..续本文上一页anda (cruel) Asoka to Dhamma (righteous) Asoka because he had the wisdom to walk the path shown by the Buddha. Let us also recall the Buddha”s declaration that the people of a certain kingdom could not be overcome by force because they followed the seven conditions for the progress of a nation. These examples show that war is avoidable if we truly wish it. There is a principle of Modern Management today which declares that if we expect Zero Defects in our operations we will achieve them. Similarly if we envisage a society without war, we will achieve peace. Unfortunately we have been so indoctrinated to believe that war is the only way to get what we want, that we will continue to wage war. The most horrible irony of it is that people even wage wars in the name of religions which teach the brotherhood of man.
Therefore the greatest challenge facing us in the next millenium is to grow up, to stop fighting like small boys and heed the word of the Enlightened One :
All fear death,
All fear the rod,
Knowing this we should never strike
Nor cause to strike.
Proselitisation
The world today is pided by many factors. Sad to say one of the most important of the organizations responsible for these many pisions is religion. Today, perhaps like at no other time in history, are the vast resources of certain religious organizations being exploited shamelessly in a mad scramble to win converts at any cost. These include the spreading of malicious lies against other religions like Buddhism. Young, innocent impressionable people are being lured away from their traditional religion through blatant false propaganda and even through bribes. There are instances of whole villages in certain countries being converted en masse through the promise of material gain. Conversion in itself may not be a bad thing, but when methods employed and the motives for converting are suspect then we must not stand idly by and do nothing about it.
In many countries, conversions which are not accompanied by a full understanding of what is being accepted can lead to serious problems, often causing the breakup of marriages and families and other social problems. Therefore it is not conversion but buying people.
There is therefore an urgent need for Buddhists to seek the dialogue with other religious groups to voice our dissatisfaction with their activities. There are genuine members of these faiths who are themselves embarrassed by the antics of their fellow religionists. They must speak against their own kind and Buddhists must make every effort to urge them to do so. In the past, traditional religions were the victims of colonial missionaries. Today, the problem is much more insidious - citizens of the same country are working to undermine the traditional cultures and practices of their forefathers and introducing alien ways to their people, separating parents and children, the old and the young.
Ecumenism
On a more positive note, however, Buddhists have always been encouraged, in the KALAMA SUTRA for example, to seek dialogue with others to show respect for other genuine seekers after the truth. We need to talk with other religionists formally and informally to know how they think, to show them how we think and to find common ground on which we can cooperate to work for the betterment of the human race. In some cases we must even be humble enough to admit that we can adopt their methods particularly in social and charity work and help the poor and the weak and helpless in every corner of the world.
Buddhist Values
Having examined some of the challenges facing Buddhists today and how we can help to promote peace and social harmony let us examine how we can identify some Buddhist values which we will need to achieve our goals.
It cannot be said that there a…
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