BMP - B and other religions Flashcards
Buddhism and other religions overview
- key ideas of some religions hold back UR eg belief in a soul
- may see other religions as upaya for understanding key concepts
- parable of the raft: do not be attached to the dharma –> TNH
- not interested in conversion –> SB
- ehipassiko: come and see
- monk in tibet set himself on fire in protest against anex of tibet
- ‘buddhism has always been remarkably tolerant’ Jayatillake
Dalai Lama and other religions
- need to respect freedom of religion –> needed for peace, progress and a reduction of suffering
- inclusivist and pluralistic
- fundamental princples that bind humans together eg compassion and jesus compared with dalai lamas reincarnation due to compassion
- can learn from other religions; biased mind cannot access ultimate reality
‘inherent nature of all human beings to yearn for freedom, equality and dignity’
‘oneness of humanity’
Pali canon and other religions
- ‘anyone who prevents another person from giving alms causes obstruction and impediment to three people –> obstructs the donor from doing a meritorious deed, he obstructs the recipient from getting the gift…undermines and harms his own character’
- B accused of saying only Buddhists should be given merit
- responds and says that merit making includes all people
best kinds of faith
- ‘those who have faith in the buddha have faith is all that is best’
- ‘the noble eightfold path is reckoned the best of hem all’
- ‘those who have faith in the dharma of dispassion have faith in the best’
- ‘The sangha of the tathagata’s disciples is reckoned the best’
Upalis conversion
- chief followers in Jainism
- had debate with buddha and so impressed he asked to become his follower
- ‘go home and reconsider it carefully before you ask me again’ –> reluctance as led by reason not by emotion
- Buddha agreed but Upali had to ‘continue to give alms to jain monks’
- must keep relationship with jainism and not turn back on community
Mahayanan sutras and attitudes to other religions
Lotus Sutra
- ‘he should not consort with heretics, brahmins, jains and others’
- ‘ A bodhisattva should teach such people the dharma…but expect nothing’
Bodhicaryavatara
- ‘even if someone were to insult or destroy the dhamma…it would still not be appropriate to get angry with them, for how could the three jewels ever be harmed’
- ‘I can accomplish the greatest purpose of all - to free all living beings from their suffering’
- treat all religions with compassion
modern buddhism and other religions
Walpola Rahula
- ‘spirit of tolerance and understanding has been from the beginning one of the most cherished ideals of buddhist culture and civilisation’
- ‘it spread peacefully all over the continent of asia’
- ‘it is not the monopoly of anybody’
- ‘sectarian labels are a hindrance to the independent understanding of truth’
Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
- ‘those who have penetrated into the essential nature of religion will regard all religions as being the same’
- ‘those who have penetrated to the highest understanding of the dharma will feel that the thing called religion doesnt exist after all’
‘ there is no buddhism, there is no christianity there is no Islam’
Buddhism’s response to the issue of violent conflict between different religious communities
- Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar –> monks taking arms
- interfaith network –> dialogues between religions
Buddhist repsonses to issue of conflicting truth claims
- Nicheren BL: exclusivist, only one ultimate truth
- ashoka: no tradition placed over another
Buddhist responses to the issue of the disagreement about the acceptability of certain religious practices
- B and killing animals in ritual eg Judaism and Islam versus ahimsa
India’s historical context before ashoka
- vedas
- caste system –> divine justification for system
- dharma: duty in hinduism
- samsara, moksha, karma
- Buddhism in 5 BCE
background on ashoka
- maurayan dynasty
- converted due to seeing devastation in army –> ahimsa
- ruled as emperor using B principles, renunciated violence, built stupas and pillars
- gave rules on how to live equally, including on how to treat other religions
Ashoka on other religions
- ‘there should be growth in the essentials of all religions
- ‘the thought ‘let me glorify my own religion’ only harms his religion’
- ‘should be well learned in the good doctrines of other religions’ –> education and acceptance
- ‘not praising one’s own religion or condemning the religion of others without good cause’
- ‘and the fruit of this is that one’s own religion grows and the dhamma is illuminated also’
- link to thich nhat hanh’s pluralism and engaged buddhism
- he was not partisan towards his own religion
- believes that there is good within all religions and that each religious person should find this in other religions
Nicheren background
- Nicheren -> sun lotus; japan land of the rising sun
- poor background and became monk after seeing devestation in his own village
- believed that japan could become centre of B learning
key principles
- lotus sutra: only text with importance
- believed himself to be the reincarnation of the bodhi present –> ava
- believes japan will become the leading buddhist nation, nationalist
- felt it had a sacred destiny as the ‘ordination platform for the world’
- buddhist japan would lead the world into salvation
key practices
- daimoku: praise of the lotus sutra
- ‘Namu Myoho renge kyo’–> chanting this is main part of practice
- sound benefits consciousness –> nichiren formed the japanese characters of these words into a mandala
- declaration of allegiance to the scripture
- tuning into the profound truth which underlines the universe
Nicheren B and other reliigion
- denounced all other buddhist sects –> ‘exclusivist’ in extreme
- only accepts the M lotus sutra
- nichiren persecuted for this –> exiled to remote island and almost put to death
2 types of nicheren B
- nichiren shosho: exclusivist –> if LS is so life changing and powerful, no evidence to accept anything else
- Soka Gakai: inclusivist –> international and modern
