Archive for the ‘buddhism’ tag
Karen Armstrong: Prejudices Will Be Shaken by This Show
By Karen Armstrong
From the Guardian
Ever since the Crusades, when Christians from western Europe were fighting holy wars against Muslims in the near east, western people have often perceived Islam as a violent and intolerant faith – even though when this prejudice took root Islam had a better record of tolerance than Christianity. Recent terrorist atrocities have seemed to confirm this received idea. But if we want a peaceful world, we urgently need a more balanced view. We cannot hope to win the “battle for hearts and minds” unless we know what is actually in them. Nor can we expect Muslims to be impressed by our liberal values if they see us succumbing unquestioningly to a medieval prejudice born in a time of extreme Christian belligerence.
Like Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Christians, Sikhs and secularists, some Muslims have undoubtedly been violent and intolerant, but the new exhibition at the British Museum – Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam – is a timely reminder that this is not the whole story. The hajj is one of the five essential practices of Islam; when they make the pilgrimage to Mecca, Muslims ritually act out the central principles of their faith. Equating religion with “belief” is a modern western aberration. Like swimming or driving, religious knowledge is practically acquired. You learn only by doing. The ancient rituals of the hajj, which Arabs performed for centuries before Islam, have helped pilgrims to form habits of heart and mind that – pace the western stereotype – are non-violent and inclusive.
In the holy city of Mecca, violence of any kind was forbidden. From the moment they left home, pilgrims were not permitted to carry weapons, to swat an insect or speak an angry word, a discipline that introduced them to a new way of living. At a climactic moment of his prophetic career, Muhammad drew on this tradition. Fleeing persecution in Mecca in 622, he and the Muslim community (the umma) had migrated to Medina, 250 miles to the north. Mecca was determined to destroy the umma and a bitter conflict ensued. But eventually Muhammad broke the deadly cycle of warfare with an audacious non-violent initiative.
Places of Faith Tells What Really Goes on in America’s Temples Mosques and Churches
By David Briggs
From Huffington Post
What do Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn, Hispanic Catholics in central Nebraska, megachurch evangelicals in Houston and South Asian Muslims in suburban Detroit have in common?
More than many people could ever imagine.
Forget the popular cultural images from shows such as HBO’s “Big Love” that revive stereotypes linking Mormonism with polygamy or the ubiquitous images in the news associating Islam with terrorism. Look past the cultural crossfire that lumps religious liberals and conservatives into separate boxes defined by extremist political and social agendas.
The reality, as presented in a new book by two respected scholars, is that if you walk into a mosque, synagogue, temple or church next weekend, you will most likely find groups of believers in prayer and meditation seeking spiritual growth.
For six weeks, Pennsylvania State University sociologists Christopher Scheitle and Roger Finke traveled nearly 7,000 miles across the country visiting diverse religious communities. What they report back in “Places of Faith: A Road Trip Across America’s Landscape” is a portrait of people of faith sharing many of the same aspirations across theological and denominational divides.
They encounter members of a black church in Memphis and a Mormon congregation in a small Utah town giving personal testimonies amid Sunday worship and religious education classes lasting three hours and more. In both the Friday prayer service at the Islamic Center of America in Detroit and the Saturday morning Shabbat service at B’nai Avraham in Brooklyn, the authors find immigrants from Africa, Asia and Europe praying for the well-being of humanity.
These straightforward observations of faith groups at worship have a critical role to play in public discourse on religion especially when an increasing body of research reveals sharp declines in religious prejudice, the more people of different beliefs get to know one another.
“Places of Faith” allows “students and people in general to look over our shoulder and to find out what these communities are like and how similar they are in many ways,” said Finke, who is also director of the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Religious Wisdom the World Needs Now
by Yaira Robinson
from State of Formation
This was my first visit to the Zen Center. One of the Buddhist priests had invited me to encourage his students to engage in interfaith environmental work. I was a little nervous, but something about this group—their open spirit, perhaps, and honest questions—quickly put me at ease and helped me speak from the heart. At some point, I found myself saying, “The Buddhist tradition has beautiful teachings about how all life is interconnected, and the world desperately needs this wisdom! Pleaseshare it.”
Global warming is a huge behemoth of a problem. It challenges us to work together across the globe in new and unprecedented ways—ways we clearly haven’t figured out yet, as international climate talks repeatedly fail to produce significant agreements. Meanwhile, individual people are waking up to the climate crisis, struggling to make sense of it, and wondering how to respond.
