It is not uncommon to come across people who have such mistaken
beliefs:
'Oh, I can't eat beef. I'm a Buddhist.'
'This amulet is blessed and given to me by a Buddhist monk.
Can ward off evil.'
Upon hearing such statements, the first feeling that arises
within me would be anger, because such are the statements that
cause other people to have misconceptions about Buddhism, leading
to the misconception that Buddhism is a superstitious religion.
Initially, what I would do is to politely challenge the
person's beliefs, asking them why Buddhist can't eat beef, what
about all other animals? Why would a Buddhist practising
loving-kindness would be afraid of 'evil'?
I would then go onto lengthy explanations on the correct
beliefs, like how vegetarianism is encouraged but not enforced,
that all sentient beings are equal and we don't specifically target
on cows.
I would agree that on my part, it is a sort of attachment. I
don't like people spreading false image of Buddhism, especially
when we are living in a society where people still think
that Buddhism is about praying to Guan Yin images and
such.
Lately, I've also stop attempting to correct such mistaken
beliefs because such beliefs are already quite deep rooted, and
there is so many people with such beliefs that I'm tired of
challenging them again.
But then again, even if this is a kind of attachment, how can I
not do anything about such mistaken views and allow it to
spread?
What is the correct approach when one meets a person with such
slanted beliefs?