From Dukkha to Sukha: Mandalic Thinking in Constructing a Positive Peace

Abstract

The pursuit of peace in international relations requires an integration of key perspectives—inclusive of the developmental, environmental, political and cultural—through which to transform conflict into a positive dynamic of societal flourishing. By examining the foundational teachings of peace researcher Johan Galtung and subsequent insights and systems investigating global peace, a more comprehensive evaluation is gained. This allows for the representation of an integrated vision of peace through a cosmogram known as mandala in Hindu-Buddhist spiritual philosophy. The mandala, while grounded developmentally in Indic cosmology, represents a transformation technology that is universal across time and cultures. Buddhist concepts in support of this methodological platform are dukkha (suffering), sukha (happiness), the doctrine of ‘dependent origination’ and the associated concept of impermanence. The findings of this exercise are that peace needs to be approached through multiple perspectives, that it has cosmological significance in its own right, as shown through Galtungian and Buddhist thought, and that it is a process that is constantly renewed.