Tibetan Buddhist Approach to International Relations. The Teaching of the Dalai Lama

“I am delighted to present this work that makes a seminal and challenging contribution to the contemporary debates on religion and politics and the role and extend of theology and international relations within a multi-disciplinary approach to the study and understanding of contemporary politics.”-Prof. Mario I. Aguilar, University of St. Andrews

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF FIGURES

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

I THE BUDDHIST THEOLOGICAL APPROACH: A SOCIALLY ENGAGED METHOD
The Buddhist Theological Approach
Justification and Aims of the Buddhist Theological Approach
Understanding Religion
Understanding the Sacred
Buddhist Ethics
Engaged Buddhism
Individual Awakening for Social Awakening
Developing the ‘Interbeing’ Awareness

II INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: CONSTRUCTING OUR RELATIVE REALITY
International Relations: A Historical Perspective
From the ‘Two-Swords’ Model to the Reformation
Wars of Religion in Europe and the Peace of Augsburg
The Thirty Years’ War
The Peace of Westphalia
Secularization: Desacralizing Reality
Constructing International Relations and Its Theories: Reflections of Relative Truth
Understanding International Relations
Theorizing Relative Reality
Janus-Faced Perception of Religion in International Relations

Religion in International Relations Theories
The Resurgence of Religion
Interaction among Forces of the State and Religion

IIITHE FOURTEENTH DALAI LAMA: COMMON HUMANITY AND UNIVERSAL RESPONSIBILITY
Historical Background
Buddhism in the ‘Land of Snows’ and the ‘Three Great Religious Kings’
The Adamantine Path
The Gelugpa School and the Rise of the Dalai Lamas
Under the Arms of Avalokiteshvara: A Theological Framework
Tülku and the Trikaya Doctrine
Rebirth
The Embodiment of Compassion: Chenrizi
Tenzin Gyatso, the Rise of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama
Background and Early Years
The ‘Land of Snows’ under Chinese Occupation
Call for Non-violent Resistance and Exile
Politics of Hatred in Tibet
Wisdom and Compassion: the Way of the Bodhisattva in Modern World
The ‘Middle Way’
The Five Point Peace Plan
The International Advocate of ‘Common Humanity’ and ‘Universal Responsibility’
Dalai Lama’s Threefold Mission

IVBUILDING BRIDGES OF JUSTICE: ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU AND GOD’S DREAM IN SOUTH AFRICA
Politics of Hatred: Church and State’s Acts of Apartheid
The Church of Apartheid: Theological Justification of Separate Development
Systematizing Apartheid: The Acts
Desmond Tutu: The Great Liberation Trek
Early Years
A Taste of Freedom: Tutu On and After Britain
Black Theology: The Role of Steve Biko and Tutu
Tutu on Duty: The SACC and the Eloff Commission
Not a Politician, but a Vicar of God
Tutu and the Nobel Peace Prize
The Time has Come: Kairos Document and Statement of Affirmation
The Divine Intention: The Transfiguration of Suffering into Liberation
South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission
SATRC at Work: Not to Forget but to Forgive
Tutu through the Buddhist Theological Looking-Glass: The Sacred, the Four Noble Truths, Interdependence and Karma

V THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF A THEOLOGY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Re-thinking the Role of Religion in International Relations: Constructing Peace in Times of War
Overcoming Terror through Sacred Non-violence
Religious Peacemakers
Toward a More Humane-Compassionate World
Defining A Theology of International Relations
TIR Aims
Theology
Political Science
The Four Truths of the TIR
Truth of Individuality
Truth of Intersubectivity
Truth of Congeniality
Truth of Internationality
Basic assumptions of the TIR
The Two Cycles of Reality
Analyzing Religion in International Relations: A Theological Method

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

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