Five years of steps towards peace in Cambodia1

At the end of the 1996 dry season offensive, which left thousands more Cambodians dead or injured, a double column of over 700 people strode forth creating a path of compassion through the suffering of this impoverished and war ravaged nation. Only three brief years after the United Nations most costly peace initiative has come and gone, it remains the task of ordinary people to continue to pursue the path of peacemaking in Cambodia. The most visible and inspiring manifestation of this pursuit of peace by peaceful means is the annual Dhammayietra, a mass cross-country walk for peace and reconciliation.

The Dhammayietra movement began as a one-time event in April of 1992 when a month long walk of reconciliation by refugee Khmer living on the Thai-Cambodian border was organised into the interior of Cambodia. The walks have since been maintained and developed by newly emerged people's movements within Cambodia. Dhammayietra is a Pali name which translates into "Pilgrimage of truth". Through action the Dhammayietra movement teaches peace, reconciliation and compassion for all beings and exemplifies an alternative, nonviolent way. It is an exceptional event because it can provide a space that is free of war, conflict and partisan politics as it moves across the violent and narrow political landscape of Cambodia.

Cambodia is a majority Buddhist country, and the message of the Dhammayietra is presented in simple Buddhist teachings by venerated Cambodian Buddhist elder Maha Ghosananda2. Maha Ghosananda has served as spiritual leader of the peace walk for all its five years. Although his entire family was killed during Khmer Rouge rule, when he speaks about how to respond to the Khmer Rouge, his being emanates compassion! "I do not question that loving one's oppressor - Cambodians loving the Khmer Rouge - may be the most difficult attitude to achieve, " he says, "but if is a law of the universe that retaliation, hatred and revenge only continue the cycle and never stop it Reconciliation does not mean that we surrender rights and conditions," he continues, "but rather that we use love. Our wisdom and our compassion
must walk together. Having one without the other is like walking on one foot; you will fall. Balancing the two you will walk very well, step by step."3

The Dhammayietra walks for peace do not just occur, but have slowly built up through action and reflection as strategic nonviolent and spiritual events. Compassion, nonviolence and remaining nonpartisan are the key elements that make up this path of action. Since the beginning of these events, each of these elements has been evaluated and modified in the face of political challenges, but all have remained at the core of the Dhammayietra method.

Staying Nonpartisan

Situations of violent conflict are highly polarised. Nonpartisan action treads the fine line of neither endorsing or opposing any party in a conflict, while often making clear statements of opposition to policies being used. Within Buddhist terninology, the path of nonpartisan action is the Middle Path: neither joining the fight or hiding from it. Within a Gandhian framework it is the method which exemplifies his prescription to: "Resist the evil not the evil doer."

Nonpartisan action is the most difficult path in conflict situations as it calls for a very clear awareness not only of the actual effect of our actions, but of the perception of these effects by the combatant parties.

In past Dhammayietras, political parties would attempt to join the walk holding the banners of their cause. This could not be allowed, as it would make the Dhammayietra appear to be mobilised by, or supportive of their cause. Specifically, the Walk will not allow civil or military personnel of either the government or the Khmer Rouge to join, or even appear to join, the walk. The organisers learned how dangerous this was at a terrible price during the third Dhammayietra. The walk had to leave the main road on a narrow path, and it was when a patrol of government soldiers came to walk on the same path at the same time, appearing to be part of the Dhammayietra as they wove in and out of our walk line in an attempt to pass us, that walkers were shot and killed when they met an opposing patrol. Since then, the walk had a clear policy of
asking all soldiers not to escort the walk, nor to have any walker wear what could appear to be military clothing. Since the fourth Walk this difficulty has continued to arise because the central government sends messages to provincial authorities to "protect" the walk. In practice, this means they will order an armed patrol to accompany, lead or follow the walk. The Walk Committee, a group of monks, nuns, lay people and organisers who make decisions during the walk, meet with local military or police authorities and explain the nonviolent nature of the walk. It is explained that nonviolence cannot be protected by violence, but is its own protection, or action in the face of violence. This is frequently difficult for military personnel to understand. When they fail to understand this, as a last resort, the walk will stop and not move until all military or armed police escorts are removed. As a compromise, to allow the officials a path to carry out their duty, they are allowed to come on the walk provided they are a) unarmed and b) out of uniform.

