Ethics
The term Ethics is derived from the Greek word ethos which can mean custom, habit, character or disposition.
Ethics is a branch of philosophy that covers a whole family of things that have a real importance in everyday. Ethics is a system of moral principles, at its simplest which affects how people make decisions and lead their lives and it is concerned with what is good for individuals and society and is also described as moral philosophy. Ethics lies at the heart of all human endeavors, from the foundations of human civilization and the great religions, to the day-to-day decisions we all make in the course of our lives.
Buddhism
In Buddhism, there is no God as such, unlike many people believe and it is a way of living, more than a religion. So, it is up to human beings themselves to perform right action and make this world better. Buddhism considers a behavior ethical only if it does not cause harm to one self or other. It is also noteworthy that in Buddhism, ethical behavior is necessary not only because it is based on right or wrong but also because it is the means to attain enlightenment. The two main Buddhist sects are Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism, but there are many more.
The Basis of Buddhist Ethics
For common Buddhists, the foundation for an ethical behavior is formed on the basis of four noble truth and eightfold path: all this is troubled or suffering (dukkha); there is a pattern in the conditioned arising of trouble/suffering; there is a pattern in the dissolution of trouble/suffering; and there is a path by means of which such a resolution is possible. According to the fourth truth—the practice of the Noble 8-Fold Path—we can dissolve the pattern of conditions that brings about suffering by developing right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
The Eightfold Path
The path to liberation from these miserable states of being, as taught by the Buddha, has eight points and is known as the eightfold path. The first point is called right view -- the right way to view the world. Wrong view occurs when we impose our expectations onto things; expectations about how we hope things will be, or about how we are afraid things might be. Right view occurs when we see things simply, as they are. It is an open and accommodating attitude. We abandon hope and fear and take joy in a simple straight-forward approach to life.
The second point of the path is called right intention. It proceeds from right view. If we are able to abandon our expectations, our hopes and fears, we no longer need to be manipulative. We don't have to try to con situations into our preconceived notions of how they should be. We work with what is. Our intentions are pure.
The third aspect of the path is right speech. Once our intentions are pure, we no longer have to be embarrassed about our speech. Since we aren't trying to manipulate people, we don't have to be hesitant about what we say, nor do we need to try bluff our way through a conversation with any sort of phoney confidence. We say what needs to be said, very simply in a genuine way.
The fourth point on the path, right discipline, involves a kind of renunciation. We need to give up our tendency to complicate issues. We practice simplicity. We have a simple straight-forward relationship with our dinner, our job, our house and our family. We give up all the unnecessary and frivolous complications that we usually try to cloud our relationships with.
Right livelihood is the fifth step on the path. It is only natural and right that we should earn our living. Often, many of us don't particularly enjoy our jobs. We can't wait to get home from work and begrudge the amount of time that our job takes away from our enjoyment of the good life. Perhaps, we might wish we had a more glamorous job. We don't feel that our job in a factory or office is in keeping with the image we want to project. The truth is, that we should be glad of our job, whatever it is. We should form a simple relationship with it. We need to perform it properly, with attention to detail.
The sixth aspect of the path is right effort. Wrong effort is struggle. We often approach a spiritual discipline as though we need to conquer our evil side and promote our good side. We are locked in combat with ourselves and try to obliterate the tiniest negative tendency. Right effort doesn't involve struggle at all. When we see things as they are, we can work with them, gently and without any kind of aggression whatsoever.
Right mindfulness, the seventh step, involves precision and clarity. We are mindful of the tiniest details of our experience. We are mindful of the way we talk, the way we perform our jobs, our posture, our attitude toward our friends and family, every detail.
Right concentration, or absorption is the eighth point of the path. Usually we are absorbed in absentmindedness. Our minds are completely captivated by all sorts of entertainment and speculations. Right absorption means that we are completely absorbed in nowness, in things as they are. This can only happen if we have some sort of discipline, such as sitting meditation. We might even say that without the discipline of sitting meditation, we can't walk the eightfold path at all. Sitting meditation cuts through our absentmindedness. It provides a space or gap in our preoccupation with ourselves.
In sum, the root of Buddhism lies in developing skillful insight into the interdependent origination of all things and, through this, redirecting the movement of our situation from samsara toward nirvana—that is, from cycles of chronic trouble and suffering toward release from those cycles. The five percepts based on these eight noble truth are:
· Prevent taking life of beings. Every living being has a right to life and it should be honored by one and all.
· Prevent taking things not given. One should neither steel nor accept things meant for someone else.
