Buddhist Studies in AEC

Transcription

1 1 P a g e International Conference for Cooperation among Buddhists in ASEAN Economic Community Buddhist Studies in AEC on 11 July 2014 held by The World Buddhist University 616 Benjasiri Park, Sukhumvit 24, Bangkok 10110, Thailand. Tel. (66-2) Fax (66-2) wbucentre@gmail.com Website:

2 2 P a g e Buddhism for the global benefits and its challenges in modern times PB Tan (presenter) MA in Buddhist Studies (IBC, Thailand) Synopsis The ultimate objective of Buddhism is the conquest of the afflictions of existence (dukkha) to attain perfect happiness in life, by following the noble path of the Four Noble Truths. The Buddha attributed a large part of the human suffering to the psychological roots of wickedness (akusalamula) in terms of greed (lobha), hatred (dosa) and delusion (moha). It is the eradication of these roots of unwholesome motivation that is sought as the goal of the Buddhist way of liberation in life (nibbāna). It is in light of this selfless universal goal of Buddhism that this paper attempts to explore the relevance and implications of Buddhist values as a solution to current issues of world conflicts, worsening moral decadency, philosophy way of life, the increasing poverty-induced crimes and violence in undeveloped countries, and its alleviation by considering viable alternatives. This paper also suggest recommendation of changes that may be necessarily needed within the Buddhist community, in attempt to reinforce unity as well as the necessity of adapting Buddhism to the needs of the modern societies particularly when Buddhism has just begun vigorously to make in-roads to the western civilizations in the very recent decades. Buddhism has transformed in scope and contents throughout the last two millennia through the changing needs of civilizations, and unless Buddhists can adapt to today s complex situations through intelligent changes, the tenacity of lineage attachment and retentive stubbornness will not only fail to benefit more people but such steadfast refusal and folly may also precipitate its fate of eventual fall. Table of contents Introduction Applying the Buddhist values in modern terms Unity as a foremost premise in Transcendental Buddhism The roles of Buddhists adapting to societal changes Buddhism as a fortress against war and poverty Would Buddhism benefit more people if it is not presented as a religion? Conclusion

3 3 P a g e Introduction It is a common scene happened in today s Buddhism particularly in places where Buddhism have been used for practising as a religion which centres largely on ceremonial prayers and rituals, revealing the fact that Buddhism is increasingly losing its appeal to the younger generations. It is not uncommon in many of the Buddhist temples in South-East Asia that we so often could only see old folk that turned out except at some special events. In an attempt to examine where Buddhism stands in this rapidly changing world, the beginning of this paper sets the pace of the need for possible changes from the Buddhist point of view, following our much sought-after approach, attitudes, and adaptation to today s changing situations. The later part embraces the significance of unification within the Buddhist community, with a non-sectarian orientation and an understanding of a common ground for regular inter-faith dialogues, and collaborative efforts across ethnic and national boundaries for the benefits of humanity. It also touches on the additional skillsets required, scope of the voluntary service, level of quality, readiness and commitment, and also suggests service performance assessment of the members of the Sangha, in a concerted effort to redress against war and poverty-related problems, with a final aim for universal peace and harmony. Finally, from a global perspective, this paper continues at length to suggest that Buddhism is better to be viewed as a philosophical way of life which would only benefits more people in the different countries than to have Buddhism representing itself as a religion. Buddhism should largely takes on the advantage of the technological advances in internet and multimedia, most importantly without being seen as conceptually ethnic-based, and avoids a rigid tenacity for adhering with sectarian Buddhist practice. If in some instances, we have to go beyond our own lineage or even relinquish Buddhist dhamma so as another person can be liberated from his sufferings through our help with other preferred methods, we should conceive it as