A lesser difficulty arises when governors or politicians try to escort or lead the Dhammayietra (frequently for ten minutes during which they will have ten cameras filming them). As the Walk is a line with ordained clergy in the front and lay people following to the rear, the walk committee devised a strategy based on experience, whereby the would-be leaders are asked to "lead the section of laity in the rear" (no provincial authority would be ordained). This method works due to cultural esteem for the ordained in South-East Asian society. This year a provincial governor breached the rules by walking in front, leading the Walk, before anyone approached to ask him to walk in the back with the lay people. The mistake led to immediate meetings and discussions. As the Walk was just outside the capital, the Walk Committee used the experience to improve on strategies for
dealing with such incidents upon entering the city, where they were bound to multiply. Later, when a major opposition politician joined the walk, the committee immediately asked him to respect the walk pledge (see below) and in addition remove his armed bodyguards, refrain from distributing party flyers, and walk in the back with the lay people.

Training for Nonviolence

Training for nonviolence is necessary in all cultures because few human institutions teach us how to deal constructively with conflict. Usually we are taught to avoid it or to leave it to the authorities. Neither of these paths are open to people who directly confront violent conflict. The Dhammayietra organisers have developed a preparation training program to help prepare walkers for foreseeable difficulties. Experience gained through the annual walks has improved their training program each year.

Pre-walk nonviolence trainings are held in different locations throughout Cambodia to make them available to as many people as possible. During a three day intensive live-in program potential walkers, and interested others receive an introduction to the philosophy of the walk and to meditation for peace. This is to make sure that all participants have an understanding of basic Buddhist concepts, with a particular emphasis on their application to daily difficulties of life. This introduction is followed by sessions with stories of individual peacemaking, both from within Cambodian society and from other cultures, which are illustrated with examples and experiences. Training continues with an introduction to the theory of nonviolence; stressing the need for nonviolent discipline in an area of conflict including visual presentations of discipline/rules for the Dhammayietra. Participants undergo exercises for handling fear, they role play situations which the walk might encounter; take a practice walk around town; and undergo mine awareness training4. The training sessions end with an evaluation.

During the 1996 pre-walk preparations the Dhammayietra Centre planned to organise eight trainings, but demand increased that to twelve trainings held in eight provinces (about half the provinces in the country). Over 600 people, almost twice as many as had been trained in the previous year, attended the pre-walk trainings of 1996. The component on dealing with fear in particular was expanded this
year, as the principle trainer noted: "Our biggest obstacle to working for peace is fear. We have to help people continue to act and confront their fears if we will ever make peace."5

These trainings are not only an essential part of preparation for the Dhammayietra, but have also built a core of experienced trainers in nonviolent action and expanded the network of people available for peace action. These trainings have also served as an occasion for local people to discuss nonviolence and peace building within their own communities.

Developing Compassion

The Dhammayietra movement believes that no other skill is as important as the development of compassion in personal preparation for the walk. This focus of the Dhammayietra philosophy is certainly unique to Asia, because it is believed only compassion gives staying power in a protracted nonviolent struggle. Compassion is a key virtue in Buddhism - both a method and a result - on the path of personal and social liberation.

Needless to say, development of compassion is a long term process, but clear tools and techniques for its practice and are available within Buddhism. Personal commitment to the cultivation of compassion in this lifetime also conditions a lifetime commitment to social justice within the Dhammayietra interpretation of basic Buddhist doctrine. Particularly the meditations on the Brahma Vihara of karuna, or the limitless space of compassion, prescribed by the Buddha 2500 years ago as the most potent method of combating fear. As a tool of nonviolence this is very important, as people are usually manipulated to violence by their fears. Another tool for cultivation of compassion is mindful walking mediation. The result of mindfulness is a mind that is active rather than reactive. With enough practice the serious student of these mental techniques can confront extremely difficult situations and respond with great clarity of mind, quickly or with patience, according to the situation. Without such clarity of mind, experience shows that people generally only react; they are still controlled by the event which precipitated the reaction. The cultivation of non-reactivity does not, however, mean inactivity. It means one has broken the chain of being controlled by the event, and can truly act creatively. Only the mind free of reactivity is truly capable of peace in action.

