Juichiro Tanabe

The main aim of Buddhism is to examine how human mind becomes a root cause of suffering and how it can be addressed. This paper explores how this analysis of the human mind develops inner peace. The analysis proposes inner peace as a non-dualistic peace based on the practice of multiple functions of mind– contemplative mind, a deep cognitive transformation framed by an interdependent, interpenetrating understanding of reality, and compassionate mind – in a synergistic way. Put different, inner peace means an awakening to an ultimate inseparability between our own well-being and happiness and that of others, which inspires us to make an effort to gratify the basic needs of all and promote our freedom and justice and that of others equally.

One of the pressing problems with contemporary peacebuilding research is that much of the analysis focuses on the practical and technical challenges while paying little attention to the philosophical assumptions of those operations. Any understanding of peacebuilding is underpinned by philosophical frameworks as they shape and orient us towards particular strategies for peacebuilding. This paper makes a philosophical critique of liberal peacebuilding (the mainstream peacebuilding) and explores a postmodern post-liberal hybrid peacebuilding. The analysis claims neither the categorical rejection of liberal peacebuilding nor the exclusive reliance on locally-oriented peacebuilding. Rather, the upshot is the need for deconstructing dualistic view of either liberal peacebuilding or locally-oriented peacebuilding so that both external liberal actors and local actors engage in jointly learning and mutually transformative process wherein both liberal international actors and local actors lo...

While violence and conflict are the main problems that must be tackled for a peaceful world, they are caused and sustained through our own thoughts. Though external causes must not be ignored, the most fundamental problem is an epistemological one – our way of knowing and understanding the world. Since its beginning, Buddhism has deepened its analysis of the dynamics of human mind, both as a root cause of suffering and as a source of harmony. This paper explores how Buddhism's analysis of human mind can be applied to conflict dynamics, conflict resolution, and building a sustainable peace.

Since 1990's peace research has witnessed the rise of conflict transformation as one of its key ideas. This paper examines how Buddhism can contribute to conflict transformation. In Particular, it analyses how Buddhist ideas of the human mind can complement contributions from Western peace/conflict analysis. One of the limitations facing contemporary conflict transformation is the underdevelopment of qualitative arguments of the potential of the individual mind to critique and transform socially/culturally constructed discourses and knowledge causing or protracting conflict, which, this paper suggests, can be complemented by Buddhist analysis of the mind. This papers proposition is that three concepts human mind-the conditioned mind, the unconditioned mind, and holistic mind-realizes an exploration of how an expanded view of mind can contribute to qualitatively enriching the discourse on peace for future conflict transformation enterprise.

Since the end of the Cold War, the international community has been committed to a peacebuilding enterprise to respond to complex violent conflicts and liberal peacebuilding has assumed the central role. However, the critique of liberal peacebuilding has required us to build a complementary relationship between the liberal peace thesis and non-Western vision(s) of peace in post-liberal peacebuilding. This paper seeks to be an exemplar by offering a hybrid peace model that integrates Buddhist peace and liberal peace. While liberal peace is structurally and institutionally oriented, Buddhism has developed internal peace. Through the critical analysis of the cores of liberal peacehuman rights, democracy, and market-oriented economyfrom a Buddhist perspective, the research offers a post-liberal hybrid holistic peace model formed by four elements: the promotion of human rights; promotion of dialogical and transformative democracy based on self-critique and mutual learning; economic system sustaining and furthering material promoting philosophical and spiritual fulfillment of citizens based on social justice and equity; and inner peace characterized as reflective self-awareness, non-dualistic thinking, a multi-perspective approach, and compassion.