carrying out our act of ultimate dhamma of selflessness, which is fundamentally underlying in all Buddhist scriptures. Applying the Buddhist values in modern terms There are many instances of what the Buddha said in the Pali canonical text such as the Dhammapada and the Jataka which emphasize on factors underlying the importance of social harmony and universal peace. Is the teachings of the Buddhism for the ultimate social wellbeing and universal harmony too idealistic according to what other critics have asserted? Are the Buddha s admonitions that were addressed more than 2500 years ago is still applicable to the very sophisticated livelihood and complex situations that we have today? Certainly Buddhism in its humanistic approach is more applicable and needed in today s world of widespread unrestrained, unethical moral decay of the individuals, who can resort to deceitful and unscrupulous means at all costs in order to achieve what they desire. As we have understood, Buddhism didn t disappear with the fall of the Indian Buddhism from its motherland, but it has transmitted through thousands of past generations to many civilizations, and today has already stemmed its firm root in many western societies. Increasing numbers of people who have come into contact with Buddhism and its teachings, begin to understand that men are not created to quest after wealth and enjoy pleasures

4 4 P a g e in one s entire life, and that any beginning of a glorious moment or fortunes will sooner or later follow with its woeful and sad ending. The Buddha has thought us the notion of existence - impermanence (Anicca), unsatisfactoriness (Dukkha) and non-self (Anatta) - that all events occurred in our everyday life are simply illusive and temporary because its existence or result is dependent on other contrived factors and the conducive forces of the mother nature. Regardless of any race, living things or non-living things alike, the world exists in harmony only when the inter-relatedness and reciprocality of everything is recognized and respected. It is on this principle that almost all the Buddhist suttas directly or impliedly accentuate the precept of Buddhism that never would condone any fraudulent means to achieve a purpose, with disregard for humanism and social-harmony but which was designed only for individual gain or having recourse to killing of innocent lives in the name of religion. In many poorer parts of the world today where diseases, poverty and atrocities are prevalent, the Buddhist values teaching and its relevance that offer fundamental solutions is needed now more than ever. An important view that the Buddha had presented is that men s craving and working hard for ourselves should remains as secondary, but the care for the safety and well-being of all humanity, materially and spiritually, should always take precedence over the concerns about individual rights and personal priorities in life. That s the Buddha s view in order for mankind of the diverging cultural differences to be able to co-exist with each other harmoniously and peacefully, and that every individual has a challenging role to play. Buddhism s model for inter-social harmony and universal world peace can be realized but Buddhists all over the world must first begin to explore, study, accept and respect the equal rights of all the other religions ( comparative Buddhism ), as much as the need for discontinuing from criticizing on the diverging views within the different denominations of the Buddhist traditions, albeit facing deflected views of the heterodox Buddhists and religionists. Criticism by nature itself, is provocative and aggravating regardless of whatsoever intending reason. Every Buddhist has a duty and responsibility to educate themselves comprehensively on at least the core teachings of the Buddha and be well-versed to explain to others the Buddhist values and their benefits in modern terms or in the ordinary vernacular languages of the generally less-educated people. By doing this, the spirit of practicing Buddhism will gradually begin to influence members of the family, friends and eventually pervade to the communities, to the national level and across the world as a whole. Only through creating greater awareness of the Buddha s teachings and educating everybody about the benefits of practicing Buddhist values, or in a sense how Buddhist values can supplement and strengthen the spiritual cultivation of the other religion practitioners, can we then be said of adding values in our roles