Structure and growth

Maintaining a nonviolent discipline among 4-700 people as they walk for a month and perhaps into life-threatening situations is no small task. It also takes a lot of organisation. The Dhammayietras seek to reassure the Cambodian population through a strong presence of fearlessness and compassion, all of which requires great spiritual strength. As previously mentioned, the core of this strength is built through Buddhism. Religion however; was totally removed from Cambodian society during the period of Khmer Rouge rule, and was only reinstituted during the following Communist regime under the tight control of the State. Today many Buddhist monks are quite young and have perhaps joined the order only as a means of escaping military conscription or as a path to an education. Lack of access to spiritual teachers has also hurt the Buddhist Order in Cambodia. It is thus ironic that the while Buddhist teaching provides the essential power of this peace action it is the ordained clergy who are the most likely source of internal problems on the walk. Particularly in the past there was a difficulty with young monks who sought rides on vehicles once they tired of walking, rather than building stamina through perseverance. This activity, although harmless on appearance was found to be very demoralising for other walkers. Some of the ordained clergy used the walk to solicit money in the name of religion for their own personal enrichment. These two behaviours, plus a general lack of understanding of Buddhism by many newly ordained clergy led to the development of a discipline program for the walk. As of this year's walk, the following guidelines have evolved:

1. Participant must attend a pre-walk training or is not allowed to walk.

2. Each monk/nun presents a letter of approval from the abbot of his/her temple to join the walk.

3. Each participant verbally agrees to respect the 5 point pledge:

· All walkers will undergo a pre-walk training scheduled by the Dhammayietra committee

· All walkers commit themselves to nonviolence, neutrality and walking in a spirit of compassion

· Riding on vehicles, or use of drugs or alcohol is forbidden

· Carrying weapons of any kind is forbidden. Civilian dress is required and emblems/flags other than religious ones are prohibited

· Walkers must follow these points. The
Dhammayietra Committee can and shall ask those who do not follow these points to leave the Walk.

4. Participants not respecting the Pledge are given three chances. At the first violation of the guidelines, their group leader (see below) is asked to explain the problem their behaviour is causing. If problems continue with a second violation, then a member of the Walk Committee is asked to talk with them and remind them they could be asked to leave the walk. In extreme case they receive a third chance during which they are asked to sign an oath in front of the entire Walk Committee promising to stop the disruptive behaviour and to agree to leave the walk if they do not.

5. Walkers are asked to leave the walk and return to their temples if necessary.

The organisers and Walk Committee implemented these new guidelines this year resulting in a Dhammayietra with clear nonviolent discipline. A direct result of this was a much greater level of faith in the Dhammayietra both amongst the walkers and by the communities through which the Dhammayietra passed.

Another structural improvement in the walk was the way in which walkers were organised into groups and group leaders chosen. Informed by previous experience, small groups of approximately ten walkers in stead of twenty as before, were formed. The larger groups had communication problems, especially in times of difficulty or danger. Each group selected a leader, an assistant and representatives to help with distribution of supplies, food and water, medical attention, and information dissemination. This year more substantial training and meetings were held with the group leaders at the start of the walk as well as follow-up support throughout the walk. Sub-committees of volunteers were also formed in the following areas: transport of supplies and personal belongings; food and water; mine awareness and campaign; medical assistance; receiving donations; and distribution of leaflets (more on this to follow).

Perhaps one of the most radical changes in the walks structure has taken place in the pre-walk organising group, and the walk committee which also contains some of the pre-walk organisers. The first walk was entirely organised by western expatriates working on behalf of Cambodian refugees in the camps on the Thai border. That pre-walk committee of non-Khmer
turned leadership of the walk over to a delegated committee of refugees once the event crossed the border into Cambodia, but several of those expatriates remained involved as advisers, pre-walk organisers on later walks, or as walkers. The walk committee was small in the early days, and functioned informally, and often without coordination. This method broke down completely during the third walk after walkers were killed in crossfire. Since that time through painful reflection and evaluation a new collective has been built which consists entirely of Cambodian monks, nuns and lay people living inside Cambodia. From the previous five or six people who made all essential decisions for the walk, the walk committee now contains seventeen people who are far more representative of walkers, as a whole. This group meets frequently with a much larger meeting of group leaders, which numbers about seventy on a walk of 700, to discuss walk policies and to hear input. The most impressive aspect of this new leadership structure is its democracy, which has evolved in a country with a noted lack of democratic institutions. This year's walk committee, in coordination with those running the nonviolence trainings before the walk identified many potential leaders, and invited them to join in the leadership structure of the walk. Some of these people had participated in previous walks, but never in a leadership capacity, but the leadership experience on the walk has empowered several of them to take a more active role for progressive change in their own communities on return. In this way, the walk is contributing to the building of a network of people working for ongoing change in Cambodian society outside of the actual walk.

