[Dr.K.SriDhammananda]WhyReligiousTolerance?

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[Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda]Why Religious Tolerance?


WHY RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE?
By Ven Dr K Sri Dhammananda
BUDDHIST TOLERANCE
This is a very important subject for us who live in any multi-racial and multi- religious country. As Buddhists, we must know how to regard other religions, how to accommodate them and what place we are going to give them in our religion.
First we must understand the various ways which the different co-religionists regard each other: we must understand how the various religious groups react to each other: some religious groups are indifferent to the teachings and the practices of other religious. Some maintain their religious affiliation and yet respect other religions and appreciate their teachings. There are those who do not have a religion and look down upon every religion, while there are still others who do not bother about any religion and completely ignore all religion: their excuse is that they have no time to think about religion or to practice religion since they are always engaged with their business and family affairs.
Buddhists belong to the religious group that accepts and appreciates the reasonable teachings of every religion. Buddhists can also tolerate the practices of other religious, cultural traditions and customs, although they may not necessarily wish to emulate them. In other words, Buddhists respect the other man’s views and appreciate other practices without harbouring any religious prejudices. This is called religious tolerance. And if there are certain Buddhists who feel they are unable to appreciate the ways of other religious practices, then the least they could do is to maintain their silence and refrain from any undue criticism: this attitude is very important for peaceful co-existence. This is called sympathetic understanding.
If we study certain incidents, practices, traditions and teachings of Buddhism, then we can understand the basis of our religion and our attitude towards the other religions. Others may say that Buddhists are very passive because of this policy of tolerance, but still, we maintain that this attitude is correct and can be appreciated by every thinking man. To practise a religion we must be honest, sincere, truthful and kind to others: we must avoid deceit and cruelty: and in our relation with others we must be broad-minded.
According to the Buddha, if we adopt aggressive and violent methods to solve our problems, we cannot find the real solution to overcome them. No doubt, we can suppress some troubles and temporarily win the battle as long as our enemies remain weak. But when our enemies get the chance, they will not keep quiet and will not forgive us. Therefore, if we act with violence, we can never find lasting peace. This is why the Buddha once said: “Hatred is never ended by hatred, but only by loving-kindness.” Buddha also said: “It is not that I quarrel with the world but the world quarrels with me. A teacher of truth never quarrels with others.
In Buddhism there is no such thing as righteous indignation or righteous anger: Buddhism never tried to justify war under any circumstances. There were no nervous irritability or emotion or anger in the Buddha’s mind just because some people did not pay attention to him.
The only harsh word that the Buddha ever used was “foolish man”, to point that certain beliefs were wrong.
We have ample evidence to prove that, for the last 2500 years, in the propagation of Buddhism, 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. We have introduced this religion all over the world as a goodwill message. We have introduced this religion without forcing people to embrace it; and we have not shed 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 attitude of a real religion must be to advise the people instead of ruling or intimidation.
DIFFERENT OPINIONS ON RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE
According to the Buddha, human beings are not cruel or wicked by nature, but they make many mistakes and act as cruel people because of their ignorance. Therefore, as wise people, it is our duty to show them the correct path instead of condemning them into eternal suffering or religious damnation.
Buddhist tolerance shown to other religions is reasonable. Buddhists do tolerate other religious practices, and yet at the same time they can express their views freely regarding those practices and beliefs without harbouring hatred or prejudices.
Pointing out the futility of certain religious beliefs and practices is one thing and religious intolerance is another thing. Some have taken the liberty of incorporating all sorts of superstitious beliefs in the name of Buddhism. Others take undue advantage of that tolerance of Buddhists to convert them into their faith.
According to the Buddha, real religious tolerance is not mere tolerance of other religious beliefs but the tolerance that we have to bear when others try to irritate us by condemning our religion. The Buddha advised his followers: "If you become angry when others condemn your religion you are no followers of Mine.” Perfect religious tolerance is practiced, but it does not mean that false doctrines are to be encouraged. Therefore, Buddhism is not a yes man’s religion.
