The teaching on peace and harmony of the 14th dalai lama and selected peace advocates

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THE TEACHINGS ON PEACE AND HARMONY OF THE 14TH

DALAI LAMA AND SELECTED PEACE ADVOCATES

A Dissertation

Presented to the

Faculty of the Graduate School

Batangas State University

Batangas City

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

Major in English

By

TRAN THI NHI

2015

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ABSTRACT

Title : Teachings on Peace and Harmony of the 14th Dalai

Lama and Selected Peace Advocates

Author : Tran Thi Nhi

Course : Doctor of Philosophy

Major : English language and literature.

Year : 2014

Adviser : Dr. Maria Luisa A. Valdez

Summary

There exist myriad problems in the current world which threaten the

existence of humanity. Violence is accelerating everywhere. Ceaseless wars

and conflicts are taking place in several regions, killing thousands of people

and causing suffering for millions of human beings. Furthermore, more and

more modern weapons with massive destruction capacity are being produced,

threatening the whole mankind in every minute. Meanwhile, the world is also

faced with terrorism, environmental pollution, racial religious conflicts, political

disputes, social and economic inequality, the large gap between the rich and

the poor, and diseases and poverty. All of these catastrophic events beg the

question of how to save humanity.

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There has been a great number of peace advocates, including religious

figures, political leaders, literary writers and philosophers, who have advocated

the teachings of peace and harmony in their books, sermons and speeches.

All of this has provided a basis for a trend and a growing movement for peace

and harmony in modern times.

This study analyzes the selected works by the 14th Dalai Lama, a

modern day leading figure of peace, and three other authors namely Mawlana

Rumi, Pope John Paul II and Daisaku Ikeda to explore how peace and

harmony is conceptualized by these peace advocates. Likewise, the study

aims to reveal the universal concepts of peace and harmony shared by the

peace advocates as the representatives of different cultures and religions. The

research also discusses how their common teachings on peace and harmony

have been transferred into a global peace movement.

The study employs the qualitative method of research and sociological

and philosophical approaches as the bases for analysis. This paper also

involves content analysis, which is a systematic technique in analyzing

message content and message handling.

Findings of the study reveal that although these peace movement leaders

represent different religions and come from different cultures, they share much in

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common in espousing their view on peace as a way of life. In this study the

author attempts to weave a mosaic of universal and permanent moral values

and principles rooted in the teachings of these advocates for peace. This

mosaic, which promotes a spirit of respecting cultural pluralism, cultivates

human good qualities and appraises responsibility, must be integrated in

education. She proposes the adoption of this new paradigm for living in the

modern world.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The researcher wishes to express her personal thanks and appreciation

to those, in one way or another, have helped make this humble work a reality.

First and foremost, she wishes to thank the Batangas State University

and the Thai Nguyen University, for giving her the opportunity to finish this

undertaking under their International Academic Cooperation Program.

Dr. Dang Kim Vui, the President of Thai Nguyen University and Dr. Le

Hong Thang, the Dean of Thai Nguyen School of Foreign Languages, for the

motivation and wisdom that helped hasten the completion of this study.

Dr. Maria Luisa A. Valdez, the Dean of Colleges and Head of the

Graduate School of the Batangas State University ARASOF Nasugbu

Campus, the researcher’s dissertation adviser, for her constant

encouragement, dedication, and ennobling character which inspired diligent

research for the realization of this study.

Dr. Matilda H. Dimaano, the Chairman of the Panel of Examiners, and

Dr. Corazon B. Cabrera, the former External Panelist, for their valuable

suggestions and criticism which motivated conscientiously the researcher

during the conduct of this study.

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Dr. Amada G. Banaag, Dr. Felix M. Panopio, and Dr. Myrna G. Sulit, the

Members of the Panel of Examiners, for their thorough dissection and candid

remarks that drew up the essential and relevant dimensions in this research.

Dr. Remedios P. Magnaye, the Graduate School Secretary, for her

words of encouragement and kind gestures.

The pool of writers whose works were included in this study for posterity,

for their emboldened wisdom in every page of this dissertation.

The researcher’s friends and colleagues at the Thai Nguyen School of

Foreign Languages, Vietnam, for their time, advice, and prayers.

Dr. Melvyn Sakaguchi, for setting an example to aspire and for his

friendship as well.

Her husband Luong Viet Cuong and sons Luong Tran Tri Minh and

Luong Tran Duc Minh, her parents and parents-in-law, her brothers and sisters

for their wholehearted support and encouragement.

TRAN THI NHI

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DEDICATION

To my dearest husband, Luong Viet Cuong and my loving twin sons,

Luong Tran Tri Minh and Luong Tran Duc Minh, who inspired me to search for

the highest values in life.