Public Education

Since the Fourth Dhammayietra, an element of conscientization or public education has been added to the Walks. This has taken a number of forms. One is the development of simple illustrated Peace Health6 messages. In 1996 there were four of these messages printed for distribution along the walk route. They educated on the issue of deforestation, land mines, the Dhammayietra and the Prayer for Peace7. Some 90,000 of these flyers were distributed (twice as many as the previous year).

During the 1996 Dhammayietra public talks were held at three to four village temples, or other public spaces per day. Maha Ghosananda would use the oppor
tunity to stress Buddhism as a basis for social reconciliation and compassion, encouraging the listeners to "remove land mines of hatred from our hearts". Land mine awareness trainers8 who accompanied the walk would then explain the need to avoid those in the ground by showing videos, giving talks, setting up displays, and distributing and hanging up posters. In addition to these educational activities this year's Dhammayietra gathered over 20,000 more signatures to add to the 400,000 collected thus far in Cambodia on petitions calling for a Total Worldwide Ban on Anti-Personnel Land mines.

The 1996 Dhammayietra walked through some of the provinces experiencing accelerated deforestation. Although officially there is a ban on logging within Cambodia, documents leaked to the press show that corrupt government officials have sold foreign corporations the right to cut in ALL remaining timber stands within the country9. This year's walk focused on the ongoing deforestation in Cambodia, and the link between deforestation and the ongoing war. It also planted 2000 trees along the walk route. "These trees are a symbol for renewal and an objection to the destruction of our environment", explained Kim Leng10 one of the walk's central organisers.

Buddhism and the health of forests are closely linked. Buddhist renunciates have lived under the trees and wandered in the forests of Asia for 2500 years, and it is the environment which has fostered it's greatest teachers. The Buddha is also believed to have been born, reached enlightenment and died under a tree. Sitting peacefully under a canopy of leaves at a rest stop along the walk, Maha Ghosananda explained the gift which comes from the tree. "Breath", he said. "In Buddhism, peace means to breathe, in and out. To live is to breathe, without this peace, there is no life. We walk every day," he added, "This peace walk is the same. Without walking, you have no life."11 Initially officials attempted to dissuade the Dhammayietra organisers from planting trees along the route, but the Walk persevered. While planting a few trees seems harmless enough, criticism of the powerful in Cambodia has resulted in attack, imprisonment, exile or death. The current regime brought to power under the U.N. program will tolerate little criticism. Each time after the trees were planted along the walk this year, two participating Thai Buddhist monks gave
talks encouraging Cambodians to heed the lessons of Thailand, where the environmental destruction is great, forests are disappearing, and rivers have been polluted. They urged the Cambodians to protect their natural resources before it is too late.

A model for change?

Does this walk and its methods outlined above have any lessons for the world beyond Cambodia's borders? The Dhammayietra walks for peace have begun to receive international attention. CNN, the New York Times and regional news magazines have run short articles on the Walks, but without any meaningful analysis of the method. A Canadian anthropologist has called the Dhammayietra a "new cultural ritual of remembering; through the creation of new collective memories it will allow some Cambodians to emerge from the culture of violence created by the last twenty years of war and the Khmer Rouge era."12 This report suggests that the Dhammayietra is extremely culture specific, which would rule out the transference of this form to another conflict situation. However an analysis of the function of the Dhammayietras reveals useful lessons for activists elsewhere. An Australian nonviolence trainer has concluded that the Dhammayietras work as a form of 'Nonviolent Solidarity'13 with the intention to
a. How to mark an area if you come upon mines. And how to evacuate a victim from a mined area. The Dhammayietra has enjoyed a close relationship with these NGOs, and for the past few walks they have accompanied the Dhammayietra to further their outreach to the public. The Dhammayietra endorses the International Campaign to Ban Land mines, and Mine Awareness Campaigns.

5. Report on the Dhammayietra 5 by CPR and the Dhammayietra Centre, June 1996 (Report to Funders).

6. Named Peace Health messages because the ongoing civil war in Cambodia has been declared the number 1 health problem by organisations working in the field of health care.

7. The Suffering of Cambodia has been deep - From this suffering comes Great Compassion

Great Compassion makes a Peaceful Heart - A Peaceful Heart makes a Peaceful Person

A Peaceful Person makes a Peaceful Family - A Peaceful Family makes a Peaceful Community.