One of the ways that people of faith are responding is by turning to our religious traditions. From them, we seek teachings and practices that might inform our actions as we try to meet these challenges. And we are finding them! Each of the world’s religious traditions offers tremendous wisdom about how we should live in respectful relationship with the earth and with each other.
As I drove home from the Zen Center that evening, I got to thinking: If what the world in climate crisis most needs to hear from the Buddhist tradition is that all life is interconnected, what does it most need to hear from other religious traditions?
How Other Faiths Celebrate December 25th
By Eric Marrapodi
From CNN
Two days before Christmas, Imam Mohamed Magid, the executive director at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society, preached about Jesus at Friday prayers.
“We live in a country with a majority of Christians, where Christmas is a major holiday… It’s a reminder we do believe in Jesus. Jesus’ position in Islam is one of the highest prophets in Islam,” Magid said, adding that Muslims view Jesus as a prophet on par with Abraham, Moses, Noah and Mohammad.
Often when he says the name of Mohammad or Jesus in conversation, Magid adds the Islamic honorific “Peace be upon him” after his name.
“Jesus is a unifying figure, unifying Muslims and Christians,” he said. The Quran, the Islamic scriptures, makes specific mention of Jesus and of his mother Mary. “It’s very interesting that there are many places where the prophet (Mohammad) is quoting Jesus.”
Christmas has a way of bleeding into other faiths in America. The Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ in a manger in Bethlehem 2000 some odd years ago is ubiquitous across the country, even if the American tradition has leaned away from the sacred and toward the secular.
Christmas at every corner can be somewhat problematic for those who are not in the estimated 246 million Christians living in the United States. But for some faiths, the season brings reminders of their own traditions.
At American Academy of Religion Conference Dharmic Religions Have a Bigger Place
By Philip Goldberg
From Huffington Post
Last month I attended the annual conference of the American Academy of Religion (AAR). Comprised mainly of scholars who teach and do research at North American universities, the AAR is, according to its mission statement, “dedicated to furthering knowledge of religion and religious institutions in all their forms and manifestations.” I was one of the few non-academics among more than 10,000 participants dashing from venue to venue in downtown San Francisco, clutching their Starbucks cups and AAR tote bags.
If you practice religion, or you’re curious about religious subjects, or you’re interested in religion as a citizen of a nominally religious country, your head would have been spinning trying to figure out which of dozens of concurrent speeches, panels and discussions to attend. Once you decided, you might have found the scholarly jargon as indecipherable as Sanskrit, and at times you might have dozed off. The talking heads were the opposite of the ones you see on TV: long on substance, short on sound bites.
That said, what takes place at the annual AAR meeting is of considerable importance outside the ivory tower. The theologians, philosophers and social scientists in attendance determine how religion is taught in colleges, universities and seminaries; they dictate to a large extent what is included in textbooks at every level of education; and they affect what is said about religion in public forums and in the mass media.
Given the nature of American culture — and the fact that the conference was co-hosted by the Society of Biblical Literature — it is not surprising that the vast majority of topics addressed center on the Judeo-Christian traditions. However, to the delight of people like me, the historical dominance of the Abrahamic faiths has diminished in recent years. The number of sessions devoted to the four so-called Dharmic religions born in India — Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism — has increased considerably, as AAR Program Units in areas such as Tantric Studies, Jainism and Yoga Philosophy and Practice were added to the roster since the late 90s when, amidst opposition, Drs. Rita Sherma and Cynthia Ann Humes spearheaded the introduction of the Hinduism Group.
A Path of Interreligious Friendship
by Leo D. Lefebure
When I was a graduate student at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago in the 1980s, there were intense discussions of religious pluralism and theological understandings of religious diversity. My doctoral dissertation focused on the importance of the biblical wisdom tradition for contemporary Christian theology, concluding with suggestions that this trajectory could be a fruitful starting point for inter-religious reflection.
During this period, a couple that I knew moved from Casper, Wyoming, to Bangkok and invited me to visit them. This led to my first trip to East and Southeast Asia. I visited Kyoto, Bangkok, Myanmar/Burma, and Bali, and was deeply moved by the beauty of the Buddhist and Hindu art in these sites. I also stayed in the Buddhist monastery of Wat Rempoeng near Chiang Mai, Thailand, where I was introduced to the practice of Theravada Buddhist meditation.