Some religionists had a belief that religious tolerance can only be regarded as an unhealthy symptom, a sign of approaching dissolution. To them, religious tolerance could never be seen as a virtue, but only as a reprehensible weakness of faith or a disregard for the welfare of others. It was on this ground they tried their level best and in every possible way to convert others into their faith and condemned all those who did not agree to accept their faith.
In the Buddhist scriptures so much boundless love and kindness is mentioned and so much tolerance is preached: it is clear that in the scriptures there is no sanction for Buddhists to engage in any conflict with other religionists. Furthermore, no missionary or monk would ever think of preaching ill-will and hatred against so-called ‘unbelievers’.
At the same time, there are certain religious practices and customs that Buddhists have incorporated from other religions and have refined them in the course of its historical expansion.
THE BUDDHA AND OTHER RELIGIOUS TEACHERS
One day a well-known person approached the Buddha and told him that he would like to be one of his followers. The Buddha asked him the reason for changing his religion. The man replied, I heard that so many people are praising and appreciating the Buddha’s teachings and his religious way of life. So I also decided to follow the Buddha.”
Then the Buddha asked him, ”Have you ever heard my teachings? Do you know whether there is truth in my teachings? Do you know whether you can practice my way of life.”
The man replied, “Ven. Sir, this advice that you just gave me, is more than enough for me to understand the nature of your teaching.”
Soon he became a follower of the Buddha. Again he asked, “Is it permissible for me to continue giving alms to the priests of my former faith?”
The Buddha replied that there was no reason whatsoever for him to stop giving alms to any priests. The Buddha explained on many occasions that anyone could give alms to anybody in this world. Giving alms is a meritorious deed.
This story is a good example for us to understand the sort of method the Buddha adopted to introduce his religion and to understand how the Buddha treated the followers of other religions.
Yet when one religious group approaches another religious group to ask for donations towards their religious, social and cultural activities, the reply is usually “Sorry, we cannot help you; it is against our religion. We are forbidden to give donations to other religions.” Buddhists do not support this kind of attitude.
After receiving certain religious indoctrinations, some people become very allergic to other religions. Their allergy takes various forms: it makes them afraid to step into a place of worship that belongs to other religions; it makes them deaf when they hear the teachings of other religions; it makes other religious books ‘untouchable’ for them.
Here is a most important point: the Buddha has advised his followers to accept and to respect the truth wherever they find it. This means that we need not ignore the reasonable teachings of other religions. This clearly shows that the Buddha never had any jealous attitude to other religions, nor did he try to monopolise religious truth. He wanted to point out only one thing: the Truth. His whole teaching is based on the Four Noble Truths.
The Buddha stressed that no one religious teacher can reveal all the important manifestations of the truth for mankind. Most of the world’s religious teachers have revealed certain aspects of the truth according to the circumstances that prevailed at that time. The Buddha also explained that during his life time, he pointed out only the most important aspects of religion and of the truth; he designed his teachings to help man to get rid of his sufferings or unsatisfactoriness. This is why his teaching is known more as a righteous way of life rather than a religion or a philosophy.
But we are the people who organized his teachings as a religion by incorporating various religious rites, rituals, traditions and customs. Of course, these practices are important to introduce and to preserve religion amongst the masses. But for a man seeking to be good or to be religious, such ritualistic practices are not really important.
As Buddhists we can respect and honour the founders and teachers of other religions. All religious teachers have dedicated their lives for the sake of human welfare. They deserve respect and honour, for they also have done good service to mankind. If we like, we also can keep pictures or symbols of these religious teachers in our homes; our religion never objects to that. Our religion advises us to honour those who are worthy of honour. But very unfortunately others do not wish to adopt this policy and sometimes they even condemn an enlightened, most compassionate and liberal-minded religious teacher like the Buddha as a “devil”. This kind of unfriendly and uncultured attitude to other religions cannot be found among the followers of the Buddha. The Buddha once said: “As an elephant on the battle-field endures the arrows shot from a bow, even so, Ananda, shall I endure abusive speech; most people are, indeed, ill natured.”
