth level in Buddhism is the practice of inter-group or international peace. This is the last level representing cultivation of peace and compassion between societies and nations. There is a recognition that while the transformative impact of loving kindness may work in the case of inter-personal relationships, sometimes inter-state relations may seem immune especially when rulers and decision makers must deter aggression and a calculated pursuit of violence, both by state and non-state actors, whether impelled by political goals such as territorial expansion or domination or by deviant non-state actors and terrorists who sow fear and destruction due to their deviant belief systems. The focus here is on the fact that the ethical quality of the action is to be determined not only by its conformity to formal rules, but also by the intention or motivation that lies behind it. When the motivation is to protect lives or prevent harm, the ruler or decision-maker must place the greater good above adherence to the letter of the principle of non-violence. The Jatakatales such as the Ummagga Jataka excel in illustrating the ethical virtues of minimizing harm in situations of statecraft when the motive is national defence, protecting citizens and preventing their suffering.

Such ethical guardrails were further strengthened through a clear enunciation of what constituted wholesome
actions termed Kusala, or unwholesome actions Ukusala, with the former bringing about long term happiness of all and the latter long term suffering. Buddhism also put in place 10 ethical principles in exercise of state power – Dasa Rajadharma:-

1. Dana – Charitability

2. Sheela – virtuous conduct

3. Parityaga – sacrifice

4. Ajjava – uprightness

5. Maddava – mildness

6. Tapa – austerity

7. Akrodha – absence of anger

8. Avihimsa – non-injury

9. Khanti – patience

10. Avirodhana – non-retaliation

All of these are intended to minimize suffering in conflict and enhance happiness through righteous state behavior.

The ideal of the ethical ruler Dharmika Dharmaraja in Buddhist canonical teachings find their ideal manifestation in the life of Ashoka the Chakravarti, or the universal emperor, who applied Buddhist teachings for personal transformation, and thereafter brought about inner peace or intra-personal peace, inter-personal peace, in-group peace within his Kingdom and international peace by spreading the message of Buddha worldwide.

Friends,

In today’s world beset by the scourge of terrorism that threatens peace and happiness at individual, societal,
national and global levels and enhances our individual and collective suffering, it is instructive for us to look how Lord Buddha dealt with the feared killer, and in today’s vocabulary terrorist, Angulimala. Knowing the manner in which the thief Angulimala spread fear and terror by cutting off the fingers and using them as a garland around his neck, Lord Buddha reached out to him with his message of loving kindness and compassion, enabling him to deal with the pain of his past and help renounce violence. Angulimala became a monk and took the name of Ahimsaka or the non-violent one.

This transformative power of Buddhism is not limited to individuals but can change societies, nations and indeed the whole world. Speaking on the occasion of Buddha Purnima, my Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, lauded the path of peace illuminated by Lord Buddha, noting that the path of peace traverses through strength and resilience. It is vital that all of us at individual and national levels must build strength and resilience, and cultivate compassion and loving kindness, not only to deter conflict but transform mindsets and deviance, so that humanity can progress towards peace and prosperity.

Sarve jana sukhino bhavantu

May all sentient beings be happy

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