Response paper to Peacebuilding in Hinduism (Peace and Violence in Religion )

Gandhi’s teaching about non-violence and peacebuilding is truly non-violence itself. Gandhi wants us to finish with ourselves first, then we can do or spread the non-violence to others by Satyagraha, Ahimsa and Tapasya, the real values deep-rooted from Hindu’s teaching.

To facing injustice and violence repression from others, those three values consequence us for finishing ourselves first. Gandhi implies that we have to be aware for violence and repression as part of ours, so we do not need to reject it, but we need to confront and reduce it. Much violence occurs because we are usually busy for looking our enemy as different part of us. We consider that our enemy is always wrong, cruel and dangerous.

It is not for Gandhi, because our enemy is like mirror for ourselves, we can see ourselves there, in order to define that our enemy is not different from us. This perspective will make us comfortable to see that their action of non-violence and injustice is bad, so we have to give something good for solving it.

After finish with ourselves, the next our duty is about consistently spreading and doing it in our daily life. This duty will challenge us to do it without non-violence action, especially in the social and political life. Gandhi has taught us by many different types of rebellion such as negotiations, peace demonstrations, civil disobedience, and other non-violent forms of non-cooperation.

The concept of Gandhi’s rebellion is an antithesis for Hobbes’s philosophy about power. Hobbes tends to imply that politics is merely about the power, material and control of violence. Hobbes, with his Leviathan theory argues that individual as an isolated, and self contained being will be selfish, controlled by desire and greedy. Because of that, people will be animal for others; the strongest will control the whole life.

Gandhi’s philosophical and action for peacebuilding and non-violence movement will be the most powerful energy for creating a world with peace and non-violence there. Gandhi’s concept from Hinduism ethic is the answer for many critical and skeptical role of religion in peacebuilding. This teaching treats us to be wiser by looking our enemies as a part of ours, and trying to fight them by non-violent action.