Buddhists can respect every religious teacher and also can accept their reasonable teachings. Then the question arises: how are we going to accommodate these teachers in our religion? What place are we going to give them? Are we going to give them the same place that we have given to the Buddha? It is up to the public to have an unbiased judgement and decision by studying and comparing the teachings of all those religious teachers and their attitudes towards certain problems regarding our life, our salvation and the world. After making such comparisons, then we can decide whether all the religious teachers are equal or otherwise. Certainly there are different opinions and interpretations as well as similarities in all the religious teachers and their teachings.
When we compare the Buddha to the other religious teachers, we should not forget that the Buddha had not committed himself on certain issues such as the origin of this world and the origin of life. Many great thinkers, philosophers and scientists appreciate this attitude of the Buddha.
There are three opinions regarding the origin of this world. Materialistic and scientific concept is that this world came into existence due to combination of certain elements according to the nature of this universe and this will go on changing according to the same natural law. This is the first opinion.
The second opinion is that it is impossible to find out either the beginning or the end of this world. It is incomprehensible to our human mind which is covered by the dark cloud of ignorance, and we should not bother about it.
The third opinion is that this world was created by a powerful god and without god it is impossible for this world to come into existence in this manner. Again, amongst those who believe that the world was created by the god, there are two opinions. One group says god has provided the necessary elements to create the world and after that left the whole responsibility in the hand of nature without any interference from him.
The other belief is that god created the world according to his own wish and he is responsible for everything in this world and it moves according to his wish. Man’s duty is to obey him, pray to him and live according to the laws imposed by him.
H.G. Wells a well known historian, in his Short World History, says, “You see clearly a man, simple, devout, lonely, battling for light – a vivid human personality, not a myth. Beneath a mass of miraculous fable I feel that there also was a man. He too, gave a message to mankind universal in its character. Many of our best modern ideas are in closest harmony with it. All the miseries and discontents of life are due, he taught, to selfishness. Selfishness takes three forms – one, the desire to satisfy the senses; second is craving for immortality; and the third is the desire for prosperity and worldliness.
Before a man can become serene he must cease to live for his senses or himself. Then he merges into a greater being.
Buddha, in different languages called men to self-forgetfulness five hundred years before Christ. In some ways he was nearer to us and our needs.
Buddha was more lucid upon our individual importance in service than Christ and less ambiguous upon the question of personal immortality.
Buddhism is strong enough to face any challenge pertaining to religion in a peaceful manner, and answerable to any critical modern scientific questions which shake many religious faiths.
THE BASIC TEACHING OF THE BUDDHA REFLECTS HIS ENLIGHTENED NATURE
The real nature of the Buddha’s enlightenment is reflected in the three characteristics: anicca, dukkha, and anatta. Anicca is the impermanency of everything in this universe. Dukkha is the unsatisfactoriness of everything pertaining to our life. Anatta is the impersonality of the life.
The three basic principles of the Buddha’s teachings are: sila, samadhi, panna. Sila is the development of morality. Samadhi is concentration or introspection of the mind in order to understand the nature of the mind and how to control it and how to develop it and how to make use of it. Panna is wisdom or enlightenment: the realization of the real nature of the life and the universe. The whole teaching of the Buddha is based on these three pillars.
The Buddha attained his enlightenment only after developing and using superhuman effort. He attained his enlightenment not by praying, sacrificing or making offerings to any god, not by performing various rites and rituals, not by reciting any mantram, and not by any aid from external powers. He attained enlightenment only after he could manage to develop himself through self- discipline, self-restraint, self-sacrifice abstaining from all kinds of evils and practicing morality, keeping away from worldly pleasures, sacrificing his own comfort for the sake of others, spiritual development, by purifying his heart and mind and by realizing the real nature of life and the world. Thus very few can understand the real nature of the Buddha, and the teaching introduced by him. Buddhism is saturated with the spirit of free inquiry and tolerance. It is the teaching of the open mind and the sympathetic heart which lights and warms the whole universe with its rays of wisdom and compassion.