as a Buddhist. Most importantly, Buddhists must refrain from distinguishing Buddhism as superior to the other religions, and thereby to set good example of ourselves to make the principles of Buddha s teaching as the ultimate aim for global peace, to be universally accepted. It was a promising sign to see many of the Buddhists-Catholics and Buddhists-Christians dialogues that have taken place in recent times in North America and in Asia, focusing on complementarity of each other s strength, with a common objective for social harmony and global peace. We must not forget that every major religions that have come into place has its own reasons and justification, and are the consequences of transforming through tens of centuries

5 5 P a g e of changes, based upon the economical, political and cultural needs of civilizations. Buddhism similarly has no exception as we have seen in the different traditions and schools of Buddhist teachings that were formed as the outspread of Indian Buddhism attempted to adapt to the varying needs of different people and cultures over the course of history. The Buddha has never thought us that Buddhism is unique such that elements of the Buddhist values could not be found in other religion and practices. In so long as other religious practices that contain aspects of the Buddhist values such as the Four Noble Truths 1 (ill-being or duhkha, its cause, its end, and its cure), the Buddha in fact shared the same view that we must recognize the worth of those religions which in one way or another, shall conduce to the purifying of minds for both material and spiritual well-being of individuals. The ten Buddhist Perfections or Pāramitā 2 form a strong basis where a Buddhist practices earnestly and diligently in his life to attain perfection of the human virtues, integrating Buddhist teachings with all aspects of the mundane daily life to maintain a balanced spiritual life. It is through these virtues that Buddhists learn to put the concerns and needs of the others before our own. Unity as a foremost premise in Transcendental Buddhism Dissension within the Buddhist communities ever since the First Council following the passing away of the Buddha, have seen the formation of various lineages and traditions of Buddhism, particularly within the Chinese Mahayana and Tibetan Buddhism. These traditions have different denominations with different principles and diverging views in some aspects of the Buddhist teaching, and together with the renaissance of heretics in the pretext of Buddhism in various different forms, all these combined impact to a great extent, are continuing to undermine the unity and prosperity of Buddhism seemingly without any foreseeable end. According to the 33 inscriptions being found on the Pillars of Ashoka, Buddhists in India had not resort to retaliatory violence during the time of the outside aggressors invading India. In fact we have never seen any oppression throughout the history of Buddhism as the teachings of Buddha espouses only loving kindness to all beings and embraces universal peace. The inharmoniousness and stubborn disunity amongst the different Buddhist factions will only proliferate its subversive effect over such credibility that the world has seen of Buddhism during the Ashoka s reign. 3 Buddhists, regardless of any tradition, should stop engage in criticising one another, however diverse their disagreements may be. If Buddhists of different schools continue to be divided with their lineage and dogmatic differences, such not being a sagacious approach, it is 1 In Dhammacakka, the 1st discourse of the Buddha, the middle way (majjhimá paþipadá) was referred to as The Eight-Fold Path by the Master Buddha. The Eight-Fold Path is the fourth of the Four Noble Truths : Right Understanding (Samma-Ditthi), Right Thoughts (Samma-Sankappa), Right Speech (Samma-Vaca), Right Action (Samma-Kammanta), Right Livelihood (Samma-Ajiva), Right Effort (Samma-Vayama), Right Mindfulness (Samma-Sati), Right Concentration (Samma-Samadhi). 2 The ten Buddhist Perfections or Pāramitā dana (generosity), sila (precept), nekkhamma (renunciation), panna (wisdom), khanti (patience), viriya (industriousness), sacca (truthfulness), adhitthana (determination), metta (loving kindness and compassion) and upekkha (equanimity). 3 changed from Chanda (cruel) Asoka to Dhamma (righteous) Asoka because he had the wisdom to walk the path shown by the Buddha. Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda : Buddhism for the Future, p.29.

