A Buddhist leader speaking at today’s World Peace Forum in Sydney says the violence at this week’s student anti-war rallies shows the widespread confusion over the concept of peace.
Lama Choedak Rinpoche, the spiritual director of Canberra’s Tibetan Buddhist Centre, says when emotions run high people often forget to stay true to their cause.
He says this is reflected at the international level in the reasoning behind the US-led coalition waging war on Iraq.
“Even the very war that is waging is actually said to be waged for peace,” he said.
“So the leaders of the world are trying to bring peace but they don’t know how to.
“It has to be done by [shunning] the cause of the war, that is aggression and greed for power and influence – these things are very deeply ingrained in American culture.”