TRAN THI NHI

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE........................................................................................i

APPROVAL SHEET............................................................................ ii

ABSTRACT......................................................................................... iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENT........................................................................ vi

DEDICATION.......................................................................................viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................... ix

LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………… xi

LIST OF MATRICES .......................................................................... xii

CHAPTER

I. THE PROBLEM

Introduction............................................................ 1

Statement of the Problem ..................................... 9

Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study.....10

Significance of the Study .......................................11

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Conceptual Literature.............................................15

Research Literature................................................41

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Synthesis.............................................................. 48

Theoretical Framework ......................................... 52

Conceptual Framework ......................................... 56

Definition of Terms................................................. 57

III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Design .................................................. 60

Treatment of Materials........................................... 61

IV. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION.............................65

V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Summary of Findings............................................. 152

Conclusions ...........................................................159

Recommendation .................................................. 160

BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................172

APPENDICES………………………………………………………. 181

A. Summary of the Literary Works……………………………… 182

CURRICULUM VITAE………………………………………………….. 193

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Title Page

1 Conceptual Paradigm of the Study…………………… 57

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LIST OF MATRICES

Matrix Title Page

1 Matrix on the Teachings on Peace and

Harmony Drawn from the Works of Rumi,

John Paul and Ikeda ......................................................... 80

2 Matrix on the Global Peace Education

Perspective Program Integrating

Varied Teachings on Peace............................................ 150

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CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM

Introduction

There exist myriad problems in the current world which threaten the

existence of humanity. Violence is accelerating everywhere. Ceaseless wars

and conflicts are taking place in several regions, killing thousands of people

and causing suffering for millions of human beings. Furthermore, more and

more modern weapons with massive destruction capacity are being produced,

threatening the whole mankind in every minute. Meanwhile, the world is also

faced with terrorism, environmental pollution, racial religious conflicts, political

disputes, social and economic inequality, the large gap between the rich and

the poor, and diseases and poverty.

Making the situation worse, these problems happen in every continent

without exception, and tend to happen to not only one nation or a few nations

but also bigger groups of nations.

For example, the United States (U.S.) and Western countries have recently

experienced terrorist attacks, civil unrest and violent massacres; the political

disputes between Russia and other European countries around the issues

related to Ukraine has resulted in the embargo and trade and business

sanctions which creates hardships for millions of citizens in the European continent;

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the rise of terrorist country self-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has

created turmoil and terrible violence in Middle East and North Africa; constant

conflicts in the China Sea are threatening the stability and the maintenance of

peace in the South East Asia. All of these catastrophic events beg the question

of how to save humanity.

Vietnam, geographically located in South East Asia, is vulnerable to

wars. With ups and downs in its history, the country has experienced a

thousand years of colonial rule under China, then nearly a century under the

French, followed by Japan’s attack in World War II and a 20-year-lasting war

with America which formally ended in 1975.

There has also been a war of unification, a civil war between one part of

the country and the other part. And, there continue to skirmishes with

neighboring Laos and Cambodia, and the threat of war with China again over

national boundaries. Whatever the reasons for these wars whether threat of

invasion, or a political slight, or simply the imposition of political influence or

fear of assimilation, or a quest for personal and political freedom, all wars

bring consequences - the absolute destruction of the wars, the loss in human

resource, the retardation of economic development and the loss of material

benefits to its citizens by actions of other countries, such as the embargo by

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the U.S. for a decade after the American war has had devastating effects. It

turned the country into a backward, terribly poor and isolated country. Although

the war has been over a few decades ago, many people still suffer

deprivations, and personal loss.

The war killed off one generation of men in Vietnam, and left the soil of

country polluted by the genetic effects of Agent Orange the poisonous

defoliant used by the U.S. with devastating effect. The war left the agricultural

land which is the mainstay of the Vietnamese farmers still filled with

unexploded bombs and ordinances rendering a good part of land needed for

agrarian pursuits unusable. The cities and urban centers that were target of

massive bombing raids still remain devastated and not rebuilt, unlike the cities

of Germany and Japan and the other Axis powers which enjoyed the benefits

of reconstruction aid through the Marshall Plan.

Because of having suffered the effects of war, living in peace has been

always a desire of Vietnamese people, imprinted on the persona of the people,

as it is for the people of Nagasaki and Hiroshima who suffered the tragic effects

of nuclear war waged against Japan by the US in an effort to end World War II.

In the 21st century peace education to Vietnamese young generation has

become a critical necessity in maintaining and promoting peace for the country.