Regarding the Dambulla Incident
It doesn't matter whether one is a Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Christian, Burgher, Catholic or Hindu. What matters is the action, the skilful behaviour. If an act causes suffering, disharmony to the doer of someone else, such behaviour is not good. This is the simple sutra I follow to distinguish between what's is bad, unskilful, wrong and what is good, skilful, right.
There are very many groups on facebook that in the name of Buddhism, spread racism. They say that their religion is better than others’. What is ironical is that, their speech is full of vengeance, hatred. Anger is self destructive. Wise people never get angry. It is not what Buddhism or Islam is about.
Ajahn Brahm referring the the incident where US prison guards flushed down the Quran, said that
These golden words are the gist of Buddhism. Brahm beautifully describes the difference between containers and content. Buddha statues, Mosques, Churches contains, resembles the teaching of Buddha, Muhammad, Jesus. But the content is in their followers minds. In reality destroying a religious statue is destroying a pile of bricks and cement. Such things cannot destroy the religion. Going to the temple, worshiping, making racist remarks on Facebook groups in the name of Buddhism does not make a person a good Buddhist. I have a strong feeling that It is the same with Islam.
We should give priority to love, kindness, calmness and non-violence. The rest is secondary.
I would like to understand the Dambulla incident; http://www.adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=17820; where a "Buddhist Monk" with thousands of followers entered a Mosque by force and threatened to remove the construction, as a black mark in the history of religious harmony in Sri Lanka. Inamaluwe Thero's behaviour was "unacceptable" in several levels. First as a respectable religious leader, he was misleading thousands of people. Secondly he was a Buddhist leader; Buddhism is about non-violence, loving kindness and harmony. All this happened in a country, which suffered from a brutal ethnic war, for decades.
The sudden suspicious emergence of Inamaluwe Thero’s religious intolerance could be an act of supporting a particular political group to further market the Sinhala-Buddhist patriotism to win political advantages, to stay in power.
There are very many groups on facebook that in the name of Buddhism, spread racism. They say that their religion is better than others’. What is ironical is that, their speech is full of vengeance, hatred. Anger is self destructive. Wise people never get angry. It is not what Buddhism or Islam is about.
Ajahn Brahm referring the the incident where US prison guards flushed down the Quran, said that
“You can flush the Buddhist holy book down the toilet, but I’m not going to let you flush Buddhism down the toilet. You can blow up the Bamiyan Buddha statues but I’m not going to let you destroy what the Buddha taught. You may kill all the monks, nuns and destroy the temples, but I am not going to let you destroy what Buddha taught - Peace, Forgiveness, Harmony and Non-violence ”
These golden words are the gist of Buddhism. Brahm beautifully describes the difference between containers and content. Buddha statues, Mosques, Churches contains, resembles the teaching of Buddha, Muhammad, Jesus. But the content is in their followers minds. In reality destroying a religious statue is destroying a pile of bricks and cement. Such things cannot destroy the religion. Going to the temple, worshiping, making racist remarks on Facebook groups in the name of Buddhism does not make a person a good Buddhist. I have a strong feeling that It is the same with Islam.
We should give priority to love, kindness, calmness and non-violence. The rest is secondary.
I would like to understand the Dambulla incident; http://www.adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=17820; where a "Buddhist Monk" with thousands of followers entered a Mosque by force and threatened to remove the construction, as a black mark in the history of religious harmony in Sri Lanka. Inamaluwe Thero's behaviour was "unacceptable" in several levels. First as a respectable religious leader, he was misleading thousands of people. Secondly he was a Buddhist leader; Buddhism is about non-violence, loving kindness and harmony. All this happened in a country, which suffered from a brutal ethnic war, for decades.
The sudden suspicious emergence of Inamaluwe Thero’s religious intolerance could be an act of supporting a particular political group to further market the Sinhala-Buddhist patriotism to win political advantages, to stay in power.
This is a really good talk on Religious tolerance by Ajahn Brahm
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