Truth in Others, War, Aggression and Unite Together

SEE TRUTH IN OTHERS

The period during the time of the Buddha in India was one of great religions and spiritual activities. One of the discourses of the Buddha, 'Brahmajala Sutra' records that there were six main religious schools of thought which were again subdivided into 62 sects. These ranged from eternalism and belief in a single Creator God to nihilism where no hereafter was postulated. While the Buddha rejected the dogmatic stand taken by these religions (that they alone were right and all others were wrong) he was quite prepared to see that there were some elements of Truth (the Dharma) in each of them. He urged his followers to recognize the truth taught in other religions but to be vigilant and discern any 'false view' in these teachings. For example his foster mother who had become a nun was given this advice on how to differentiate between correct and false religions: He advised her that to judge a religion one must test whether it reduces passions or increases them, whether it leads to freedom of the spirit rather than enslavement of the self, whether it increases greed or reduces greed, whether it makes people want to do good. If all the positive aspects are encouraged, then it is to be recognized as a true religion.
Truth does not belong to any particular religion. Even those who do not claim any religion also know how to appreciate the truth. There are more than enough common virtues for religionists to introduce in theory and practice in the name of religion, so that people may lead a righteous, peaceful and cultured way of life. There is no need for us to belittle and castigate one another. If we do so, we would only pave the way for the anti-religious groups who are waiting to ridicule and condemn all religions. We should not behave in such a way as to show our hostile attitude to our co-religionists. If we do so, people will say that religions encourage mankind to be divided.

WAR AND AGGRESSION

It is a matter of historical truth that throughout the 25 centuries of its existence there has never been even one instance of religious persecution or war waged in the name of Buddhism. Of course, people calling themselves Buddhists have fought other people, and killed and pillaged, but it has never been for the purpose of spreading Buddhism or for the glory of Buddhism. The most outstanding example of this is H.H. the Dalai Lama who has struggled against the Chinese occupation of his homeland, but who has consistently insisted that he 'loves his Chinese brothers and sisters' and that he will only use non-violent means to regain the country. In this connection we can quote Professor Rhys Davids who wrote: 'There is no record known to me in the whole of the long history of Buddhism throughout the many centuries where his followers have been for such lengthened periods reigned supreme, of any persecution by the Buddhists of the followers of any other faith'. Buddhism was thus able to diffuse itself through a great variety of cultures throughout the world.

The Emperor Asoka who conquered almost all of the Indian sub-continent with unimaginable ruthlessness and cruelty. However after his last battle against the Kalingas where more than 100,000 men, women and children were mercilessly slaughtered, he turned to Buddhism and was completely transformed from Candasoka (cruel Asoka) to Dhammasoka (righteous Asoka). He turned from violence to compassion.
Buddhists are not forbidden to give due respect to other religious teachers, nor are they restricted in visiting places of worship and attending religious services, other than Buddhism. They can show their full cooperation while maintaining their basic Buddhist principles.

Buddhism encourages cooperation and understanding amongst the various religious denominations. From the Buddhist point of view, religious labels are not the most important aspect for people to be considered religious, but any person leading a respectable and harmless way of life can be regarded as religious.
Those who find faults and criticize Buddhism can only do so at a very superficial level. They may criticize the traditional practices and customs but not the teachings as taught by the Buddha, as the religious principles taught by the Buddha are good for all time. They can be tried out by anyone who wishes to test them.

The methods used to introduce the teachings of the Buddha are peaceful and reasonable. The Buddha made his appeal through reason and experience. The teachings were presented with clear and impressive simplicity and kept free from religious and national narrowness and fanaticism. They have produced clear and sober-minded people. This method of presentation cleared doubts and removed superstitious beliefs. Thus did the teachings of the Buddha convert the hearts and minds of the earnest seekers of truth. The Buddhist attitude of tolerance and understanding convinced many great thinkers, philosophers, rationalists, free-thinkers and even agnostics to appreciate Buddhism as a peaceful way of life devoid of fear and According to the Buddha, men are divided among themselves because of their strong sense of ego. When this is subdued by seeing the essential emptiness of a being, healthy human relationships will develop. The search for peace and a harmonious way of life, therefore begins from within and not from the outside.

