Today is Nikini Full Moon Poya day:

Buddhism encourages mutual respect for all religions

By Lionel Wijesiri

Buddhism is respected throughout the world as a religion which advises people to ‘live and let live’. Buddhists do not regard the existence of other religions as a hindrance to worldly progress and peace.

Instead of converting the followers of other religions into their religion, Buddhists encourage others to practise their own religions, provided they promote the well-being of all living beings.

Ample evidence proves that, for the past 2,500 years, Buddhists have never ill-treated or used violence against the followers of other religions. The sources of evidence include the original teachings of the Buddha, the actual Buddhist practices and traditions and world history. Buddhism was introduced all over the world as a goodwill message.

It was without forcing people to embrace it; and without shedding even a drop of blood - either human or animal - in the name of Buddhism. This is a record in world history - a record which is appreciated by every cultured man anywhere in the world, irrespective of his religious denomination or belief.

The Buddha’s message was an invitation to all to join the fold of universal brotherhood to live and work in harmony for the welfare and happiness of mankind. He had no chosen people, and he did not regard himself as a chosen one either.

Examples

The Buddha was impartial even regarding his own teachings. Advising his followers to regard the Teachings as a raft which must be used merely to cross the river, he urged them to use their own minds and intelligence to discern the truth.

On one occasion, a group of young people called the Kalamas approached him and complained that they were confused because each teacher they went to claimed that he alone was privy to the truth while everyone else was a charlatan or a liar.

They asked the Buddha to teach them how to recognise a true religion.

His reply has often been described by impartial thinkers as the Charter of Religious Freedom,

Come, Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumour; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another’s seeming ability; nor upon the consideration, ‘The monk is our teacher.’ Kalamas, when you yourselves know: ‘These things are bad; these things are blameable; these things are censured by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill,’ abandon them.

Once, there was a millionaire, called Upali. He was one of the best pupils of another religious teacher, Nigantha Nathaputta, whose teaching differed from that of the Buddha. He once visited the Buddha to argue with him and try to convert him. But after talking to the Buddha, he was so impressed that he decided to become a follower of the Buddha. The suttas record the Buddha’s reply and Upali’s reaction as follows: “Upali, you are a famous person.

Be sure that you are not changing your religion just because you are pleased with me or that you are under the influence of your emotions. Thoroughly investigate my teaching with an open mind before you decide to become my follower.”

These well-known passages from the Pali Canon make perfectly clear the nature of the principle by which the Buddha’s attitude towards contemporary teachings was governed. He was prepared neither to accept nor to reject them absolutely.

With complete intellectual detachment and freedom from preconception, the Buddha surveyed them all from the standpoint of Enlightenment - just as one who has ascended a mountain height can look back and see clearly that, of the numerous paths winding up from the valley below, some come to an end at the edge of a precipice or a foaming torrent, while others lead safely to the summit - and followed the Middle Path of accepting as part of his own teaching whatever was conducive to the attainment of the limitless heights of Liberation, and rejecting as false and wrong whatever hindered, or retarded, or even merely did not help, in the process of spiritual ascent.

Tolerance

The Buddha took a tolerant attitude towards all other religions, but he himself had no intention of founding an orthodox religion. His experience of Enlightenment was the culmination of an intensely long period of self-training and mind purification.

He understood the futility of extreme austerity and the worthlessness of extreme self-gratification. Rejecting these two extremes he discovered the Truth of the Middle Way. He learnt that the body must be cared for so that the mind will have the correct conditions for sustained and concentrated thought.

How other religions fared when it became the state religion is well illustrated by the reign of King Asoka. While a devout Buddhist himself, Asoka wrote this advice to his subjects: “The king honours both the ascetics and lay followers of all religions and he gives them gifts. But the King does not value gifts and honours as much as he values this - that there should be growth in the essentials of all religions.

This can be done in different ways but all of them have as their root, restraint in speech that is not praising one’s own religion or condemning the religion of others without good cause. And if there is cause for criticism it should be done in a mild way. But it is better to honour other religions for this reason - by doing so one’s own religion benefits and so do the other religions.

Therefore, contact between religions is good. One should listen to and respect the doctrines professed by others. The king desires that all should be well-learned in the good doctrines of other religions”. Despite being written in 256BC these words have a remarkably modern ring to them.

Understanding

Buddhist tolerance springs from the recognition that the tendencies and spiritual needs of human beings are too vastly diverse to be encompassed by any single teaching, and thus these needs will naturally find expression in a wide variety of religious forms.

For Buddhism, acceptance of the idea of the endless round of rebirths implies that it would be utterly unrealistic to expect more than a small number of people to be drawn towards a spiritual path aimed at final enlightenment.

The overwhelming majority will aim at securing a favourable mode of existence within the round, even while misconceiving this to be the ultimate goal of the religious quest.

To the extent that a religion proposes sound ethical principles and can promote to some degree the development of wholesome qualities such as love, generosity, detachment and compassion, it will merit in this respect the commendation of Buddhists.

While Buddhists will disagree with the belief structures of other religions to the extent that they deviate from the Buddha’s Dhamma, they will respect them to the extent that they enjoin virtues and standards of conduct that promote spiritual development and the harmonious integration of human beings with each other and with the society.