By Professor K. N. Jayatilleke PhD. (Lond)
Courtesy Vesak Lipi
If we consider possible attitudes of one religion towards another
in the light of history, they seem to be classifiable under three
main headings. The first is that of dominance based on the belief
that one's religion alone contains the full truth and that other
religions are either completely false or contain so few elements of
truth that the sooner they are ousted by whatever means at one's
disposal the better it would be for mankind. The next is the
attitude of fulfilment which draws its strength from the belief
that while other religions contain important elements of truth they
find their fullest is the attitude of co-operation which arises out
of a conviction that (a) all religions contain aspects of truth and
a study of all is necessary to discover the whole truth or (b) that
all the higher religions are equally true and that the ostensible
differences are due to differences in language rather than in
content, and that all these religions are suited to their
traditional contexts and (c) that all the higher religions are
equally true but some of these religions have a greater attraction
for certain types of individuals as against other, the
cerebratonics liking a religion with an intellectual appeal, the
somatogenics one that stresses action and the viscerotonics,
emotion.
Now what would be the attitude of Buddhism to other
religions? Perhaps the Sandaka Sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya seems
to supply the answer to this question. In it Ananda describes four
types of false religions and four types of unsatisfactory
religions, and goes on to define the character of the religion of
the Buddha.
Buddha's attitude to other religions is very clearly stated by
himself. He was an elitist that argues against all other
religions... and clearly states that his teaching is unique from
others - not in terms of letting go of gross attachments and
emotions, but in terms of letting go of the construct of a self or
a Self. This includes the non-Buddhist notion of a Brahman.
Cula-sihanada Sutta (MN 11) -- The
Shorter Discourse on the Lion's Roar {M i 63} [Ñanamoli Thera
and Bhikkhu Bodhi, trans.]. The Buddha declares that only through
practicing in accord with the Dhamma can Awakening be realized. His
teaching is distinguished from those of other religions and
philosophies through its unique rejection of all doctrines of self.
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