Shortly thereafter, I came to know the noted Japanese Zen Buddhist philosopher, Masao Abe, who was then a visiting professor at the University of Chicago. He agreed to be the mentor to me for a post-doctoral research project funded by the Association of Theological Schools of the United States and Canada, which allowed me to go to Kyoto, where Abe introduced me to a circle of Japanese scholars, both Buddhist and Christian. These encounters led to my book, The Buddha and the Christ (Orbis Books 1993). My most recent book, The Path of Wisdom: A Christian Commentary on the Dhammapada (Peeters and Eerdmans 2011), continues this trajectory of reflection, responding to the wisdom sayings of Shakyamuni Buddha in light of both biblical and later Christian wisdom traditions. I continue to appreciate the deep wisdom of the Buddhist tradition and find it enriching on many levels.
In 1987, as I was beginning to teach at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary near Chicago, I was invited to participate in a retreat of Catholic priests and rabbis at the University’s Center for Development in Ministry, where we not only talked to one another but also prayed together. This began my decades-long engagement in Jewish-Christian dialogue, which continues today. In the spring of 2009, I participated in a very moving Jewish-Christian study trip to Poland, co-sponsored by Georgetown University and the Polish Foreign Ministry, exploring various aspects of Jewish-Polish relations past and present.
In the 1990s, I was invited to join the Midwest Dialogue of Catholics and Muslims, where I contributed to the drafting of a booklet on Revelation in Catholic and Muslim Perspectives. I was teaching at Fordham University in New York City on September 11, 2001. Afterward, I was involved in discussions of religion and violence at a number of venues, including Siena College near Albany, NY, the Islamic Center of Passaic County, New Jersey and in the Mid-Atlantic Dialogue of Catholics and Muslims in Queens.
I became involved with the work of CPWR when I went to a theology meeting at DePaul University and happened to come upon a group of colleagues who were on the CPWR research committee helping to plan the 1993 Parliament in Chicago. They invited me to attend their next meeting and join the research committee. I also covered the 1993 Parliament for The Christian Century. Later, when I was teaching at Fordham University, I participated in the Consultation on Interfaith Education’s planning for their symposium at the 2004 Parliament in Barcelona, where I offered reflections on the Dalai Lama’s contribution to interfaith education.
The most powerful defining moment of the interreligious movement for me was the 1996 Gethsemani Encounter at Gethsemani Abbey, Kentucky, which included the Dalai Lama, Maha Ghosananda (the Patriarch of Cambodian Buddhism), and many other Buddhist and Catholic monastic leaders. The context of a Catholic Trappist monastery with its rhythms of silence, meditation, and prayer, provided a welcoming atmosphere for the week-long monastic inter-religious reflection. The spirit of Thomas Merton hovered around us as we continued his practice of inter-religious friendship. As an advisor to Monastic Interreligious Dialogue, I enjoyed many moving exchanges with Buddhist and Catholic monastics. Other powerful experiences have come on Buddhist-Christian retreats that draw upon the resources of both traditions.
Given the often problematic role of religion in the world’s conflicts past and present, I believe my involvement in inter-religious reflection is important in building bridges and shaping a healthy community of the world’s religions. I find much hope and encouragement in the wonderful women and men whom I have met in inter-religious encounters.
Seeking Sikh-Muslim peace
from Washington Post
The large Sikh men with long white beards pounded the drums. Sikh men with red, blue, and orange colored turbans sat cross-legged in all corners of the sanctuary. Women dressed in bold blue, green, and purple Punjabi suits sat consumed in prayer. As I sat on the red carpet among the 300-400 guests in the audience with my hair covered in an orange cloth and my feet crossed I could not help but realize the significance of this moment as the Sikh prayers seemed to float towards heaven and consumed me. I had to constantly remind myself that I was not in a Sikh Gurdwara, the temple of worship for Sikhs, in a village in the Indian Punjab but in Rockville, Maryland.
Last Sunday, November 13th, I had the privilege of attending the most important Sikh holiday, honoring Guru Nanak, the revered founder of Sikhism. My mentor, Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, whom the BBC calls “the world’s leading authority on contemporary Islam” was invited by the Sikh community to give the keynote address. This was the first time that a Muslim had ever been invited to speak at this very large Sikh temple. Ambassador Ahmed spoke about religious pluralism and tolerance and the need for Muslims and Sikhs to live at peace. The ambassador explained that through Guru Nanak’s life we “learn how he promoted the dialogue between the two great religions of India; Hinduism and Islam which added to the beauty and birth of Sikhism.” Ahmed quoted one of his favorite sayings of Guru Nanak: “When I give myself to thee O Lord, the whole world is mine.” He also spoke of the great Sufi Islamic saint Mian Mir, who, in an act of religious pluralism, was invited by Guru Arjan to lay the foundation stone at the Golden Temple, the Mecca of Sikhism.
