Since the
plead of the Buddhists in Arunachal Pradesh was highlighted
recently on the Buddhist Channel, a
quite check on the internet finds that there are hardly any
Buddhist organizations out there having programs offering some form
of knowledge or expertise that can be used by the locals there and
elsewhere, to defend their faith.
This may be because Buddhism traditionally
does not emphasize proselytizing of its faith and as such,
expertise required to countered other religions converting its
followers are low on their list of priority.
It is about time, the various Buddhists
organizations in individual country coming together, and pooling
their resources to set up such centralized missionary institutions
with the purpose of providing programs that imparts knowledge and
expertise for the defend and propagate of the Buddhist teaching,
not just to monks but also to Buddhist laymen as well.
Besides the Buddhist teachings, these
institutions should include other useful subjects such as
leadership skill, conflict resolution, crisis management and
negotiation skill in its curriculum. These would allow for a more,
well rounded individual able to handle all kind of situations
independently. Such knowledge and skill would also come in useful
when there is a need for these individuals to support humanitarian
and other relief operations as well.
I believe if there are such missionary
institutions existing now, for monks and aspiring laymen
missionaries alike, others, from countries that do not have them,
would be very interested to a part of its setup.