6 6 P a g e also ethically indefensible and inconvincible in any efforts towards achieving global harmony and peace. Not to forget that Buddhists themselves have yet to find better ways to collaborate and co-exist with the other religions. It is time for Buddhists to dispense with the sectarian way of expounding Buddhist teaching that is so commonly replete with instances of promoting their own long-established conventional practices as being superior to the others, albeit without having openly indicating as so, and should instead replace it with one that is not in every bit constrained by dogmatic or traditional prejudice. I would think that for Buddhism to become widely and distinctively acceptable, it is logical for Buddhists to also treat other religious faiths, heretics and atheists with due respect. They existed because of their own reasons and needs of the specific ethnic groups. Members of Sangha and laities in their public discourse, in written articles and books, and even in internet blogs and online discussion forums, should endeavour to tread lightly over those sensitive issues where their views will otherwise stand to only promote disunity in efforts of propagating Buddhism. We have sometimes forgotten that there is only a single path towards salvation (nibbāna), that all the Buddhist teachings, practices and rituals, however variable they may be, are originated from a single source of the enlightened Buddha. The common oversight due to misconstrual and misapprehension of the scriptures and the underlying intention of the Buddha s teachings, which is to perfect our ethical behaviour, purifying of minds, and to put the suffering and interests of all humanity before ours, such inadvertency gravely purports rudimentarily as being one of the major weaknesses that stubbornly impedes the altruistic objective of the Buddhist missionary efforts. Regardless of the varying sectarian views and practices of the different schools which are created and needed for different reasons as they transformed through evolving times, an important step to redress Buddhism as an ultimate solution for humanity in overcoming poverty, diseases and agonies, is for each Buddhist Groups and Movements, or individuals, to re-assess internally whether what we are doing or what we have done, are unequivocally in accordance with the ultimate intending wishes of the Buddha. The comprehension on the Buddhism formula of non-substantiality, impermanence, the causes of human suffering, compassion, universal loving kindness and the likes, all remains as secondary until we are able to put them into non-discriminatory selfless actions for the benefit of all humankind. While we advocate the manifestations of the sectarian Buddhist teachings within our own lineage and traditions, we must not embrace any discrimination against others. Until we study and have enough understanding of the doctrines of the other schools or other contemporary religions, we cannot always be sure of our criticism or remarks whether it is truly and justifiably-based, even if it is being made constructively. What is requisite for all Buddhist groups is to earnestly cast aside traditional and cultural differences, by making vigorous efforts to regroup resources for regular inter-sectarian dialogue, international conferences, and intergroups co-activities but of course without having to abandon their own invaluable richness of lineage traditions. My accentuating point is that the happiness and welfare of sentient beings should always comes before any effort for self-realization and personal achievement, if we are truly following the noble path.

7 7 P a g e The roles of Buddhists adapting to societal changes I have pride and respect for the Bhikkhus who are still following the Forest tradition to live the secluded life of contemplation. However, the world today has changed considerably in how every countries operated in its own system where new sophisticated technologies and social-economic issues matter a large part in the welfare of mankind. When standard of living improves, with people constantly focus their lives more on material pursues and neglect on spiritual cultivation, and so does the many problems in the families and society arise therefrom. Members of the Sangha are constantly called upon and expected to voluntarily serve the community, particularly in cities where crime rates are high and ethic of morals degenerates noticeably. In western cultures, for example, the general norm towards clergies has been that, their service to the community remains very much the trade-off in returns for their material gains. The current trend of monastic monks setting up temples or centres in virtually every cities, organizing retreats and rituals for the lay supporters, is seen as a vital bridge that keeps the balance between core Buddhism and changing needs of the modern era. But because our pluralistic societies today are in many ways unique from those of two millennia ago, with new issues that arise such as technological advances in internet and multimedia, ecological concerns and environmental crisis, new life-threatening diseases, cultural conditions, social-economical implications 4, new issues such as transgender identity, homosexuality, inter-cultural marriages, government regulation and so on, it therefore requires creative response and necessary changes which cannot be solely applied by the early Buddhist teachings alone. How these changes are going to be incorporated into the domain of Buddhism and if any, their adverse social-economic impacts, all have to be studied carefully. Whatever changes in response to the new situations today, we must strictly observe its adherence to the ultimate essence and principles of what the Buddha had taught. In countries where there are recent history of civil wars, rampant epidemic and widespread poverty, these are the places where Buddhism can provide the answers to all and where services of the members of Sangha are most needed. It is encouraging, for instance, that we have seen the root of Buddhism eventually have taken place in Africa in the last 100 years, with traditions from Theravada, Taiwanese Mahayana, Nicheren, Tibetan and Western Buddhism that are already in operation in most of the 54 nations in Africa. Some of these Buddhist organizations offer Dhamma courses and practise in the orphanage centres they have set up, housing thousands of street orphans who also receive free vocational and language studies. These kids are motivated to be the successful future leaders or to become the next generation of African native monks who will be better placed to influence their own communities with the teachings of the Buddha. Buddhism therefore should never remains an utterly parochial concern and focus only on a specific race, rituals or for selfish personal welfare, but it should spread its seeds of hope to wherever there are hunger and sufferings, surmounting cultural and language barriers without any fear and preferential prejudice. In order to succeed in the missionary efforts, members of the Sangha today has the need to equip themselves with additional and yet necessary skills such as computing literacy, problems solving skill, family and relationship counselling, inter-personal relationship skillset, 4 Bhikkhu Bodhi. Facing The Future, A Buddhist Approach to Economic and Social Development,p.36.