Ahmed reminded us about the pain of partition when in 1947 India and Pakistan separated. He urged that the healing process begin. When Ambassador Ahmed finished, Dr. Rajwant Singh, chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education, said “my heart was pounding with the power of his words” and that Ambassador Ahmed’s message was very important for the entire south Asian community. Later Manjula Kumar, a prominent Indian and a director at the Smithsonian institute, wrote that Ahmed was “creating history … I have never had such a wonderful experience at any Gurdwara”.
In addition to Dr. Singh we met White House representative Tuyet G. Duong. She spoke about the Obama administration’s desire to strengthen the relationship between the White House and the Sikh community. She told us about the similarities she found in her Buddhist faith to Sikhism. We also met Dr. Nisar Chaudhury, the president of the Pakistan American league , who was visiting his first Gurdwara and was thrilled. We were also introduced to Sardar Harcharan Singh Brar, who is head of the Mian Mir foundation in Amritsar. This is the equivalent of an Israeli Jew leading a foundation whose namesake is a Palestinian Muslim. I left the event feeling confident that if Muslims and Sikhs can be friends that Muslims and Jews can be too.
Buddha, Christ and Interreligious Peace
Dr. Leo D. Lefebure
from Godspeed Institute for Spiritual Learning
In this program Carole Hallundbaek speaks with Dr. Leo D. Lefebure, Matteo Ricci, S.J. Professor of Theology at Georgetown University. A prolific writer and traveler of where religious paths cross, merge and support each other, he is the author of The Buddha and the Christ: Explorations in Buddhist-Christian Dialogue; Life Transformed: Meditations on the Christian Scriptures in Light of Buddhist Perspectives; The Path of Wisdom: A Christian Commentary on the Dhammapada; and Revelation, the Religions, and Violence, recipient of the Pax Christi U.S.A. 2001 Book Award. He has also served on the board of directors of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies; was a participant in the New York Buddhist-Catholic dialogue; an adviser to the Board of Monastic Interreligious Dialogue; and is currently on the Board of Trustees of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions.
What I’ve Learned From The Spiritual Masters
By Steve McSwain
from Huffington Post
Thomas Merton, Roman Catholic Trappist monk (1915-68) was one of the greatest proponents of “inter-spirituality” in modern history. He believed that the pursuit of a mystical life was the key to meaning, as well as unity, between people.
He was right then. He’s still right today.
I’m a Christian by heritage and by choice. But I’m also a proponent of all spiritual traditions and so I encourage “interspirituality,” too. I do so for two reasons: One, as I learn the practices of other traditions, the practice of my own takes on more meaning. How could you ever read, for example, the love poems of the Rumi, the Sufi poet, and not be deeply moved?
Two, if history has taught us anything, it is that there will never be just one religion. Huston Smith made this point abundantly clear years ago in his classic, The World’s Religions. The longer a religion is around, the more diverse it will become.
Even people in the same religion disagree and so divide. Today, for example, there are approximately 20,000 different denominations within Christianity alone. In Hinduism, there may be twice that many. Given more time, Christianity will only become more diverse and divided, too.
When I came to this awareness, I decided to spend the rest of my life, not trying to convert everyone to Christianity, but instead seeking to create an environment of cooperativeness between all traditions. I even designed a Unity pendant that, while resembling others I had seen over the years, expressed for me the essence of my ambition. Shortly after creating it, however, I discovered that I was not alone — that many others shared a similar vision for the world. I cannot imagine the survival of the human species is possible outside an environment of mutual respect and cooperation.
Here I note, as I have in previous posts, two additional things I’ve learned from the spiritual masters of various traditions.
I’m learning the importance of meditation. My own tradition has mistakenly taught that meditation is an eastern practice and that Christians pray instead. What many do not know, however, is that meditation is the highest form of Christian prayer, too.
Diwali Illuminates Global Pluralism: “E Pluribus Unum”
by Anju Bhargava
CPWR Trustee
Deepavali popularly known as Diwali, literally means a row (avali) of lights (deepa). In essence it is the celebration of the victory of good over evil and the awakening and awareness of the Inner Light. This Inner Light, though not seen outside, outshines all darkness by removing all obstacles and dispelling all ignorance. When this inner realization blossoms then there is universal compassion, love, and the awareness of the oneness of all things. It awakens the individual to one’s true nature, not in the physical, but as the unchanging, infinite, and transcendent reality; the Sat (Truth), Chit (Consciousness) and Ananda (Inner Joy). This, for the Hindus, is the very goal of life. Monotheistic Hinduism’s original name is “Sanatana Dharma” or Eternal Order.
