The moral dimension:
The scientific man of today has tapped many of nature’s secrets and has learned tocontrol the physical forces of universe. But he has yet to learn to master the socialand psychological forces that affect his very being, and his relationship to hisfellowmen and the environment. Though man in this nuclear age may be anintellectual giant who has achieved technological wonders, emotionally he is amere dwarf who has barely taken a couple of steps beyond the Stone Age.
Onewriter compares modern man to a person who has one leg tied to a jet plane whilethe other leg is tied to a bullock cart. Thus man’s development is utterly lopsided,and this psychological imbalance seems to be largely responsible for the crisissituation we face. What is needed is the total development of the personality as awhole, and for that the cultivation of the moral dimension is an absolute must.We have traffic rules to facilitate the smooth flow of traffic. Though theyappear to place restrictions on the freedom of the individual, they in fact grantfreedom of movement to one and all.
Moral laws are similar to traffic rules. Theyimpose certain restraints with the double purpose of granting maximumsatisfaction to the individual in the long run, and of preventing the individual fromhindering his fellowmen from realizing their own satisfaction. Moral lawscoordinate different aspects of human experience so that there are no conflictswithin the individual and among individuals.Conflicts, terrorism, and wars have to be understood as the externalmanifestations of the internal disharmony of man. Man thinks violent thoughts,therefore there is violence in society. The corrupt mind brings suffering in itswake. This is an eternal truth. If happiness is what we yearn for, we have toentertain wholesome thoughts, and act with wholesome thoughts; then happinesswill follow effortlessly like a shadow.
To train the mind for wholesome thoughtsand healthy attitudes our physical and verbal activities must be disciplined, andthis is exactly what the Five Precepts do. They control our destructive potentialsand humanize the predatory animal in us. About the Author Lily de Silva is Professor of Påli and Buddhist Studies at the University ofPeradeniya in Sri Lanka.
A regular contributor to Buddhist scholarly and popularjournals, she is also the editor of the subcommentary to the D¥gha Nikåya,published by the Påli Text Society of London. Her previous BPS publications areOne Foot in the World (Wheel No.337/338) and The Self-Made Private Prison(Bodhi Leaves No.120).
The Buddhist Publication Society The Buddhist Publication Society is an approved charity dedicated to making known theTeaching of the Buddha, which has a vital message for people of all creeds.Founded in 1958, the BPS has published a wide variety of books and booklets covering agreat range of topics.
Its publications include accurate annotated translations of theBuddha’s discourses, standard reference works, as well as original contemporaryexpositions of Buddhist thought and practice. These works present Buddhism as it truly is— a dynamic force which has influenced receptive minds for the past 2500 years and isstill as relevant today as it was when it first arose.