8 8 P a g e teaching on relevant subject matters, nursing, sign language, presentation skill and others, in order not to be woefully out of touch with the important daily life of the lay people when helping to solve their problems. Questions then arise as to whether do we have enough solid institutions and rigid systems in place to produce graduate monks and nuns of splendid quality, with profound knowledge of the sublime dhamma as well as being earnest practitioners, who can make undaunted sacrifices by devoting unsparingly to humanism and the goal of true global harmony. I always contend that a proper, standardized and universally accepted system may be needed to gauge the scale of the performances and results of any missionary efforts, and also a reassessment of its effectiveness from time to time. Buddhists need to question our own readiness and commitment level as we go on. More importantly, we cannot deny the very fact of what we have seen through recent history that women are just as brilliant and capable as men, becoming heads of multinational organizations, presidents, Noble Price winners and even as space astronauts. Women today are bread-winners, important decision makers, national leaders whose contributions are as crucial in exerting large social influence as they are in the roles of housewives and mothers. Thus Buddhist nuns and women laities should be respected as equal partners in every preaching endeavour as they can be more influential to the female populace. Bhaddha Kachayana, Khema, Kissagotami, Sanghamitta, Uppalavanna, Visakha, Patacara, Dhammadinna suffice to name a few of the prominent female disciples of the time of the Buddha. Buddhism as a fortress against war and poverty It is worth to point to the preamble of the UNESCO Constitution: Since it is in the minds of men that wars are created, it is in the minds of men that the fortresses against war must be erected. 5 As a matter-of-factly, the entire life of the Buddha was dedicated to educating people about purification of the minds by exterminating evil-mindedness, leading the noble path towards salvation (nibbāna), and so too are the entire divisions of the Pali and Mahāyāna canons are dedicated collectively on this focus. If we study other major religions well, we know that there are no infallible proof in the authentic scriptures that proclaim the religionists can wage war and commit fratricidal crimes in the name of religion, having total disregard to loss of innumerable families and innocent lives. The people must have the wisdom to be able to discern between orthodoxy demonstrated through its righteous behaviour and religionists who but engaging in brutal killings and violence for personal and political gain. The Sakyamuni Buddha disapproved use of force and violence of any kind, however justified they may be. Indeed Buddhism teaches us to resolve conflicts by demonstrating our unselfish universal loving kindness and manifest forgiveness towards our opponents or aggressors. As mentioned in the Dhammapada, Hatred does not end by hatred. By love alone it is quelled. A person who practises good Buddhist values will know naturally how to succumb to the lower instincts of anger, hatred, greed, delusion and all the malevolent sides of the minds, and will certainly reject taking any measures through engaging in violence or retaliation. On such principles, Buddhist organizations should regularly organize to seek dialogue with other religious groups to find common ground on which to cooperate in some activities for the 5 UNESCO Constitution. URL_ID=15244&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html.

