Interreligious
Understanding and Cooperation
By Ven.Dr. Sheng Yen, D.Litt.
Dharma Drum Mountain International of Taiwan
1. Interreligious Respect
During the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, there was once a layman who,
originally a devotee of another Indian religion, converted to
Buddhism after meeting the Buddha. This layman was uncertain
whether or not he could still make offerings to his original
teacher. When he learned of the man's confusion, the Buddha told
the man he could continue to make offerings to his original teacher
just as before. In fact, in the Agama Sutras and Monastic Code
preached by the Buddha, the Buddha frequently praises the merit of
making offerings not only to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, but
also to other religious practitioners such as ascetics and
Brahmins. So respecting other religions is a basic criterion for a
Buddhist devotee. Therefore, Buddhists will not cause conflicts
with followers of other religions, and will always get along with
them peacefully, like good neighbors. This is especially true in
the Chinese cultural sphere. Although at times in Chinese history
arguments have erupted between Confucians, Buddhists, and Taoists,
and there have even been large-scale persecutions of Buddhists,
these incidents were all instigated by a small number of
politically-connected Confucians and Taoists who used their
influence at court to encourage misguided, anti-Buddhist
policies.
However, relations between ordinary folks of different religions
have actually been very cordial. For instance, up to the time when
I escaped from mainland China in the1940s, itinerant Buddhist monks
could seek lodging in Taoist temples, and itinerant Taoist clerics
could pass the night in Buddhist monasteries -they respected one
another's faith and method of spiritual practice. Chinese maintain
that "all paths lead to the same destination." So any religious
practitioner who does not go against the basic moral principles of
love, peace, and the pursuit of true happiness is worthy of
approval regardless of his method of practice. Hence the Chinese
saying that "Buddhist monks and Taoist clerics all belong to the
same family."
China has a plurality of ethnic groups and a great diversity of
religions. At one time in history, the Confucians, due to their
self-centeredness and superiority complex, viewed non-Han races as
uncivilized barbarians. However, through mutual adaptation and
interaction with one another over a long period of time, the Han
eventually came to discover that other cultures were also very
admirable: not only did these other cultures have much in common
with Han culture, but they actually had merits which Han culture
lacked. Therefore, in the areas inhabited by Chinese there have
been neither religious wars nor implacable enmity between ethnic
groups .
Chinese Mahayana Buddhists believe that the good teachings in all
religions are the elementary prerequisites for attaining
Buddhahood, and that the prophets of all religions are
manifestations of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. They have manifested
themselves in these various personas only to adapt to different
cultures and living environments, so that they may use the most
appropriate means to deliver sentient beings. Hence in the 12th
century, the Confucian scholar Lu Jiuyuan (1139-1193), influenced
by Buddhism, said that "When a sage appears in the East, he has the
same mind and realizes the same principle; when a sage appears in
the West, he has the same mind and realizes the same principle."
This means that all prophets, from whatever geographical area and
of whatever religion, have more or less the same love and realize
roughly the same truth.
If we use this principle to view all religions, we will respect all
religions. While it is perfectly natural for devotees of any
particular religion to claim that their own religion is the best,
we must also acknowledge and respect the fact that our neighbors
and relatives also have the same right to claim their religion is
the best. Once on an airplane I was sitting right next to a
Christian missionary, who was piously reading the Bible and
praying. Seeing that I had nothing to do, he gave me a Bible and
showed me how to read it. I praised his good intentions and
enthusiasm, and agreed with his statement that Christianity is the
only religion through which one can attain salvation. He
immediately asked me, "If this is the case, why are you a Buddhist
monk? Isn't that a pity?" I said, "I'm sorry, but for me, Buddhism
is most suitable. So I would say that Buddhism is the best
religion."
II. Interreligious Understanding
As shown in the incident I just mentioned, it is necessary to
respect one another before we can understand one another. I
accepted the missionary's Bible, and in return gave him a Buddhist
book. From his expression I could see how much he hoped that I
would diligently read the Bible, just as I hoped he would look
through the book about Buddhism.
In Taiwan and various parts of the world, I frequently go to the
educational institutions and churches of other religions, sometimes
to lecture on Buddhist studies, sometimes to participate in
symposiums, and sometimes to attend religious ceremonies. I have
quite a few friends from other religions. Other religions invite me
to discuss Buddhism, and we also invite missionaries and scholars
of other religions to our Buddhist schools and institutes to
introduce their religions. And representatives from the major
religions are always happy to attend religious conferences
sponsored by Buddhists.
From what I know, the first people to introduce Buddhism to the
West were not for the most part Buddhists but rather Christian
missionaries who had gone to the Orient to evangelize.