Some special characteristics of Buddhism are its rationality, efficacy, non- aggressiveness, harmlessness and universality.
Another special feature in his teaching is the law of cause and effect or the natural law that describes the existing universal cosmic order. This law of cause and effect and the doctrine of karma, explain the secret of the inequality or differences amongst mankind.
Twelve links of the cycle of birth and death (dependence upon origination) were also realized by the Buddha through his enlightenment.
To understand the real nature of the Buddha’s enlightenment, we must also consider his perfection or his supreme enlightenment; we must consider the methods that he adopted to train wicked, cruel and dangerous persons with his great compassion; we must consider the liberal way of his teachings without commanding anyone to follow him or to believe in him; we must consider the freedom and due credit that the Buddha gave to man’s intelligence and his method of keeping quiet without making some statements regarding certain worldly and metaphysical issues which have no morals or religious value for spiritual development or which are beyond the understanding capacity of the ordinary man; we must consider the Buddha’s way of showing peace which is not the peace of the grave but of the living; the peace that we hope for by practicing a religion, must be experienced whilst we are here in this world. The Buddha taught a ‘let us live happily and let others also live happily’, religion; he presented a ‘do-it-yourself’ religion.
Before the Buddha’s coming, the gate to heaven or eternal salvation was open only to followers of one particular religion and the passport to heaven was available from priests of one particular caste. But the Buddha pointed out that the gate is open to the followers of any religion who lead a righteous way of life. According to the Buddha, good conduct is the only passport to heaven.
Mr. Nehru says: “Buddhism influenced Indian life in a hundred ways, as it was bound to, for it must be remembered that it was a living, dynamic, and wide- spread religion in India for over a thousand years. Even in the long years of its decline in India, and when later it practically ceased to count as a separate religion here, much of it remained as a part of the Hindu faith and in national ways of life and thought. Even though the religion as such was ultimately rejected by the people, the ineffaceable imprint of it remained and powerfully influenced the development of the race. The permanent effect had little to do with dogma or philosophic theory or religious belief. It was the ethical and social and practical idealism of Buddha and his religion that influenced our people and left their imperishable marks upon them.”
According to Dr. L.M. Joshi: “In spite of the ravages of time and destruction by Indian and foreign fanatics, Buddhism is still speaking vividly and majestically, through its thousands of inscriptions, about one thousand rock-cut sanctuaries and monasteries, thousands of ruined stupas and monastic establishments and an incalculable number of images, sculptures, paintings and emblems, that prevailed universally among the classes and masses of India for over fifteen centuries after the age of the Buddha.”
THE VALIDITY OF RELIGION
We must not judge or measure the validity of a religion or condemn a religion simply by observing what people practise in the name of the religion. An uneducated man might be practicing certain meaningless traditions while thinking that he is following a real religious practice. To understand the real nature of a religion, we have to study the original teachings of the founder of that religion.
Simply by preaching and praising one particular religion and by condemning another religion can we prove that the followers of that particular religion are more sincere, more honest, more kind and more religious than the others?
Perhaps you might have heard certain religionists who have been preaching their religion as the only way to final salvation and that the other religions are wrong. Today some of them have changed their way of preaching: they are slowly learning to recognize the good in other religions and to respect them.
This kind of religious tolerance has been adopted very recently by some religionists. However, in Buddhism, this tradition of religious tolerance had been introduced from the very beginning.
We always say that the teachings of our religion are better, but we must find out whether we really practise those teachings, which we talk about.
According to our respective religions, we have different beliefs regarding our life and the here-after. But we have not realized that we are all common in every aspect of our life. We are common in our birth, in our sickness, in our worries and miseries, in our calamities and misunderstandings, in our jealousy, hatred and greed; we are common in our old age, in our unsatisfactoriness of life and finally, we are common in death.