9 9 P a g e welfare of mankind, campaigning against war and relieving poverty, and also make its contribution to support government policies and on-going campaigns to promote social harmony and national unification. As Buddhists, we also should be humble enough to admit own shortcomings and willing to adopt the strength and good practices of the others. Eradicating poverty altogether requires massive international efforts, but by engaging collaborative activities to alleviate poverty would then seems a more viable option. Buddhist organizations can collaborate with government agencies by allocating resources collectively to redress the causes of poverty, generally due to factors such as illiteracy, lower levels of awareness, lack of skills, lack of job opportunities, high birth rates, and rampant corruption. Buddhist organizations have vast pool of lay supporters who are retiring professionals willing to provide volunteered service to the needy in the poorer countries, in such suitable areas like teaching computing and programming, musical skills, languages, vocational trainings, management skill, nursing, high-tech agriculture and organic farming. Donor s monetary aid is for meeting daily basic needs of the recipients, whereas the skills to be imparted would equip them with capability to compete with jobs at international level, and would eventually uplift their living standards. When the children are nurtured under the altruistic values of the Buddhist teachings, we can be assured of their moral conducts and dependable upbringings. Buddhism with good social and humanitarian considerations unquestionably provides the answer to all the poverty-related problems. Would Buddhism benefit more people if it is not presented as a religion? From a Buddhist perspective, it is not surprising to see that more and more people from the western societies have begun to appreciate, study and adopt the Buddhist teachings, its ideas and concepts, as they realized the effectiveness of Buddhist values in helping them to deal with the vexed mundane affairs of their daily life, in counteracting social problems that come with the advances in materialism, in improving human relationship and quality of family life, in spiritual cultivation, and also as a basis of philosophy of life rather than as a religion in itself. It has also now become increasingly popular in other non-traditional countries like Africa, Indonesia and Australia. We have long history of Buddhism in the East and should be more aware that the Buddhist noble path towards supreme salvation (nibbāna) began not with rituals, daily chanting and devotion or charitable acts alone, neither is through long discourse of ethics theory and critical arguments without demonstrating any convincible proof of having already accomplished self-exemplification. Ultimate liberation lies with a seamless understanding of ethical behaviour and is consistently attested in every uttered words and actions of all the earnest Buddhist practitioners. I always content that Buddhism with its vast richness of philosophy, ethical values, insight and practices, would be able to benefit more people if they were not presented as a religion. Unfortunately as we have seen, many of the Buddhist temples, especially belonging to the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, which centre their daily practices to a large extent upon the petitionary way in terms of chanting and counts numeration, offering incense, fire puja and long prayers in temple, engaging in ceremonial devotion and long-period rituals instead of devoting more time on spiritual contemplation, all these behaviours are being seen as a disinterest and an unwilling attitude to understand the main objectives of dhamma, to reflect

10 10 P a g e themselves on the essence of the Buddha s teaching. It is also incomprehensible seeing that some Buddhist groups and devotees engage in superstitious practice by paying their undivided attention to worship religious fetish objects and other deities, yearning for mystic powers or anticipating heavenly realm, which regrettably would be unheeding the essence of what the Buddha had taught and missed his ultimate intention. Nonetheless, some advocate that religious devotion practices are for conveniently guiding the enthusiastic beginners into the door of Buddhism. However, most monastics are still seen as lacking on a robust procedural system in place, specifically how the mixed group of longtime Buddhist devotees and novices can be distinguishably imbue with the essential phases of dhamma teaching and benefit from the structured and progressive stages of contemplative practice. The common scene we have today is that many Mahayana temples are still unilaterally enforced with customary rituals and ceremonial prayers on a heavy weekly schedule and taking no step towards sequential dhamma lecture and to efficaciously gauging it progress. It would be a disheartening fact if someone were to introduce Buddhism by bringing a keen novice to a long-hours sutta chanting session or to a fire puja in a Vajrayana temple, rather than to introduce the novice with the key principles of Buddhism. Similarly dispiriting, however good the intention may be, is to introduce the novices to the self-opinionated monastics who are often less inclined in relating personal thoughts by making reference to the Tripitaka canons but who are fond of diffusing unfounded personal views and habitually critical of other Buddhist denominations. Let s all be aware that there is no Buddhism without the experiential contemplative meditation for our inner wisdom. The permeative effect of such Buddhist worshipping as a religion rife with esoteric rituals and incomprehensible folklore and legends itself, would inescapably imparts a false sense of the