Plenary, 06 Feb 2008
Meeting date: Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Official Report
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Time for Reflection
The first item of business is time for reflection. I am very pleased to welcome as our time for reflection leader today, under very difficult circumstances, which she will tell you about, Suzanne Dance, on behalf of the Edinburgh Theravada Buddhist Group.
Suzanne Dance (Edinburgh Community of Interbeing):
I am Suzanne Dance of the Edinburgh Community of Interbeing. I have the honour of reading this time for reflection contribution on behalf of Jody Higgs of the Edinburgh Theravada Buddhist Group, who passed away on Sunday evening. Jody was a much-loved, respected and vital member of the Buddhist and interfaith communities in Edinburgh.
In the teachings of the Buddha the emphasis is on the cultivation of wholesome states of heart and mind. The Pali Canon lists 10 of these wholesome states to be cultivated by the wise ruler—10 rajadhamma. Today I would like to discuss a few of them with you—just some of the Buddha's guidance for good governance.
The first of those, perhaps not surprisingly, is morality. People do not trust rulers who lack moral integrity, but perhaps even more important, without integrity you cannot trust yourself. By cultivating effort in the sphere of morality, you give yourself freedom from fear about the consequences of your actions; instead you feel a sense of pride and self-esteem.
The second wholesome mind-state to be cultivated is generosity. True giving is a thoroughly joyful thing to do. We experience happiness when we form the intention to give, again in the actual act of giving and yet again in the recollection of the fact that we have given.
However, I suspect that many of you here often feel that you have to give too much, not of material goods but of yourself—your time and your energy. If that is so, perhaps you need to cultivate the practice of generosity towards yourself. For example, can you generously give yourself the gift of self-acceptance?
Finally, the wise ruler, out of respect for all life, will cultivate the path of non-violence. Fortunately for us, we have on the planet just now a world leader who exemplifies the virtue of non-violence: Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma. Her non-violence and her patient abiding with difficult conditions clearly stem from a deep understanding of the true nature of things. She serves as an inspiration to good people everywhere.
To conclude, I have been describing some of the wholesome states that the Buddha listed as those to be cultivated by the wise ruler: morality, generosity and non-violence. It is not of course a coincidence that the Buddha's guidance to good governance is similar to that of other great teachers. That is because the wisdom being pointed to is not Buddhist wisdom but universal wisdom.
For the first time in history we can benefit from the wisdom teachings of all major human civilisations. I want to underline and celebrate this Parliament's openness to those teachings. I believe that this time for reflection, with its inclusive policy honouring diversity, provides a fine example to the rest of our fragmented world.
Let us end by celebrating and honouring the core goodness in ourselves and others. Let us reflect on the good things that we have done and recollect the times when we have been generous, or when we have been caring—times when we have chosen the hard non-violent way. That does not mean ignoring our bad qualities or our unskilful actions. We can fully acknowledge those difficulties while at the same time choosing to focus on our collective goodness. This practice best serves the well-being of ourselves and the people of Scotland who have honoured you with their trust.