The paper discussed post-liberal peace. After liberal peacebuilding has invited the criticism as the imposition of Western values and the means to maintain hierarchical global structures reflecting Western predominance, which led to the emergence of post-liberal peacebuilding. The paper makes a critical analysis of liberal peacebuilding and explores a postliberal hybrid peacebuilding. The analysis claims for neither the categorical rejection of liberal peacebuilding nor the exclusive reliance on culturally-oriented peacebuilding. Rather, dualistic view of either liberal peacebuilding or culturally-oriented peacebuilding needs to be deconstructed to build a dialogical and mutual learning relationship between Western liberal actors and local actors to co-create contextually responsive and transformative peace. However, establishing such dialogical and joint learning process needs to overcome an asymmetric relation between liberal actors and local actors that has been normal in liberal peacebuilding. Reflective self-awareness is offered as a method liberal actors should employ to enact self-critical and transformative attitude. By honing reflective self-awareness skills, Western liberals become more flexible and empathetic in post-liberal peacebuilding as intercultural communication.

This paper has been published from edited book titled "Philosophy and Practice of Bioethics across and between Cultures." The paper examines a holistic peace model. It is the mixture of physiological and psychological peace, social and structural peace, epistemological peace, and spiritual peace. Physiological and psychological peace refers to the satisfaction of basic human needs whilst social and structural peace means the achievement of social justice and construction of participatory system wherein citizens take initiatives to promote dialogical and bottom-up approach to policy making. Epistemological peace denotes the practice of non-dualistic thinking and reflective self-awareness, which empowers us to appreciate multiple knowledge systems that are constructed by different cultural and social contexts and to engage in constructive and creative dialogue with those having different perspective, values and thought patterns to co-construct new ideas and values according to different circumstances. Spiritual peace is the awakening to inherent and universal humanity and dignity of all human beings and fundamental interdependent and interconnected relationship while acknowledging diversity of human beings and the practice of compassion to embody the interdependent and interconnected nature of our well-being and peace and others'. The research claims that when each of us achieve and enjoy the proposed holistic peace, we can become a critical and transformative agent to contribute to a sustainable society and globe.

One of the pressing problems with contemporary peacebuilding research is that much of the analysis focuses on the practical and technical challenges while paying little attention to the philosophical assumptions of those operations. Any understanding of peacebuilding is underpinned by philosophical frameworks as they shape and orient us towards particular strategies for peacebuilding. This paper makes a philosophical critique of liberal peacebuilding – the mainstream peacebuilding – and explores a postmodern post-liberal hybrid peacebuilding. The analysis claims neither the categorical rejection of liberal peacebuilding nor the exclusive reliance on locally-oriented peacebuilding. Rather, the upshot is the need for deconstructing dualistic view of either liberal peacebuilding or locally-oriented peacebuilding so that both external liberal actors and local actors engage in jointly learning and mutually transformative process wherein both liberal international actors and local actors look beyond peace constructed around their narrow and restricted conception and framework to create the meanings of peace that can interconnect the global and the local.

While violence and conflict are the main problems that must be tackled for a peaceful world, they are caused and sustained through our own thoughts. Though external causes must not be ignored, the most fundamental problem is an epistemological one – our way of knowing and understanding the world. Since its beginning, Buddhism has deepened its analysis of the dynamics of human mind, both as a root cause of suffering and as a source of harmony. This paper explores how Buddhism's analysis of human mind can be applied to conflict dynamics, conflict resolution, and building a sustainable peace.

The main aim of Buddhism is to examine how human mind becomes a root cause of suffering and how it can be addressed. This paper explores how this analysis of the human mind develops inner peace. The analysis proposes inner peace as a non-dualistic peace based on the practice of multiple functions of mind– contemplative mind, a deep cognitive transformation framed by an interdependent, interpenetrating understanding of reality, and compassionate mind – in a synergistic way. Put different, inner peace means an awakening to an ultimate inseparability between our own well-being and happiness and that of others, which inspires us to make an effort to gratify the basic needs of all and promote our freedom and justice and that of others equally.

Through its history, Buddhism has deepened its analysis of the psychological dynamics of suffering including conflict and its resolution. This paper explores how this analysis of human mind elaborates inner peace. It is proposed as a nondualistic peace based on contemplative practice, a cognition of reality as interdependent and interpenetrating and exercise of compassionate mind in a synergistic way. It is an awareness of an ultimate inseparability between our well-being and happiness and that of others' and an effort to gratify basic needs of all, promote freedom, and justice for all equally.