Buddhism has been in China now for 2,000 years. When it was first
introduced to China, it tried to adapt to indigenous Chinese
culture as much as possible, even using Taoist and Confucian
terminology and concepts to explain parts of its doctrines. This
then contributed to the arising of Buddhist schools with distinctly
Chinese characteristics such as the Tiantai, Huayan, Pure Land, and
Chan schools. In other words, Buddhism in China first learned and
absorbed elements from traditional Chinese culture, then evolved
into new schools distinct from Indian Buddhist schools. Even
traditional Chinese Confucians learned and incorporated Buddhist
thought, which resulted in the rise of Neo-Confucianism in the Song
and Ming dynasties. Chinese Taoists, in a similar manner,
transformed and incorporated many Buddhist scriptures into the
Taoist Canon, thereby enriching Taoist culture. In China, Buddhist
monks from the generation before mine were required to be well
versed in not only the Buddhist Canon, but also Confucian and
Taoist thought; otherwise, it would have been difficult for them to
propagate Buddhist teachings. In our age, we should open our minds
even more, and learn about the various world religions, so as not
to find ourselves in self-imposed isolation with narrow horizons,
like a frog gazing up at the sky from the bottom of a
well.
If we turn back to discuss Indian religions, we can see that they,
too, have contributed to one another's growth through mutual
influence and stimulation. In fact, much of the content of Buddhism
was incorporated from ancient Indian religions. In the Buddha's
time, different religious sects and schools filled India, some
ancient, and some newly-established. Siddhartha Gautama himself
humbly learned from many teachers of various spiritual schools.
After becoming a Buddha, though he developed distinctly Buddhist
views, and discarded many religious views and beliefs not in
conformity with Buddhism, Buddhism is still a product of Indian
religious culture. Hence, in turn, in the 8th century the great
Hindu philosopher Shankara (700-750) consulted Buddhist Madhyamika
philosophy and thereby created Vedantic philosophy.
Buddhism stresses an ethic based on cause and effect-as you sow, so
shall you reap-whereas Christianity seems to focus almost solely on
the believer's salvation through faith, without relating it to his
ethical behavior. Actually, according to the contemporary
philosopher John Hick, if one looks at the parables of the worthy
and unworthy servants and of the sheep and the goats in the Gospel
of Mathew, chapter twenty-five, one can see that the teachings of
Jesus Christ actually have a very strong ethical and practical
character: that is, one day we will inevitably reap the
consequences of what we do in our daily lives now. For this reason
the Apostle Paul, in chapter six, verse seven of his letter to the
Galatians "whatever a man sows, that he shall also reap." In
addition, Hick said that "in our own time Catholic and Reformed
...... Christians have come, at least in a significant minority, to
see an authentic response to God as requiring a dedication,
individually, nationally and globally, to social justice and the
preservation of endangered Mother Earth." Seen from this angle, the
views of Christianity are not that far from those of Buddhism and
other religions.
Let us now look at the God of Islam. In the Qur'an, Allah has
ninety-nine different names, including the Protector, the Forgiver,
the Bestower, the Forbearing One, the All-Forgiving, the Source of
All Goodness, the Protecting Friend, the Loving One, the Lord, the
Pardoner, the Compassionate, and the Guide to the Right Path. From
this we can see that Allah is a God who loves all humanity, as
stressed in the Qur'an, sura two, verse sixty-two, "whoever
believes in God and the Last Day, and whoever does right, shall
have his reward with his Lord." In his book The Fifth Dimension
Hick said that, when the Muslims came to India, there were some who
argued that Zoroastrians, Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists were also
"People of the Book." "The Book" refers to the eternal word of God
that is expressed to his people in different human situations
through different prophets in different revealed scriptures. Even
though many mainstream and fundamentalist Muslims believe that many
nonMuslims are missing their opportunity to enter Paradise, the
message spread by Islam is that the possibility of entering
Paradise is good news for all, not just for Muslims. The Islamic
mystics, the Sufis, are especially able to believe that followers
of other faiths may also receive God's mercy.
Naturally, from a standpoint of mutual respect and appreciation,
religions must seek greater understanding of one another, yet there
is no need to distort each other's beliefs in our search for common
ground. That would not only cause great pain and trouble, but also
lead to three possible outcomes: 1. twisting other religions to
make them like one's own; 2. denying the position of one's own
religion to comply with other religions; or 3. blending different
religions together to establish a new one. None of these scenarios
are healthy. Thus someone once asked His Holiness the 14th Dalai
Lama, "If you believe that all religions are good, should we
establish a syncretic religion?" He replied, "No, there are already
enough religions in the world." What he meant was that, since
ancient times, humanity's religions have always been diverse. Each
has its own beauty. Each has its own virtue. Each has its own
truth. There is no need to blend them. It might be good to seek
common ground while preserving differences. For instance: Buddhism
advocates the theory of conditioned arising and is non-theistic. It
can respect and understand theistic religions and does not need to
deny its own position in order to be on friendly terms with other
faiths.