A Peaceful Community makes a Peaceful Nation - A Peaceful Nation makes a Peaceful World.

There is No Happiness Higher than Peace - May All Beings Live in Happiness and Peace.

8. see note 5.

9. "Corruption, War and Forest Policy, The unsustainable exploitation of Cambodia's Forests", Global Witness February 1996. Sum
be present in a zone of military violence to share the danger with the local people and to highlight the suffering the violence is causing. This further generates awareness of, and support for grassroots initiatives to halt the war. It also generates solidarity actions by grassroots activists and networks in other parts of the world.

While the methodology is one of solidarity with those suffering oppression, the fuel for this is compassion and wisdom. It is in the development of these qualities in particular that the Dhammayietra's interpretation of Buddhism can offer guidance on in the struggle for a nonviolent world.

Walking on

Dhammayietra veterans and others have now set up the Dhammayietra Centre for Peace and Reconciliation in Cambodia as a positive symbol for what ordinary people can do for a more peaceful and just nation. The Centre is committed to using every opportunity to encourage empowerment of the people through nonviolence trainings and peace actions such as the Walk. Almost as soon as one Walk ends, villagers ask when the next Walk will happen. "It is the only thing that gives us hope. Every other day all we know is war," claimed one from a village near the front line. The Dhammayietra
Notes

1. Collectively walked kilometres after five years of Dhammayietra Walks in Cambodia. An average of 500 walkers was multiplied by an average 400 kilometre walk = 1 million kilometres.

2. Samdech Preah Maha Ghosananda is a Pali scholar and respected Buddhist teacher. He is one of the only individuals of Cambodian descent who was able to move freely between all four combatant factions during the 1980's. He survived the Khmer Rouge time by being out of the country, practising meditation in a forest monastery in Thailand. Although he lives in a temple in central Phnom Penh, he frequently travels abroad to meet with leaders of o
mary: The evidence set out in this document shows that mismanagement and corruption within the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) is now responsible for the destruction of Cambodia's forests on a scale that dwarfs ail activity in the years prior to 1995. Documents obtained by Global Witness show that the RGC is in the process of allocating all of Cambodia's remaining forest in nineteen massive concessions to mainly for
eign companies.

10. On the march again for Nonviolence, Phnom Penh Post 31/5/1996:14.

11. see note 10.

12. "The Politics of Space and Form: Cultural Idioms of Resistance and Re-Membering in Cambodia", Monigue Skidmore, Sante Culture/Cultural Health Vol.X No 1 2:35-59, 1993-94.

13. Cross-Border Nonviolent Intervention: Towards a Comprehensive Typology unpub
Centre and the Walk Committee have responded: "Our steps have given us courage. We will not stop now. We vow to continue the Dhammayietra, walking and working for peace every day, everywhere, throughout the entire country and world. We will not wait for foreigners to bring us peace. We have to persist in peacemaking every day, ourselves."14

Powerful mass actions like the Dhammayietra can only manifest from powerful human experience. When a journalist asked walk organiser Kim Leng to talk about what sustains her through the hard work of preparing a Dhammayietra and the often blistering heat and other difficulties of walking in Cambodia, she grew quiet and then broke into tears and said "Everywhere I have been I have met so many orphans" she sobbed, "so many widows, so many crippled by minesnow I ask the rulers of Cambodia to see the sorrow of the people and to stop their war". When asked how she could continue walking five times when they had not yet reached their goal of peace, she answered: "We know the road to peace is a long one, and there are many obstacles. But it is the only road. What is the alternative in the midst of all this violence? Do nothing? Then it's as if we're just lying around waiting to die."15

Yeshua Moser

ther religions, such as the Pope or the Dalai Lama. In 1996 he was nominated for the third year in a row for the Nobel Prize for Peace for his tireless work for the reconciliation of Cambodia, and for his ecumenical work around the globe.

3. Step by Step, Parallax Press 1992 Maha Ghosananda.

4. Mine Awareness Training is usually given by non-governmental agencies operating in Cambodia whose sole function is to educate the population on the danger of mines and unexploded ordinance (UXO) in the country. They have devised a set of instructions as to how to judge a safe path or are
lished manuscript, Robert Burrowes/Australian Nonviolence Network & Lightbulb Theory unpublished manuscript, George Lakey/Training Centre Workshops.

14. Report on Dhammayietra 5 by CPR and the Dhammayietra Centre June 1996 (Report to funders).

15. see note 10.