Many of major problems facing us are human-caused. While social/global injustices, inter-group conflict, any form of violence to name a few are our targets to tackle to achieve more peaceful and humane future, they are in reality caused and sustained through our own thoughts. Though external causes or factors must not be omitted, equally crucial problem confronting us is an epistemological one – our way of knowing and understanding the world. As the shape of the global conditions relies on our mind-set, both individual and collective, it is imperative to make a critical analysis of mindset that causes troubles since the world changes when our thoughts and perspectives on the world change. This paper engages in a Buddhist philosophical analysis of human mind for a sustainable and peaceful future. Buddhism, since its foundation by the Buddha, Gautama, has deepened the analysis of how human mind itself turns into a root cause of conflict and violence and how it can be overcome. And this research explores how this analysis of human mind contributes to realizing a sustainable and peaceful future.

Since 1990’s peace research has witnessed the rise of conflict transformation as one of its key ideas. This paper examines how Buddhism can contribute to conflict transformation. In Particular, it analyses how Buddhist ideas of the human mind can complement contributions from Western peace/conflict analysis. One of the limitations facing contemporary conflict transformation is the underdevelopment of qualitative arguments of the potential of the individual mind to critique and transform socially/culturally constructed discourses and knowledge causing or protracting conflict, which, this paper suggests, can be complemented by Buddhist analysis of the mind. This papers proposition is that three concepts human mind – the conditioned mind, the unconditioned mind, and holistic mind – realizes an exploration of how an expanded view of mind can contribute to qualitatively enriching the discourse on peace for future conflict transformation enterprise.

This is Week 13 of Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies I teach at Waseda University, Japan. The topic is about environment and peace. The class examines Minamata Disease and its social impact on Minamata City, the site where the disease emerged. History of the disease, restoration from the tragedy and future implications are discussed.

This is a teaching material for Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies I teach at Waseda University, Japan. It is material for week 7 that examines democracy and peace. Especially, it critically analyzes liberal peace thesis and liberal peacebuilding.

This material is for Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies I teach at Waseda University, Japan. This the week 4 that examines basic human needs theory and peace and conflict. The lecture analyzes how basic human needs theory contributed to the development of peace and conflict studies.

This is PPT slide for Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies,  I teach at Japanese universities. Lectures are given in English. This introductory first part will present the basic ideas of Peace and Conflict Studies as an interdisciplinary intellectual and practical enterprise. I will keep uploading my slides.

This PPT slides were presented at the guest lecture at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan. Starting with the introduction to Buddhist inner peace, the lecture examined how Buddhist peace and liberal peace can complement each other to build a holistic peace theory.

Drawing on the insights of a variety of academic disciplines and traditions, contemporary conflict resolution, since its beginning, has shown its development and expansion in terms of theories and practical methods. This paper examines the history and evolution of contemporary conflict resolution since 1960’s.

The research critically discusses how Buddhist peace thesis and Western peace thesis can learn from each other to expand the purview of their understandings of peace. The research extends to the analysis of how the West, by learning from Buddhist philosophy, can enact self-critique and transformation as part of post-liberal peace thesis.

PPT slide presented at e-Seminar to Commemorate Hiroshima and Nagasaki Day organized by the Department of Japanese Studies, University of Dhaka, and Rotary Club of Gulsan Tigers. Limits of liberal peace and need for intercultural dialogue as post-liberal peace method in order to address asymmetric relations between the liberal West and non-West have been argued.

This PPT slide was presented at Japan Association for Human Security Studies in December 2018. Titled "Buddhism and post-liberal peacebuilding: Exploring a holistic peace theory by interconnecting liberal peace and Buddhist peace, the presentation dicusses how Buddhist inner peace and liberal peace can complement each other to build a sustainable peace.

This is manuscript used in the 12th Bioethics Roundtable at Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan. The research explores how Buddhist inner peace and liberal peace can build a complementary relationship for a holistic peace that covers internal aspects of peace and external dimensions of peace.

