Kandy, Sri Lanka
--The latest attempt to proselytize the Buddhist world comes in the
form of a book entitled ‘Peoples of the Buddhist World: A
Christian Prayer Guide’ by Hattaway Paul. Anthropologically
speaking, the book deserves credit for its excellent
well-researched materials as it deals with 238 distinct
people-group profiles, photographs and maps of the Buddhist world –
something that Buddhists are capable of producing, but are lazy to
do so.
Make no mistake: this most
conspicuous book is enterprisingly well done. But it has a hidden
agenda: This book serves as a layout and roadmap of Christian
evangelical interests and zeal. It is a precise blueprint, a battle
plan drawn to craftily attack the peoples of the Buddhist
world.
Educated and affluent Buddhists,
however, should thank the author, an active evangelic leader for
producing such an enlightening overview of the peoples of the
Buddhist world because not many at all know about the majority of
these 238 groups mentioned by him.
Indeed, many of these Buddhist
communities are little-known and often forgotten. They are some of
the most neglected peoples of the world. Much has been said on the
evil intentions of the Christian evangelical missionaries for
trying to ‘pray and touch the souls of ordinary people’ and
bringing them into ‘the merciful rescue of God, the ruler of
heaven’.
My intention here is neither to
write a review of the book condemning it as anti-Buddhist nor to
parrot the accusations labeled against such greedy evangelical
missionaries but to urge my fellow educated and affluent Buddhist
brothers and sisters of the civilized world to understand that the
wisest solution to such proselytization of the Buddhist world.
It does not lie on how logically
and convincingly we criticize such undertakings and how many
anti-conversion laws we need to enact. The intention is to
undertake an honest, objective re-examination of our own Buddhist
system within.
It is often proudly claimed by us
Buddhists that Buddhism has survived for 2550 years armed with its
teachings of non-violence, tolerance, ability for different
adaptation, and compassion. Perhaps we have forgotten the lost
history of Buddhist lands of the entire Indian subcontinent.
We have lost Afghanistan and
Pakistan (East and West) to Muslim invaders, India and Nepal to
Hindus and far eastern regions of the Middle East to hard-line
Muslims. Having lost so much, how much more are we waiting to lose?
This is a question that every progressive Buddhist needs an answer
to.
Despite having survived the
historic onslaught of Islamic invaders, these unknown Buddhist
lands face the grim reality of losing their communities to the
onslaught of Christian evangelism. 20th century South Korea is an
example of how easy it is indeed for Buddhism to fall prey to
aggressive evangelism.
Historically speaking, the strength
of Buddhist evolution centered on the members of its monastic - the
Sangha. The Sangha institution became the backbone of the entire
Buddhist community in any given social context, be it Theravada,
Mahayana or Tibetan throughout its 2550 years of history.
The success of Buddhism is often
measured by the strength of the Sangha. The traditional defenders
of Buddhism have been and are still, the monks and nuns. As a
natural consequence, Buddhist adherents tend to look up to the
monastic Sangha for guidance. Unfortunately, this dependency has
brought forth a devastating paralysis, especially at a time when
the monastic priesthood is losing its pristine social and spiritual
position as moral models and embodiments of love, compassion and
wisdom.
For the last many decades the
Buddhist monastic Sangha in every Buddhist country have not been
faring well enough to retain its followers and attract new
converts. Some monks have been busy filling up pockets while some
others are poorly trained to cope with modern challenges. And yet
some of these monks keep themselves busy by fighting for
ecclesiastical ranking and power within the monastic system.
All these unsavoury activities
leave behind great gaps, neglecting the development of promising
and creative social and religious leadership within Buddhist
circles. Christian evangelicals have been quick to fill up this
"Sangha-lay followers" vacuum.
It is believed that private
properties owned by the monastic sangha may well surpass the
private properties owned by the government of any given Buddhist
country. Enormous public generosity have produced some of the
richest monks and temples ever seen in Buddhist history, while
millions of Buddhists unknown to many of us have been left out on
their own, neglected and forgotten.
Even the very existence of the
small but distinct minority Buddhist communities such as the
Chaungtha people of Burma, the Khamiyang tribe from India, the Huay
tribe of Thailand, the Kutangs of Nepal, the Gtsang of Tibet and
the Brokkats of Bhutan - to name but a few - are hardly ever known
to more educated and affluent Buddhists.