Buddha s teaching to others, and inevitably keep many of the novice people who are interested to learn more about Buddhism dubiously at a distance. For those who studied the life of Siddhartha in his journey of spiritual quest, we would have known that he abandoned his initial six years of experimenting with different forms of austerities practice, renounced all his beliefs and doctrines, before he finally discovered the truth about the indescribable greatness of the mind of enlightenment a total brilliant awareness and supreme happiness. Then he taught about the meaningfulness of leading a compassionate life for humankind, educating people on how to work with the whimsicality of minds free from misconceptions, and that everyone has the similar innate potential to become the enlightened one. By understanding his journey of spiritual inquisition, Siddhartha was a truth seeker, looking for a genuine path to freedom relieved from suffering. He didn t even envisage it as a religion until after his passing away that his teachings passed into the hands of the followers, it then slowly became a religion perceived out of the perpetual yearning for the Buddha. Over the time, the creation of statues, pagodas, doctrines, rituals, ceremonial musical contrivances, and as far as even constructing various forms of deities with their respective protective roles that suit the naivety of human-logic explanation, gradually came into existence. In this regard, if we relate to all canonical scriptures unanimously as final answers and dogmas that there is no need for re-examination, then we ll be practicing Buddhism as a religion synonymous to monotheism which prohibits any interrogation into the so-called words-of-god. The Buddha had wanted people to think, examine and inquire on his teachings rather than accepting it on blind faith, and Buddhism does not impede anybody s direct inquisition into the Buddha s teachings.

11 11 P a g e Buddhism is about a science of inquisition of our minds. It is a philosophy of life, of how we gain insight into the workings of our minds, of how we reflect on our daily interaction of our six discernment senses with the external elements, and of how we put our decisions making, emotions and thoughts to test in our contemplative endeavors as we carry on with problems in our daily life. Such Buddhist way of life helps people to clear up their confusion, worries, and inspire confidence for individuals to realize their full potentials and attain spiritual happiness. The salvation in Buddhist term is truly internal, through our minds and behavior, and by no means from any source of external help or the cosmic omnipotent savior. A person cannot be saved by a higher celestial power, God or Buddha, but can only be salvaged through finding and realizing the wisdom in ourselves. By seeking to understand the roots of our suffering in attachment or craving, we can develop compassion for ourselves as well as for others. Whether Buddhism is, or is not, a religion depends upon how we defined the word "religion". All religions almost certainly include some abstract ideology and dogmatic belief in the somehow supernatural way which cannot be understood through scientific methods, whether it is theism advocating creator of Universe, God or Gods, savior, an absolute force of nature, existence of deities, atheism, or even nihilism. These days it has become a common scene in many Asian countries that involved people practicing Buddhism as a worship system. Of course I don't deny Buddhism as a religion itself in such an estranged direction has the power of rebinding people s lives socially and spiritually, in one aspect which reunites people with the sacred, divinities, holy spirits, deities, mythological figures, supernatural powers, or the true nature of things, which in fact revealed an awakening fact that the universe and every being is but one inter-connected and an undivided whole. If we look around, people in present days generally have a higher level of education and only readily conform to any process of rational thinking, they would be inclined to reject any religious faith that espouses empirically untenable claims as superstitious, mythical and fairy tale. Putting things into a global perspective, Buddhism to be viewed comparatively as a philosophical way of life would surpass over the benefits for the world today than to have Buddhism representing itself as a religion, essentially because more people would only be interested in the comprehensible facts and realities of life rather than being forced into coming to terms with the intricacy of unexplained metaphysical forces and supernaturalism such as through worshipping. His Holiness, the 14 th Dalai Lama has included the cultivation of intrinsic values encompassing universal love, compassion, equanimity, mindfulness and such extended qualities as endurance, tolerance, mutual respect, contentment, renunciation, self-discipline, wisdom, truthfulness, energy and determination, generosity and benevolence as the basis for secular ethics 6. Likewise, these characteristic ethics are also similarly taught in many other religious faith that are the reasons for human prosperity and guidance for happiness throughout the immense history of civilizations. In fact it can only benefit everybody if we were to adhere to a code of ethics without making recourse to strictly any specific religion especially in multiethnic, multi-cultural societies, for example in Malaysia and Singapore. Yet His Holiness indicated that religion and secular ethics need not be inseparable. My observation is that intrinsic truths of universal love, compassion and the likes, need not be religion-based as they 6 Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World. Authored by His Holiness the 14 th Dalai Lama.