This is PPT slide presented at the 12th Bioethics Roundtable at Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan.
The research examines a holistic peace vision that integrates Buddhist inner peace and the spirits of liberal peace. Buddhism stands by human rights principles, democracy while showing a cautionary market-oriented economy.

This is PPT slide presented at 11th Kumamoto University Bioetchis Roundtable: Philosophy and Practice of Bioethics Across and Between Cultures. Peace lies at the nexus of interdependence among physiological, psychological, social, political, and spiritual realities. The presentation suggests holistic peace as the mixture of physiological/psychological, social/structural, epistemological, and spiritual peace.

PPT slide presented at The 7th Asian Conference on Ethics, Religion, and Philosophy in March 2017 in Kobe, Japan.
This research examines a Buddhist post-liberal peace theory. Contemporary peacebuilding is considered as liberal peacebuilding based on liberal peace theory. Its  premise is that democracy, free-market economy and institutional reformations associated with modern state will empower those in conflict to resolve their differences nonviolently, build peaceful relations, make governments accountable and responsive to people’s basic needs. However, the critical problem with contemporary Western liberal peace is that it tends to ignore human internal causes and dynamics of conflict and peace.               

Buddhism, since its beginning, has deepened psychological analysis of conflict and peace. Though structural and institutional causes of conflict must be addressed, those causes stem from the state of human mind as the violence and injustices are responses toward external stimuli produced by our internal operation. Asymmetric social structure and violent relationship between different groups is partly due to human thought, especially, dualistic or dichotomous thinking that creates supposedly firm boundaries and causes us prioritize our interests and needs over others’. Therefore, social and structural reformation needs the transformation of human thinking shaping the social structure. Especially, empowering individuals across different groups to become a reflective and contemplative social being with a holistic view of reality would contribute to achieving a sustainable society.

However, this research does not aim to reject or replace liberal peace. Rather, it seeks to build a complementary relation between Western liberal peace and Buddhist peace to expand the purview of how dynamics of conflict and peacebuilding can be analyzed.

This is PPT slide presented at Tenth Kumamoto University Bioethics Roundtable, Kumamoto Japan. The presentation will explore how Buddhism and postmodernism can construct a complementary philosophical foundation for intercultural dialogue on ethics in a globalized era. Our age has experienced increasing interdependence and interconnectedness in many fields on a global scale. The world has become increasingly compressed into an interconnected and interpenetrating system in many dimensions and their global ramifications beyond and/or cross borders cannot be avoided. Human beings have a collective responsibility to address many common problems and challenges for a humane world. It has become increasingly imperative to those with different ethical frameworks to construct ethics according to globalized context.
Intercultural dialogue on ethics in the globalized era needs to be understood as a process, wherein those with different ethical frameworks keep unfolding new ethical norms in an interdependent context. However, intercultural dialogue itself can turn into a root cause of conflict and violence once each cultural group clings to its own ethical framework as universal or absolute. We need some novel philosophical foundations that help us engage intercultural dialogue on ethics that keeps explicating an unfolding new ethical frameworks according to changing globalized circumstances and here come postmodernism and Buddhism. While Buddhism emphasizes an inherent interdependent and interpenetrating nature of opposing values/thoughts, emptiness of any form of fixed conceptual thought, postmodernism stresses constructed nature of reality, interconnectedness of opposite categories, lack of transcendental foundation for an entity, openness of thought system and undecidability of fixed ethics. The establishment of their complementary relationship will become a novel philosophical foundation for intercultural dialogue on ethics based on non-dualistic or non-dichotomous understanding of different ethical frameworks, non-closure of dialogue, which empowers us to free ourselves from attachment to culturally/socially constructed ethical framework and to engage in creative and innovative dialogue on ethics.

This paper examines how Buddhism can contribute to post-liberal peacebuilding enterprise. Especially, it examines how Buddhist ideas of epistemology and mind can complement contributions from Western peace/conflict analysis. One of the significant problems facing post-liberal peacebuilding enterprise is the underdevelopment of epistemological foundations that can interconnect organically liberal and post-liberal peacebuilding. Therefore, how Buddhist epistemology can unfold new epistemological frameworks that can give practical implications for post-liberal peacebuilding endeavours will be explored. The upshot is the proposition of the concept of holistic epistemology and examination of how this newly proposed idea of epistemology can make a qualitative enrichment of the discourse on peace, which will encourage us to construct new analytical frameworks to explore novel visions of peace and the organic relationship between peace at micro and macro levels with implications for the future peace/conflict studies at local and international arenas.

