Religious Harmony

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism
santa100
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Re: Religious Harmony

Post by santa100 »

Actuallly, back then there were quite a lot of schools/philosophies/religions that constantly argue against one another. The Buddha simply didn't get entangled in such frivolous activities. He simply focused on the most immediate issue of suffering and how to put an end to it:
[As for the teachings that promote] the qualities of which you may know, 'These qualities lead to dispassion, not to passion; to being unfettered, not to being fettered; to shedding, not to accumulating; to modesty, not to self-aggrandizement; to contentment, not to discontent; to seclusion, not to entanglement; to aroused persistence, not to laziness; to being unburdensome, not to being burdensome': You may categorically hold, 'This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher's instruction.' ( AN 8.53 )
Cassandra
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Re: Religious Harmony

Post by Cassandra »

Yea but are there records of major blood baths and civil conflicts on religious disputes such as the jews and hitler/Israeli–Palestinian/Hindu-Muslim in India to name a few? I haven't heard of any.

Edit: What I meant to say was that, if there were above Buddha might have commented on it. It looks like he had made comments regarding matters of lay life on other instances.
santa100
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Re: Religious Harmony

Post by santa100 »

All the more respect to the Buddha's wisdom when He taught not to cling to those "jungles" or "thickets" of view. This is the true message of religious harmony. One could preach messages of harmony all they want, and if at the end of the day, one still clings to the idea of my God is bigger and better than your God, or only my philosophy is better than yours, then that's not true religious harmony. It'll only perpetuate the bloodshed..
Cassandra
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Joined: Sat Oct 13, 2012 2:48 am

Re: Religious Harmony

Post by Cassandra »

santa100 wrote:All the more respect to the Buddha's wisdom when He taught not to cling to those "jungles" or "thickets" of view. This is the true message of religious harmony. One could preach messages of harmony all they want, and if at the end of the day, one still clings to the idea of my God is bigger and better than your God, or only my philosophy is better than yours, then that's not true religious harmony. It'll only perpetuate the bloodshed..
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LonesomeYogurt
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Re: Religious Harmony

Post by LonesomeYogurt »

There is a sutta where the Buddha says that any philosophy in which the Noble Eightfold Path is found can produce arahants, but I can't find it offhand. Any ideas?
Gain and loss, status and disgrace,
censure and praise, pleasure and pain:
these conditions among human beings are inconstant,
impermanent, subject to change.

Knowing this, the wise person, mindful,
ponders these changing conditions.
Desirable things don’t charm the mind,
undesirable ones bring no resistance.

His welcoming and rebelling are scattered,
gone to their end,
do not exist.
- Lokavipatti Sutta

Stuff I write about things.
daverupa
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Re: Religious Harmony

Post by daverupa »

LonesomeYogurt wrote:There is a sutta where the Buddha says that any philosophy in which the Noble Eightfold Path is found can produce arahants, but I can't find it offhand. Any ideas?
That's the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, where ascetics of the four grades can be found where the eightfold path is found.
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
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Murkve
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Re: Religious Harmony

Post by Murkve »

Granted, I am not nearly as we'll versed in the suttas as others here, but I've recently come across a few that seem to illustrate the Buddha as having a "This Dhamma is the complete Truth, gained through knowledge and insight. Others are mere facets of the greater jewel that is this Dhamma." I'm thinking in particular of Ud 6:4; 67–69, the Blind Men and the Elephant sutta.

The general tone, in my readings so far, seems to be one of accepting that most faiths have an element of the truth, but that there is only one Complete Dhamma.
[i]"Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal."[/i] - Arthur Schopenhauer
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LonesomeYogurt
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Re: Religious Harmony

Post by LonesomeYogurt »

Murkve wrote:The general tone, in my readings so far, seems to be one of accepting that most faiths have an element of the truth, but that there is only one Complete Dhamma.
I'd say that's pretty much the basic summary!
Gain and loss, status and disgrace,
censure and praise, pleasure and pain:
these conditions among human beings are inconstant,
impermanent, subject to change.

Knowing this, the wise person, mindful,
ponders these changing conditions.
Desirable things don’t charm the mind,
undesirable ones bring no resistance.

His welcoming and rebelling are scattered,
gone to their end,
do not exist.
- Lokavipatti Sutta

Stuff I write about things.
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