The Buddhist communities from this
part of the globe somehow managed to survive with the harshest
realities of existence by sticking to their Buddhist identities
under oppressive and unfriendly governments. Is it their karma? How
long more do we expect them to continue under the banner of
Buddhism faced with everyday realities? Can't Buddhism change their
karma? Can't the call of Buddha give them a hope, and a chance to
live with less poverty?
Any one claiming that even Buddha
cannot alter the course of peoples’ living standard, say unto him
that this is "utter nonsense". In any case, if Buddha cannot
promise to help these desperate people who have been yearning for
change and a better life, then why shouldn’t they look up to a
foreign God who promises them immediate prosperity, wealth and
change here and eternal heaven hereafter? Indeed, the ‘new God, new
country’ – a phrase often utilized by missionaries to pinpoint
modern Korea under Christianity – has been an enticing and
eye-catching example of change brought about by Christian
evangelism.
It is time for the progressive
Buddhists to meditate on this.
Yes, these Buddhist communities are
illiterate and poor. They are easy targets for evangelism. But they
deserve education and material prosperity before they could think
of religion. And evangelical missionaries are providing just
that.
Why can't the richest monks,
richest temples and richest Buddhist organizations of the affluent
world mobilize work teams to visit and look into the grievances of
these forgotten fellow Buddhists? Why are we just shouting at
others who are helping them when we chose not to act ourselves?
The Buddhist teachings of karma,
rebirth, suffering, selflessness, and contentment have all been
part and partial of a deeper level of misunderstanding of Buddhism
even among the most educated and affluent civilized Buddhists, and
their misunderstanding has been a boon for the greedy missionaries
to take advantage of these Buddhist teachings.
Maybe somebody is born poor because
of his karma. And someone else out there is suffering and dying
without proper hospice care. So what? He's got lots more rebirths
coming up next. Somebody is poor but wants to have a better life.
So instead of providing skills and opportunities, they are asked to
"practice contentment". This is the unfortunate mentality of
Buddhists towards those who are at the bottom rung of society.
No matter how openly they deny,
sadly this has been proved to be the case over and over again.
Highly spiritual monks and committed practicing lay Buddhists tend
to overlook the necessity of material development.
But what these people forget to
realize is that there cannot be spirituality where there is
widespread hunger and poverty; and healthy spirituality cannot
exist where there is widespread illiteracy, ignorance and
superstitions. It is only in the very recent time that the affluent
Buddhist world has felt the need to counter evangelism by
establishing parallel institutions like schools, colleges,
hospitals, aged homes and carry out relief works but the fact that
this is largely to meet the needs of the local community, this is
yet to affect the millions of forgotten Buddhists in unknown parts
of the world.
And this raises the extreme
Buddhist need to establish cohesive, well-financed, dedicated and
inspired international Buddhist organizations to safeguard the very
existence of the peoples of the Buddhist world through active
participation on field.
But it is easier said than done.
Believe it or not, Buddhists tend to be very proud and suspicious
of fellow Buddhists. The powerful ecclesiastical monastic sangha of
Thailand would not allow temples from other Buddhist countries to
be built on its soil, while the building of aTheravada temple in
the Korean soil is most likely to be seen as an attempt to
Theravadize the Mahayanist Koreans. Such is the suspicion and pride
among Buddhists of different countries.
Some other Buddhists yet take pride
in promoting so-called inter-religious dialogues between Buddhists
and Christians, between Buddhists and Muslims but the irony is that
Buddhists of Theravada, Mahayana and Tibetan seldom get along
together.
Sadly there is hardly any effective
contactsbetween and among these three major Buddhist dominations.
Economically weak Theravada Buddhist temples and monks of Sri
Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Laos and Cambodia have been struggling to
cater the needs of their respective native followers living in the
West. Meanwhile the economically stronger Mahayana Buddhist temples
and monks of China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan have been struggling to
expand their influences throughout the rich West. And despite
having poured millions of dollars for building temples and
universities there, yet Tibetan monks have been struggling to get
fame and popularity to draw the attention of the world to their
Tibetan issue.
All these trends have effectively
left millions of native Buddhists forgotten and neglected. In their
unknown lands, it is they who are in dire need of financial
investments, education, creative leadership and social betterment
more than the West.