III. Interreligious Cooperation
Cooperation among religions does not mean leaders of various
religions coming together to discuss doctrine to find out who is
superior or inferior, higher or lower, greater or lesser, better or
worse. This will only lead to conflict, deepen disagreement,
increase enmity, and create opposition. If we can follow the
principle of mutual respect, then we can all interact peacefully.
Especially in our religiously pluralistic modem age, one has only
to leave one's country, one's ethnic group, or even one's home, to
come into contact with followers of different religions. In an open
society, one may find several different faiths even within a
family. We must respect, even support, each other's choices with an
attitude of appreciation, and should never criticize other faiths
based on our own subjective standpoint. We should cooperate to
create a harmonious, peaceful, happy and warm community in which to
live.
Today, and especially in the world of the future, due to the
ever-increasing quantity and accessibility of information, the
convenience of transportation, the rapid progress of technology,
and the ever-changing nature of contemporary society, people
separated by thousands of miles can talk as though they sat face to
face. For this reason, those who would like a single faith to take
over the niches of all other faiths are faced with stronger and
stronger opposing influences. Unless we would isolate ourselves
from the reality of the greater world, we must help one another and
cooperate in sharing the various resources needed for
life.
We religious believers all share a common way of thinking. We all
believe that the object of our belief, be it called Jehovah, Jesus
Christ, the Messiah, God, the Lord, Allah, Shiva, Vishnu, the
Bodhisattvas, or the Buddha, is possessed of love, compassion,
awe-inspiring presence, and great divine power; thus we believers
are able to gain peace, protection, and salvation. Moreover, we
also believe we must follow and practice the teachings and
admonishments of our sacred scriptures, holy injunctions and
revelations to help all beings also gain peace, protection, and
salvation. In this way, we share the great love and compassion of
God, the Bodhisattvas, and the Buddha with all people. Yet this is
not limited to spreading the faith; what is more important is
maintaining the safety of humanity and the peace of people's minds
and raising the quality of society and people's characters. A
livable environment for all requires that all work collectively for
its improvement.
All the living and non-living beings on this planet are integral
parts of the community of all life, how much more so the believers
of various religions who are human beings. Different
interpretations of sacred texts, holy injunctions and revelations
have led to the differences between religions, however, if one can
experience the non-personal and indivisible Ultimate Reality, he
would know that in this Reality, there is no distinction between
self and other, inner and outer, superior and inferior, or high and
low. Yet this reality is many-sided.
Looking at the life of Gandhi, we see that he was influenced by a
Jain master named Raychandbhai to accept that many different views,
including religious views, may all be reasonable and valid. Thus he
agreed that "religions are different roads converging on the same
point. What does it matter that we take different roads so long as
we reach the same goal? I believe in the fundamental truth of all
great religions of the world. I believe they are all God given and
I believe they were necessary to the people to whom they were
revealed."
This is to say that the various religions have only one goal, which
is Ultimate Reality. This is the transcendence of human nature and
divine nature, the movement from a personal, differentiated God to
a non-personal, undifferentiated reality. In Buddhism this is
called Reality; in other religions it is called Absolute Truth.
Gandhi saw that Reality has many sides, so he accepted that the
differences did not contradict Absolute Truth. What the various
religions argue over is the different aspects of reality. If they
realized that a single reality underlies those aspects, they would
cease arguing. Naturally, we don't have to completely endorse
Gandhi's view, but it is something we can raise for
consideration.
I'd like to relate a true story: Thirty years ago, several friends
and I made a vow to save Chinese Buddhism. Thereafter, some went to
south to Thailand, some northeast to Japan, and some into the
mountains to practice austerities. More than ten years later, we
unexpectedly all met again in the US. Each had learned different
things, but they were all facets of Buddhism. Thus once again we
agreed to cooperate on practical matters. Actually, there should be
a lot of room for cooperation between different sects of a single
religion or between organizations or individuals of different
religions. This cooperation doesn't have to entail joining a single
organization. It could simply be acting in cooperation to abandon
violence, cast aside long-standing grudges, and not settle old
scores. It could mean joining forces to eliminate the causes of
starvation, diseases, natural disasters, and ethnic conflicts, to
protect the environment and resources of this planet for future
generations, and to protect the human spirit from being polluted by
enmity, greed, envy, anger, pride, irresolution, fear, worry,
arrogance, feelings of inferiority and voidness. If each religion
can start by influencing and encouraging its own believers in this
way, then the major religions of each country in the world can also
influence that country's citizens, as well as politicians and
businessmen. If everyone can share this kind of understanding, it
will be a giant first step toward religious
cooperation.
This article by Venerable Dr. Shen Yen was his Closing Address at
the International Conference on Religious Cooperation held in
Taipei, Taiwan, ROC, on the 21st of September,
2001.
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