An understanding of this central teaching of Buddhism is very important to the discussion of our topic. With this understanding we see that all human activities, including religion are mind-made. The Buddha said that his teachings must be seen as a raft to cross a river; once we have used it to get to the other bank, we need not be burdened with it to climb the mountain, which is our real destination. Zen Buddhists say the teachings simply represent the finger pointing to the moon, they are not the moon itself. So the religion of Buddhism which developed from the Teachings is merely a convenient vessel to help us reach our real destination. It is not the Ultimate Reality. Since therefore everything, including religion is mind-made and lacking in any ultimate reality there is no need to argue about the superiority of one's beliefs over that of another's.

UNITE TOGETHER

If we, the religionists of today cannot get together to work in harmony without discrimination or hostility towards one another, the peace that we talk of would only remain as a dream.
As sincere and true co-religionists, let us join hands to consolidate our efforts to eradicate all that is controversial and discriminatory in our teachings and do our utmost to introduce spiritual values which are common in our respective religions for the good and well-being of all mankind, irrespective of race or creed. We should all remember that religion exists for the good of mankind and that it should not be misused fanatically in any way for personal gain or self-glorification.
Let all religionists unite to condemn religious militarism. Let them unite to stop all the brutality and manslaughter in the name of war.

-Let them unite to give freedom to man to find a religion according to his or her own conviction.
-Let them unite to give up religious monopoly. Let them unite not to use religion in the market place to convert others by adopting unethical or questionable methods.
-Let them unite to respect the other person's religious beliefs and practices as long as these beliefs and practices are harmless and do not mislead the public.
-Let them unite to wipe out the challenging attitude of unhealthy religious competition or without adopting any aggressive attitude. Let all religionists unite to eliminate the various vices and immoral practices that are common in our modern society.
-Let them also unite to introduce the moderate way of life amongst their followers and advise them not to go too extremes.

Dr. L.M. Joshi of Punjab University says: 'The unity among the religions of mankind, if and when achieved, will be one of the greatest blessings on this earth. Certainly we cannot bring about this unity by mystifying or misinterpreting their differences in origins and doctrines. We can perhaps contribute towards achieving harmony among the followers of different faiths by impartially and respectfully studying their doctrines, beliefs and practices.' Like the bee gathering honey from different flowers, without harming them, the wise one sees only the good in all religions and accepts the essence of the truth of the different teachings. For example:
(1) Buddhism says, 'Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.'
(2) Taoism says, 'Regard your neighbour's gain as your own gain, and your neighbour's loss as your own loss.'
(3) Christianity says,' All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.'
(4) Islam says, 'Do unto all men as you would they should do unto you, and reject for others what you would reject for yourself.'
(5) Hinduism says, 'Let no one do to others what he would not have done to himself.'
The founders of each religion had as their basic aim the unity of mankind - to foster harmony, goodwill and understanding among all the people of the world.
Following in their footsteps various religious leaders have also sought to develop this deep respect for the beliefs of other people. Unfortunately, however, certain followers of every religion, for their own selfish reasons and due to their intolerance and narrow-mindedness, have gone against the real essence of Religion and have created chaos, suspicion, discrimination and hostility.
Earlier on we noted that the Buddha's Enlightenment arose as a result of his discovering the Middle Path, which is the rejection of Eternalism and Nihilism, but finding a compromise between these two extremes.

However the Middle Path can be applied to every other aspect of living as well. Moderation and Contentment are seen as the bases of a happy life in this existence. The avoidance of extremes and the respect for other perspectives is applied in the everyday behavior of Buddhists all over the world. For example there are very few objections to participation in the rituals of other religions provided they are not harmful, as when it involves the killing of animals. Buddhists are quite free to go to Church, Temple or Mosque because in all these places the mind can become concentrated and free from evil thoughts. Buddhists are quite tolerant when it comes to mixed marriages, seeing them as a purely social function, invented by man to serve a mundane need. Marriage has nothing to do with one's spiritual development, so the marriage to a person of another faith is not seen as a transgression of any religious law.
In conclusion" we can say that the Buddhist attitude towards other religions is one of tolerance and respect. It arises from the Buddhist perception of the mundane nature of all human activity. The transcendence of these activities gives rise to spiritual development where religious differences lose their boundaries.

We earnestly hope that by realizing these facts mankind will one day unite as religious brothers to work f r the well-being of all. In the final analysis, let us remember that respect for the religion of another person springs from the confidence one has in the intrinsic strength of his or her own religion.