THE BEATITUDES AND THE RESOLUTION OF CONFLICT by Sam Duband 

I would like to examine with you, two old and much-revered systems, to see if I am right in the assumption that the peace-keeping methods are identical with the conflict resolving processes. The two systems are the Beatitudes from the Gospel of Matthew, and the Eightfold Path of the Buddha. I’ll make and I hope you will too, passing references to modern thought on the subject.  I am indebted to the Rev. William Barclay, a former moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, for a magnificent exposition of the Beatitudes and I draw very largely from his learned exposition. First, a quote from James, 4.1-3:  “What causes wars and what causes fighting among you? It is not your passions that are at war in your members? You desire and do not have, so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain so you fight and wage war. You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly or spend it on your passions”. Man has desires on the one hand and needs on the other. Needs must be met, or men fight or seek new pastures. Basic needs are for food, clothing, shelter, sex, as well as for love, mental stimulation, responsibility (self image), and for a challenge. If any of these are not available the real cure is to see that the basic need is satisfied. Some people are more volatile and liable to explode into expressions of protest than others, if needs or desires are thwarted. The

Middle East, would not be an easy place to govern, and it seems that in the last 3000 years has not been so, therefore it is of value to look at the thoughts of Jesus on these matters for he was of these people. First, the New Testament tells us that Jesus ‘sat down’. This indicated he had something of importance to say. To this day we talk of a professor’s position as a chair of whatever subject he/she is teaching at university. Next it says: ‘He opened his mouth’. This means he opened his heart and mind, without reservation from spirit to spirit: he taught, not preached, he explained. To his disciples, the committed ones, he had these points to make relevant to life and living.            The beatitudes begin: “Blessed are”, Hebrew: ‘Shalom’, Arabic: ‘Salaam’. It is a sort of cry of joy such as “Oh!” the blessedness; the serene and certain joy that must follow as a result of this path and cannot be taken away.

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.               This statement does not glorify grinding poverty. Rather it means a humble attitude no matter our outward circumstances. He who has come to terms with the frailty of his personal soul, the volatility of his passions, his lack of strength or purpose, can make an honest self judgement. This brings to mind the seventh of the eightfold path where the Buddha urges that we develop right mindfulness or self-awareness.The value of this exercise in handling a crisis of hostility is this. Having made an honest appraisal of our own personality we will find just so many weaknesses as will make us have fellow-feeling, compassion, for our potential adversary. The first step to the resolution of hostility is a determination to find the path.

  

2. Blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted. 

Those who are callous and thus without the ability to mourn, can express little joy and little sorrow. It is suggested that we do not desensitise our nature so that we can look at our own cruelty or others’ calamities with indifference. Compassion is a noble sorrow and is not selfish. Tears are not the end. The final result is courage and comfort. That is the challenge – to be aware of others’ needs and to be prepared to sacrifice on their behalf.

3. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. 

‘Meek’ in ancient Greek is ‘praus’, and is the middle between two extremes, the happy medium between too much and too little anger. Moses, Jesus, and most of his countrymen could be angry but the ideal put forward was unselfish anger when injustice was done to others or a principle was involved. Compare this with the ‘Middle Way’ of Buddhism, the great strength of Buddha’s appeal has been this teaching of moderation. 

4. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness’ sake, for they shall be satisfied. Amongst the poor, the desert dwellers in many lands, there is a tradition of sharing with the stranger. This rather refers to those who have a blazing desire to find out what the just and proper course is and to see that it is done. We have to put principles before passions and that is not easy. It requires that the soul yield its clamouring to the quiet peace of the spirit. He who truly loves the truth will be left with none of his desires unsatisfied.

5. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.  This is echoed in the Lord’s Prayer – “forgive us our wrongs in proportion as we forgive others”. Buddhism and Hinduism both teach that Karma is a universal law. The results of our action are inescapable until we turn at last to the light of the next stage of development beyond the human, and then there will surely be another kind of ‘karma’.  We shall continue to owe a debt to those who have suffered as a result of our selfishness or lack of forgiveness. In our life we often perch ourselves with great aplomb on the seat of judgement and condemn this robber or that basher to be summarily hanged (mentally or verbally of course). Mercy is an unpopular plant to nurture in the jungle of our soul yet it is the one which most separates us from the animals or brutal elements of the human tradition.

 

6. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. 

Ritual purity is not enough! Cleansing, fasting, abstinence for a period of time, and the performing of respectable charitable and devotional acts are not enough, though these are demanded in Hindu, Islamic, and Judaic law. No, more is needed. 

Murder was forbidden in the Old Testament.Murderous anger was forbidden in the New Testament.  Adultery was forbidden in the Old Testament.Lust was forbidden in the Old Testament. I think that Moses might protest a little at this for how can you love your neighbour as yourself and think murderous or adulterous thoughts?  We must not be filled with internal conflict to be at peace. The charitable or spiritual side of our nature must be active and becoming more and more in charge of our human animal soul. Such a person can have what psychologists term a good self-image and the power that sustains it is this ‘shalom’ power – the power of joy, confident calm serene joy, in the rightness of law, of compassion, of beauty, of truth and of life. 

7. Blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called the children of God.  Peace here is ‘shalom’, the positive cry of Joy. Oh the joy of it! It is not merely the cessation of hostilities, it is creating a dynamic state of joy, harmony and balance. This state comes by striving to attain or apply the message of the other beatitudes.

8. Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justices sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Those who ‘dig their toes in’, as they stick up for a principle. We live in a vast slurry of persuasion and set opinion that would have us conform to the agreed–upon, the acceptable. We are expected to be partisan. There is a great social pressure to go along with the crowd, the mass media, to follow this code or that. Finding principles is hard. It is being righteous and it is difficult. Conflicts occur on all sides all the time. Folk would have you belong to this sect, this party, this group, follow that fashion, eat such and such. It is endless. The more trivial, it seems that the greater frequency of the conflict. The Romans in their Empire had followers of many religions. They tried to achieve unity by making their Emperor a god. All that was necessary was to toss a pinch of incense into the flame or murmur the emperor’s name, and you were then allowed to worship your own Gods. This seemingly small act of obedience to the Emperor, the Christians refused to do, and thus persecuted by the Roman authorities. This was a conflict over principle. There was no other way for the Christians as they saw it, than to dig their toes in and resist persuasion and compulsion for righteousness’ sake. That is the application of the 8th beatitude. How do we apply the others to the infinite variety of confrontations and demands we meet in daily life? If we meet someone who is very demanding of attention and love to the extent that they are greedy, well if you say: “Be meek” you won’t get far, but you can ask that they try to get by with a fair share and show moderation.  Psychologists find many who display anti-social behaviour are afflicted with the problem of a very poor self image. Their hostility arises from this. It would be different, I’m sure, if they realised that within each of them there was a ray of divine life, and its engine or transformer is the human spirit. I think that this is basic to all efforts to raising the sights of the average human being. That divine-spiritual side of our nature is the source of our joy in our heart, it gives us wisdom, discrimination, conscience, a sense of fair play, integrity, a love of the truth, sensitivity to the needs of others, a love of beauty, it gives us ‘shalom’: peace and joy out of this world. 

The text is from a lecture delivered at a meeting of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena) in

Melbourne, Australia. The views expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society (

Pasadena).

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