ROLE OF MALAYSIAN LAY BUDDHIST SOCIETIES AND ORGANIZATIONS:
In Malaysia, many lay Buddhist associations have been founded since the end of the Second World War as a result of an upsurge of interest in Buddhism. The Malaysian Buddhists of Chinese descent had been observing traditional Buddhist beliefs and practices according to the Mahayana traditions handed down by their forefathers. They harboured many misconceptions concerning Buddhism due to lack of opportunities to study the true teachings of Lord Buddha in the temples they went to for prayers and worshipping, hardly understanding what they did. They practised a large variety of rites and rituals in the name of Buddhism, little realising that many of them were merely traditional, cultural and customary practices that had been followed by their ancestors for thousands of years in China. Owing to these misconceptions and the blind practice of many rites and rituals devoid of religious significance, many Chinese Buddhists have lost faith in their own religion and have been converted into other religions. It is fortunate that a number of men of vision, belonging to various denominations, conscious of this situation prevailing among the Chinese Buddhists, saw the need of founding lay Buddhist associations with the main objective of propagating the sublime teachings of Lord Buddha among the Buddhist community who had been for a long time observing beliefs and practices which they thought were Buddhistic, owing to their ignorance of the religion. For this purpose, many well-educated Buddhist monks were recruited from Buddhist countries to fill positions of spiritual advisors to these lay associations. Soon, Sunday Dhamma schools were started to provide Buddhist education to the children of the Buddhists, which was not available to them in the normal academic schools they attended. Seminars on Buddhism, Dhamma study camps and Buddhist religious forums were organized to expose Buddhist youths and elders to the Buddha's noble teachings. Today, these lay associations are flourishing and have extended their activities to the field of social service such as founding religious schools, clinics, welfare centres and charity funds, scholarships, and so forth. In conformity with their tolerant beliefs and Buddhist emphasis on compassion, the beneficiaries of their social and welfare programmes come from followers of all religions. They also publish Buddhist periodicals in various languages such as English, Chinese, Japanese, Bahasa Malaysia and many of their publications are for free distribution to all who are interested in the religion.
Representatives of the various lay Buddhist associations have participated in International Buddhist activities organized by the World Fellowship of Buddhists and other International bodies, in which they have also played an active role, thus earning for themselves international recognition of their noble work. In the past, doctrinal differences and dissimilarities in the practice of rites and rituals had divided the different schools of Buddhism. This unhealthy division has been gradually narrowed down when efforts were initiated to celebrate Wesak Day jointly with lay associations and temples belonging to the different schools participating in all the programmes organized by the Joint Wesak Celebrations Committee. Local regional centres of the World Fellowship of Buddhists have also been instrumental in promoting unity and solidarity among the different Buddhist schools. The day is not far off when Malaysian Buddhists of all traditions realize that the survival of their religion depends greatly on their unity and solidarity by shedding all their prejudices and petty feelings of superiority of their own particular school. On the international level, members of the Mahasangha and the World Fellowship of Buddhists are making notable contributions towards this end. It is hoped that at local level in Malaysia, all who have the interests of our noble religion at heart will spare no efforts in bringing about greater unity and solidarity in the forseeable future.
The Buddhist propagation efforts of the lay associations have succeeded in dispelling many of the misconceptions held by members of the Buddhist community. Participation in inter-religious seminars and forums, as well as other programmes of a similar nature organized by government and private bodies have won the respect of the government and non-Buddhist communities, who have become more knowledgeable regarding the correct Buddhist teachings and practices. This has also helped to stem to a certain extent the conversion of Buddhists to other religions. Much more work remains to be done in order to achieve greater success in upgrading the understanding of Buddhist scriptures, true to the spirit of the Buddha's saying 'Sabba ddnam dhamma ddnam jindti.'
Tan Teik Beng - Beliefs and Practices Among Malaysian Chinese Buddhists
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