12 12 P a g e are innate and origin in every one of us. We need not had to have a religion or to become a Buddhist in order to become a saint, because it is within everyone s intrinsic wellspring of hopes and cultivation. I subscribe to the notion that the two are only of complementary nature but should never be left to any one religion alone. For over thousands of years, the loss of innocent lives that had happened because of religious bigotry and conflicts between humanities, are lamentably innumerable and it moves us to tears. I deeply believe that our old-valued Eastern Buddhism in Asia today still has a long way to learn from the way why and how the essence taught by the Buddha, away from being a religious practice, has now become so widespread and dedicatedly practised by almost all races on all continents, who have assimilated traditional Buddhism into the changing needs of the 21 st century, and which has benefited so many in their daily lives. Unless we choose to continue to be oblivious to the ultimate intention of the Buddha that are expected of all of us who follow his teaching, the leaders of all traditions must all come forwards to set repeating working example of reaching beyond their own lineage and provide altruistic service across all ethnicities, to other religions, theists and atheists alike. Conclusion It is a common occurrence in daily news media that we have so often heard of: kidnapping, homicide, gang rape, adultery, child prostitution, internet scam, corruption, and even reports of monks and priests engaging in in sexual misconduct. A lamentable view to this is that human ethic of morals has seemingly carry lesser significance for a lot of people in this sophisticated world that we have today. For this reason, the more rational basis for us is therefore to discard our differences and disagreements, by seeking commonalities and complementary strength on which we can work together on. Sangha and lay Buddhists alike have the more authentic reasons to discover more deeply and truthfully about what it means for us to be following the teachings of Buddha. Do we want to live a secluded life of contemplative Buddhism or do we want to earnestly follow the footsteps of the Buddha for the global welfare of humankind? I liken our faith in dhamma to that of the firm roots of a long bamboo tree that can withstand strong wind, and the bamboo trunk can bend without breaking. By the same token, Buddhist dhamma must have the flexibility and resiliency to allow adaption to the changing needs of the different levels of people, integrating unselfishly to different races and cultures. A crucial point, however, remains that in whatever changes we are going to adopt with regard to our institutional structures, roles of the monastic, methods, inter-faith collaboration, or even compromises of our Buddhist conventional practices in certain areas, we have a duty to ensure that our consequent actions and purported objectives do not deviate from the true principles of the dhamma, and by no means a wayward departure from the bona fide intention of the enlightened Sakyamuni Buddha.

13 13 P a g e References Heine, Steven, S. Prebish, Charles. Buddhism In The Modern World: Adaptations of An Ancient Tradition. London: Oxford University Press, Bhikkhu, Bodhi. Facing The Future. Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society, His Holiness The Dalai Lama. Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World. NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, Buddhists and Buddhism in the United States: The Scope of Influence, edited by Robert Wuthnow & Wendy Cadge. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 43:3 (2004) Bhikkhu, K. Sri Dhammananda. Buddhism for the Future. Kuala Lumpur: Sasana Abhiwurdhi Wardhana Society. Bhikkhu, K. Sri Dhammananda. Buddhism As A Religion. Kuala Lumpur: Sasana Abhiwurdhi Wardhana Society, Sayadaw U Thittila. Essential Themes of Buddhist Lectures. Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc., Nārada, Mahāthera. The Buddha And His Teachings. Sri Lanka: BPS, Nakamura, Hajime. Gotama Buddha. Vol. 1: A Biography based on the most reliable texts. Tokyo: Kosei Publishing Company, Nakamura, Hajime. Gotama Buddha. Vol. 2: A Biography based on the most reliable texts. Tokyo: Kosei Publishing Company, 2005.