Thursday, September 04, 2008

Buddhism Does not Need any Protection

I have heard, times without number, people and organisations saying that Buddhism should be protected. These people and organisations are downright fools. Buddhism by its intrinsic nature could attract the rational and defend itself.

Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake in a recent speech applauded the Maha Sangha of Sri Lanka for protecting Buddhism in this country. That is far from the truth. In fact, Buddhism in Sri Lanka is flawed. By upholding the caste system in recruiting monks to the Malwatte and Asgiriya nikayas, Buddhism in Sri Lanka flouts Buddha’s foremost tenets.

In India, the land of birth of Buddhism, it has been reduced to a nonentity. That is due to most Indians of Caucasian stock (north) or Dravidans descended from the Mohanjadaro-Harappa civilisation in peninsular India (south) or the endemic Indian tribals have an inclination to demonisation. They do not believe in a pure, almighty deity as in Abrahamic faiths. The Indians resort to sorcery and superstition and has a strong inclination for Satanic worship. Their iconic deities are rats, cats, dogs, monkeys etc. as much as the Chinese name the years after animals.

But the clear-minded people in the West is realising the potency of Buddhism as a scientific, rational way of life.

Its inherent crux is appealing to the straight thinking mind as well as defending itself from mundane threats.

Willy Watson

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