At its heart, Hindu philosophy emphasizes the presence of that which is pure, infinite, and eternal, which is something beyond the physical and mind. The Vedic prayer (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad — I.iii.28) captures the spirit of Diwali: Asato ma sadgamaya. Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya Mrtyorma amrtam gamaya…: “Lead me from the untruth to Truth. Lead me from darkness to light. Lead me from death to immortality.”
The foundation of Indian civilization is the pluralistic acceptance embodied in the ancient Vedic scriptures; the perennial Vedic thought: “Ekam Sat, Vipraha Bahuda Vadanti”: “The Truth is One. The Realized Ones (rishis) describe the One Truth in several ways.” Acceptance of this Truth gives people a way to express their differences while finding a common ground. And, Diwali shares a special connection with American values. It exemplifies the ideals of “E Pluribus Unum” — out of many, one.
The ancient ones (rishis) creatively brought Vedas to life through the festivals. The Festivals serve an important link between philosophy and the practical application for people in all walks of life. They exemplify the struggle between good and evil and that ultimately victory is of good and it needs to be celebrated. These joyous occasions remind us, and future generations, that it was only through the selfless service of those who sacrificed that the victory was attained. Service and giving, being a karma-yogi, are an integral part of multifaceted Vedic Hindu traditions.
Diwali is a holiday uniting the world cultures. Celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists (commonly referred to as Dharmic/Indic traditions) and the by those of any, “all and no faith,” the different aspects of Diwali create an interlocking, global mosaic. Often, Muslims and Christians participate, and artisans of all faiths make the lamps, fireworks and sweets that are used to celebrate the occasion. The lights shine and illuminate the small mud homes and the palatial mansions, which now both dot India’s landscape. In America, many homes celebrating Diwali are decorated with Christmas lights as well as Shabbat candles.
For Hindus themselves, the festivities of Diwali are celebrated through the recitation of many stories. Universally, the celebration is the triumph of Good (Lord Rama or Lord Krishna) over Evil (Ravana, Narakasura, etc.).
For Jains, the philosophical significance is similar to the Hindu perspective. Diwali reflects the joy of Lord Mahavir on attaining liberation through the path of right knowledge, right faith and the right conduct; known as three Jewells for Liberation.
The Sikhs, who were the protectors of Hindus, have also always celebrated Diwali. Its significance increased when, on this day the Sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind, was freed from captivity of the Mughal Emperor Jehangir, along with other political prisoners.
Buddhists in India and Nepal honor Emperor Ashoka who, on this day, took to Ahimsa (non-violence), a key Vedic principle which became an integral part of Buddha’s teachings. King Ashoka sent his emissaries to many parts of Asia, and they spread Buddha’s teachings.
Diwali traditionally marks the beginning of the New Year for Hindu businesses and the last harvest of the year before winter. Many celebrants close their books and open new accounts with prayers for success and prosperity. Symbolically it is a new start – forgive and forget – in all aspects of life, including relationships with family and friends. It is the time for community and family celebration with prayers through puja, of togetherness, of sharing all resources.
Many Hindus also invoke Goddess Lakshmi, (from sanskrit word lakshye which means aim) for blessings at the outset of this process of worldly and spiritual accounting. Prayers of thankfulness, (Lakshmi Puja), are offered for future prosperity by people of all faiths. Lakshmi Puja is another common factor in Diwali celebrations which connects the people of the Indian subcontinent and now globally.
Today Diwali is enjoyed by most Indians, regardless of faith, and by people of Dharmic faiths globally. Everyone celebrates it through festive fireworks, lights, flowers, sharing of sweets, and worship as is customary for each religious and/or non-religious group. No house is too big or too small for illumination.
While the story behind Diwali varies from region to region, the essence is the same: to rejoice in the Inner Light and understand the underlying reality of all things. Diwali unifies and lights the lamp of understanding within us. Seva (communal service) during Diwali means bringing in light, especially in the life of those less fortunate than us.
May the spirit of Diwali bring Joy, Health, Wealth, Prosperity, Peace, and Spiritual Enlightenment!
Loka Samastha Sukhi Nau bhavantu – May the Lord bless the whole world with eternal peace and goodwill…
Anju Bhargava was a member of President Obama’s Inaugural Council on Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and is the founder of Hindu American Seva Charities. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions.