When we boast about our religion, can we proof that the followers of any particular religion are free from all those unfortunate human problems? It is true that we have all sorts of promises after our death. But we must prove the reality of our particular religion through living examples like experiencing good results while we are alive. We have to show that the followers of our religion are more fortunate and more cultured than the others through our way of life. Those who profess religions and tell others that their religions are far superior must substantiate by setting good examples to the other religionists or to those who have no religion through their great humane qualities and wisdom.
It is advisable to give up the superiority complex which some religionists have in their mind. Naturally, there are good and bad people amongst the followers of every religion. At the same time, there are some good people amongst those who have no religion at all. Can we prove the validity of a religion only by talking about it without following real religious principles?
The way that we treat the followers of other religions is more than enough to understand the nature of our religion and to understand whether we practise our religion or not. If we really practise our religions then religious, national or political intolerance and hatred are incomprehensible.
People who fight and shed blood in the name of religion, do not serve their religion. They fight for their own personal gain or power. Those who truly practise a religion have no grounds to fight. A real religion never encourages any form of violence. Either ordinary dust or gold dust, or both can cause trouble in the eyes. In the same way whether people declare war in the name of religion or for any other reason both bring about miseries amongst the people.
If Buddhists practise real “loving-kindness” as taught by the Buddha, if Muslims follow real “brotherhood” as taught in their religion, if Christians practise the teaching of “love thy neighbour” and if Hindus practise “oneness” of mankind, there would be no reason to have all sorts of clashes, calamities, disburbances, and wars in this world.
We should not take religion as a subject just to talk about or argue with others, or as a means to organize certain religious functions and ceremonies, to celebrate occasions and to glorify ourselves. Instead, we must try to overcome our human weakness and bad habits. To do this, we must follow the fundamental principles of our respective religion.
Another way to determine the validity of religion is by reasoning and experience. Swami Vivekananda says in his public lectures: “Experience is the only source of knowledge. The same methods of investigation which we apply to the sciences and to exterior knowledge should be applied to religion. If a religion is destroyed by such investigation and found it was nothing but a useless and unworthy superstition; the sooner it disappeared the better. Why religions should claim that they are not bound to abide by the standpoint of reason no one knows….. For it is better that mankind should become atheist by following reason than blindly believe in two hundred million gods on the authority of anybody….. Perhaps there are prophets, who have passed the limits of sense and obtained a glimpse of the beyond. We shall believe it only when we can do the same ourselves; not before. It is said that reason is not strong enough, that often it makes mistakes. If reason is weak why should a body of priests be considered any better guides? "I will abide by my reason,” continues Vivekananda, “because with all its weakness there is some chance of my getting at truth through it… We should therefore follow reasons, and also sympathise with those who do not come to any sort of belief, following reason.”
The validity of a religion is not necessarily established by occultism and mysticism. Swami Vivekananda also says: “Occultism and mysticism – these creepy things there may be great truths in them, but they have nearly destroyed us…and here is the test of truth – anything that makes you weak physically, intellectually and spiritually, reject as poison, there is no life in it, it cannot be true. Truth is strengthening. Truth is purity, truth is all-knowledge… These mysticisms, in spite of some grains of truth in them, are generally weakening. And beware of superstition. I would rather see everyone of you rank atheists than superstitious fools, for the atheist is alive, and you can make something of him. But if superstition enters, the brain is gone, the brain is softening, degradation has seized upon the life… Mystery-mongering and superstition are always signs of weakness.”
When we accept a belief blindly, we create imaginations and projections to defend that belief; we hold such a belief firmly in our mind and try to justify that our views are correct although others come and give ample reasons that we are holding wrong views. We must not accept a religion on blind faith in its beliefs and scriptures.
We cannot show the progress of a religion simply by erecting big buildings as places of worship or by making huge images or through various functions and ceremonies or organizing some colourful and attractive religious activities to bring more and more people into religion but we can show progress if we behave as harmless people, lead a decent life and convince others through our kindness, sincerity and understanding.
RATIONAL METHOD TO INTRODUCE A RELIGION
It is difficult to introduce a religion without making use of these three main