It cannot be denied that the West
needs promising monks and Buddhist leaders more than anyone else.
The Western public is intelligent and affluent but it is we, the
Asians, who have taught them the Dharma. But while we try to meet
their spiritual needs with our limited spiritual Asian resources,
we must also never never forget Buddhists from these unknown
lands
They have been, and are our fellow
Buddhists for centuries. We share identical Buddhist culture and
history but are not getting what they deserve from their more
fortunate and affluent fellow Buddhists.
So this being the case, how ethical
correct are we to oppose anyone who goes to standby, help and live
with these unwanted peoples of the Buddhist world? What Buddhist
doctrine can we possibly use to justify and declare that such an
action is immoral?
Even the most fanatic Buddhists
among us would have to accept the fact that no matter with what
ulterior motives the Evangelicals choose to help such forgotten and
neglected peoples, the intrinsic goodness of their action is
something that cannot be denied or downplayed.
And this only questions our
inability and unwillingness to help our own fellow Buddhists.
Indeed, evangelical groups are proving to be very successful with
their slogan - ‘believe in Jesus, he will be always with you’. Many
things would change if we Buddhists could learn to say ‘we are your
friends in your need’ and prove our say with our active social
engagement. The kind of Humanistic Buddhism promoted by some
creative and progressive Buddhists or Engaged Buddhism as promoted
by some is not inclusive enough because it has effectively failed
to address and respond to the acute needs of these forgotten
Buddhist communities who are now the targets of Christian
evangelism.
Indeed, the greatest challenge of
sectarian Buddhist traditions and organizations is the
unwillingness and hesitation to help those who are not following
the form of Buddhism each of them follows.
There seems to be the demand of
internal evangelization within and among various sectarian
Buddhists before they could be considered fit for help. The most
affluent Mahayana Buddhists of Korea and Taiwan, for example, might
not be willing to go and help those neglected Buddhist ethnic
groups scattered throughout the border areas of Thailand, Burma,
Bangladesh and India who are followers of Theravada Buddhism, while
the able Theravada Buddhists of Thailand, Sri Lanka and Burma might
not be willing to come out for the ethnic minorities of the
Himalayan regions who are mostly followers of Tibetan Buddhism.
This is certainly not the kind of
mentality the Buddha would very much like his followers to have
towards fellow Buddhists. The result is that this has effectively
barred the interaction between and among the various sectarian
groups of Buddhism.
Let’s not deny the historical fact
that Buddha was the first and a successful leader of missionary
activities hundreds of years before Christ got the smell of this
earth. Let’s not pretend that we Buddhists do not convert
followers. We do but the difference in us is that we love to target
the most educated, the most affluent, and the most intelligent
pundits of the world rather than taking advantage of peoples’
poverty and illiteracy.
We take peoples’ intelligence and
wisdom to our advantage which is the uniqueness of Buddhist
evangelism. Perhaps this very prospect is leading us to the other
disadvantage: losing our fellow poor, neglected and illiterate
Buddhists. And this only calls for the implementation of the much
acclaimed Buddhist ‘Middle Way’.
The well established large monastic
sanghas and lay Buddhist organizations of the known Buddhist world
are effectively failing to perform their duties well enough due to
unscrupulous remnants of corruption, misbehaviors, mismanagement
and inefficiency within.
Some of these monastic sanghas need
internal reformation to cope with modern challenges. The high rate
of disrobing among the intelligent, educated, energetic and
promising young clergy is indeed a headache for many of us. Yet
despite all these weaknesses and shortcomings there are lots more
that can be done, if we are only willing and are truly selfless –
‘for the welfare and happiness of many’, the slogan used by the
Buddha himself to denote his kind of evangelism.
So how and when will these 238 or
so people-groups of the Buddhist world fall as victims of Christian
evangelism? Is there something that we - as informed Buddhists -
can do, or should we just fold our arms and rant in our chests
about these "evil evangelists"?
It is time for Buddhists to get our
act together, look out for one another and redeem ourselves by
rallying to Buddha's call to "go forth... for the good of many, for
the benefit and well being of many." Failing which, predatory
Christian groups will only be too happy to forage by the wayside,
preying on our inaction.
And if we were to let this happen,
then the only ones to blame will be us - the indifferent, indolent,
complacent Buddhists.
Original article can be found here.