This paper seeks to build a post-liberal hybrid holistic peace model that interconnects liberal peace and Buddhist peace. While liberal peace is socio-political and economic oriented, Budhist peace is human internal oriented. The paper argues that both are complementary to each other. The analysis shows that Buddhism upholds human rights and democracy while Buddhist peace theory shows a cautionary attitude towards excessive market-economy. However, Buddhism also believes economic activity and gratification of basic human needs are essential to us to develop inner peace. The paper concludes by offering holistic peace model that combines socio-political and economic aspects and human internal aspects of peace.

This paper explores how liberal peace and Buddhist peace can complement each other to build a holistic peace model. Whilst liberal peace is structurally and institutionally oriented, Buddhist peace emphasizes internal peace characterized as enacting multiple functions of human mind. However, the paper argues that Buddhism supports human rights and democracy and empowerment of human being with rich mind can contribute to making democracy and human rights principles work better. But this paper needs more revise and refinement. The analysis is still in its infancy.

This is a research paper presented at the 11th Kumamoto University Bioethics Roundtable: Philosophy and Practice of Bioethics Across and Between Cultures.
This research explores a holistic peace model for a sustainable world by interconnecting different aspects of peace. Especially, it examines four aspects of peace. They are physiological and psychological peace, social and structural peace, epistemological peace and spiritual peace. Physiological and psychological peace means to gratify the basic physiological and psychological human needs while social and structural peace refers to overcoming structural violence and achieving social justice that guarantees equal opportunity of all citizens for political, social and economic activities and access to basic education. Enacting multiple ways of thinking and knowing and reflective self-awareness or the practice of detachment from social or cultural frame of reference for conscious critique constitute the cores of epistemological peace. The recognition of interdependent and interpenetrating nature of different conceptual thoughts of frames of references shaping distinct views of reality and appreciation of different thought modes will empower us to learn the difference or opposition of views, perspectives or values not as a cause of threat or justification for discrimination or violence but as an opportunity to glean new insights or inspirations to expand the purview of our thinking. And the development of such epistemological stance enables those having different or opposing views or values to co-construct new ideas and values creatively according to changing circumstances. Spiritual peace is an awakening to inherent and universal humanity and dignity of all human while acknowledging racial, cultural, or religious diversity. The practice of compassion also forms spiritual peace, which inspires us to feel others' both suffering and well-being as our own and to act together to promote mutual well-being and happiness. This research concludes that those four dimensions of peace are interdependent and interconnected and that each of us can become an active and transformative agent to contribute to peaceful world when those external and internal aspects of peace are realized and enacted in an integrative manner.

One of the pressing problems with peacebuilding research is that much of the analysis focuses on the practical and technical challenges while paying little attention to the philosophical assumptions of those operations. Any understanding of peacebuilding is underpinned by philosophical frameworks as they shape and orient us towards particular strategies for peacebuilding. This paper makes a philosophical critique of liberal peacebuilding – the mainstream peacebuilding – and explores a postmodern post-liberal hybrid peacebuilding. The analysis leads to neither the rejection of liberal peacebuilding nor the exclusive reliance on locally-oriented peacebuilding. Rather, the upshot is the need for deconstructing dualistic view of either liberal peacebuilding or locally-oriented peacebuilding so that both external liberal actors and local actors engage in jointly learning and mutually transformative process wherein both liberal international actors and local actors look beyond peace constructed around their narrow and restricted conception and framework to create the meanings of peace that can interconnect the global and the local.

Many of major problems facing us are human-caused. In other words, while social/global injustices, inter-group antagonism and hatred, any form of violence to name a few are the targets of global citizens to tackle to achieve more peaceful and humane world, they are in reality caused and sustained through our own thoughts.