Any religion practiced in its true spirit
has the well-being of all as its goal, and so surely ought to be a
factor of peace. However, we are constantly reminded that it is
unacceptable that conflicts like those in the Middle East, and
elsewhere, continue to arise at least partly through differences of
religion. The message of Jesus Christ is one of love, and one of
the meanings of the word ‘Islam’ is peace. Violence and coercion
perpetrated in religion’s name, and the use of religion to
accentuate the divisions between peoples, can therefore only be
abuses. Truth is strong enough by itself to convince, and should
never be imposed by force. It should never be necessary for an
authentic truth to need violence to be asserted.
There are two main forms that intolerance
takes. The first is when people who haven’t gone deeply into the
real meaning of their religion, and don’t practice it in an
authentic way, use it as a rallying flag to arouse sectarian,
ethnic, or nationalist passions. The second is when people who
practice their religions so sincerely are so deeply convinced of
the truth of their beliefs that they think any means are justified
to impose them on others, since by so doing they are helping them.
The first part, their conviction in their faith, is admirable, but
it is what follows that is so wrong. They do not know how to
respect other people’s religious traditions and the diversity of
human beings. The Dalai Lama often says, ‘We should have total
conviction in our own spiritual path along with perfect respect
toward other truths.’
If what is understood as ‘God’ is ‘infinite
love and wisdom’, as Christians sometimes say, then Buddhism would
have no trouble accepting that understanding of divinity. If by
‘God’ one means absolute truth, the ultimate nature of being, or
infinite compassion, then the difference between Buddhists,
Christians, Muslims, and all other monotheistic or polytheistic
belief is simply reduced to only a matter of
words…
Dear Atlas,
What you said is rather compelling and beautful but I am afraid
nobody is convinced that it is just a matter of words. Just take
Christianity, Judaism and Islam for example, they can't even get
along enough to see that they are praying to the same God. We don't
even have to look at Buddhism, whose ideas of the ultimate is
elaborately presented in its various philosophies.
