De La Cruz, Romell Ian B.

Hi16 C
Francis Navarro, Ph.D.
17 May 2014
Social Justice: How it is propagated by the 4 Noble Truths
Life is unfair. We have all heard of that clich. That idea encompasses our worldly
experience. There is no escaping this reality. This idea of unfairness tells of different ideas,
experiences, and view.
First, there is the idea of discrimination. Discrimination is a great example of creating
social injustice. Through discrimination, a group of people is shown to be of a lower being
than humans.
Second, there is the idea of abuse. As with discrimination, the abuser is creating a
different social status. The abuser is making himself more powerful than the one being
abused. This, again, creates injustice.
For my last example, I would present the idea of negligence and indifference.
Through this, the two prior ideas, discrimination and abuse, are kept under wraps. They
continue to propagate without anyone else, other than those involved, knowing. Because of
negligence and indifference, many people undergo stresses and injustices beyond our
imaginations.
These 3 ideas are a few of the concepts related to Social Injustice. With the existence
of injustice, its opposite also exists. JusticeSocial Justice to be exact. What is Social
Justice? According to the RSA website, it implies fairness and mutual obligation in society:
that we are responsible for one another, and that we should ensure that all have equal chances
to succeed in life.1
This idea of mutual obligation and responsibility for others can be summarized in one
word: compassion.

1 RSA - What Social Justice Means. Accessed May 17, 2014. http://www.thersa.org/action-researchcentre/learning,-cognition-and-creativity/education/social-justice/what-social-justice-means.

Compassion is, as defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, sympathetic

consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it.2 This word provides
for us an idea of a thought and an outward motion, a deed, stemming from the prior thought.
Buddhisms 4th Noble Truth mentions the 8-fold path. And in this 8-fold path, the idea
of compassion is highly evident. It is first shown in the first step: RIGHT VIEW. In this
step, it is mentioned that [t]he right way to think about life is to see the world through the
eyes of the Buddha--with wisdom and compassion.3 It says that we must view the world
with a consciousness towards others plight and do something about it. This step, alone,
already shows Buddhisms predisposition towards its intent to spread peace and social justice.
Aside from leading on to that idea, this step also means that one has also to be able to do the
seventh step: RIGHT CONSCIOUSNESS. Without it, there would be, technically, no
thought on others.
Another step that directly involves compassion is step 6: RIGHT EFFORT. It states
that [a] worthwhile life means doing our best at all times and having good will toward
others. This also means not wasting effort on things that harm ourselves and others.4 Here,
the ideas of abuse and discrimination are completely debunked since they both require effort
to do and that they harbour bad will towards others. This things are what the 6th step teaches
against. It teaches to harbour good will.
These two steps together fulfil the aforementioned meaning of Social Justice. With a
right view and right effort, one is taught to be compassionate towards others and that we do
our best for ourselves and for others. This is what Social Justice is all about; thinking of
others and doing something about it.

2 Merriam-Webster, s.v., compassion

3 THE BASIC TEACHING OF BUDDHA. Accessed May 17, 2014.
http://online.sfsu.edu/rone/Buddhism/footsteps.htm.
4 Ibid.

Works Cited
n.d. RSA - What Social Justice Means. Accessed May 17, 2014. http://www.thersa.org/actionresearch-centre/learning,-cognition-and-creativity/education/social-justice/whatsocial-justice-means.
n.d. THE BASIC TEACHING OF BUDDHA. Accessed May 17, 2014.
http://online.sfsu.edu/rone/Buddhism/footsteps.htm.