· Prevent sensual misconduct. One should not only refrain from sexual misconduct but also avoid excessive sensual pleasure of any kind (like gluttony)
· Prevent making false statements. This not only includes lying but also slander and speech that might cause harm to others.
· Prevent taking substances that cause intoxication. This precept is important in the sense that it could be the cause of other four precepts being broken.
In addition to these, the Theravada Buddhists also observe three more precepts on special holy occasions. The three rules are followed by the members of Sangha on a regular basis.
· Prevent taking food at unsuitable time – from noon one day to sunrise next day
· Prevent any form of entertainment as well as items used to beautify one.
· Prevent the use of high beds.
In Buddhism the ethical quality of actions depends on the mental factors associated with their commission or even contemplation, and on the impact they have on the well-being of others. If action is committed with greed, aversion or delusion it is unwholesome (akusala), but the degree of moral reprehensibility (and karmic consequence) depends on a whole host of factors. Even an "accidental" killing could have adverse consequences if it was caused through negligence and un-mindfulness, which is a kind of "Delusion" (moha). What has been said of the rule regarding killing, may also be extended to the other ethical precepts as well. So, furthermore what we can say is, if we are to see the operation of media in today’s world through the eyes of Buddha, then we would see how media is being used as a tool by a few elite groups or powerful people in the society to serve their personal interest. Media certainly has become delusive, in the name of competition and maximum profit making, which would be all the more disappointing through Buddha’s prospect.
Besides, making false statements or promoting and facilitating false statement is prohibited if the basis of ethics in Buddhism is to be comprehended, but bearing in mind the practice of media these days, truth has been overshadowed by forged proclamations. We can look at the way Iraq war and Afghanistan war being justified in the name of ‘War against terror’ by many American and British media alike. Or we can take example of our own country, espe. During maoist insurgency, the state owned media and the maoist owned media made numerous false claims, trying to pull people on their sides and justify their deeds in the battlefield.
Also, right speech in media would seem to provide a natural point of departure for developing a Buddhist critique of content-focused media ethics. Minimally, practicing right speech means communicating in such a way that new troubles and stresses do not arise and already existing ones are eased. The basis of this type of communication is compassion—literally, a relationship of shared feeling or emotion. That is why media needs to be more cautious and sensitive if serving people is to be their true purpose. Contrary to right speech are communicative practices that are harsh, false, untimely, connected with harm, focused on gossip, idle or purposeless, and characterized by inner hate or contempt. Such practices lead to weariness and disappointment. That is why media needs to be more cautious and sensitive if serving people is to be their true purpose. As Buddhism would have advocated, it should emphasize more on how to curb all the sufferings rather than just talk about all the sufferings and do nothing to actually fight against it. For example, newspapers and television channels tend to give news on violence, war and negativity provoking news rather than giving optimistic news or positive thoughts.
In Buddhism the goal of ethical conduct is self- control, self-understanding, and self-development. It is an essential prerequisite for the training of the mind, the elimination of ignorance and the attainment of Enlightenment. But looking at media presence and its intention in the society, what can be said is more and more people are being manipulated through the ‘message’ in media. People have become dependent on media for every bit of information and thus have lost the track of self-control and self-understanding. Media in a way has taken advantage of the busyness of people in their day-to-day life and gives what they want people to know rather than what people really should know creating a sort colonization of ideas. And with the boom of online media and advertising, far from being value-neutral, they have come to play a pivotal role in an ongoing “colonization of ideas” through which the attentive resources needed to meaningfully resolve our own troubles and suffering are instead being systematically depleted.
While there are no legal steps to prevent the viewing of “pornography” through different medium (at least even when it involves the depiction of children in sexual situations), what we can clearly say is this is against the sensual conduct, one of the basis of Buddhist ethics. The way things are people are getting exposed to pornographic content in media creates further imbalance in sexual conduct in society. It leads to increase in rape, prostitution, sex trafficking and so on.
Besides, there are “false” advertising that leads consumers to potential harm, the remarkably effective “Camel Joe” ad campaign in 1980s in US which had strong correlations between the cartoon campaign and rising child and adolescent tobacco use, and well-established links between tobacco use and a wide array of health risks. Besides, using of intoxicating substance itself stands so unethical that there is no way of compromising with the free promotion and publicity of the same. So from all the above discussions what we can understand is media ethics continues to be a protracted “fence walk”, through Buddhist perspective.
German Ambassador Gräfin von Roedern 
One of the paintings by Man Bahadur Harijan
One of the four art installations by Aditya Aryal at his exhibition
