"Looking at the unethical conversions that Christian missionaries have been working very hard for, they can offer only material support. We should not trade material comfort with our spiritual liberation. The message is direct and strong. We will not be shaken by the unethical and evil approach, trying to look down upon Buddhist belief and practices.
Our Sri Lankan sisters told us what Christian missionaries do. They made the Buddha into a culprit by picking on the fact that he left his new born baby and responsibility to his family. Buddhists must realize that the Prince chose to leave his family only to return to deliver them spiritually. The spiritual deliverance is much more long lasting and he not only brought about spiritual freedom for himself, his family, but also humankind. The Buddha’s message was the greatest achievement of the human era.
When a Buddhist has not studied Buddhist teaching properly, how can he or she put it into practice? How can he or she defend the teaching? How can he/she differentiate the false accusation bombarded against the Buddha and his teaching through unethical conversion?
The so-called Buddhists would choose material support as offered by the missionary readily, as it is direct material gain. They do not have spiritual value which would enable them to have a happy life. It will take them a long while to realize that life with material wealth as offered by a Christian missionary can support them only temporarily. On the other hand, they are uprooted from their own culture which comes with all the social values as the foundation of the society of our forefathers.
While we are affirming that Buddhism can withstand the storm of conversion, Buddhism is definitely relevant to modern society; it is only Buddhists who can prove that such belief can become a reality in their own commitment, in their own lives.
The change must happen now. They cannot keep Buddhism alive and active for the future generation if Buddhism is not lived in this generation.
Dhammo have rakkhati, Dhamma carim
Dhamma protects one who practices dhamma
But we must also protect dhamma by making it real in our lives and not only on our lips."
My response to the article -
| good analysis by author of the political proclivities of the Abrahamic religions and the purely spiritual dimension of the Eastern Dharmas. One must also add that conversions are colonialism through subtle means. The existing way of life and thought is suplanted with one that is foreign. Conversions everywhere has had a huge political and social impact on the people and land. Example is the north east of India where a war against the coutry is being fought in the name of Nagalim for Christ. Where Christians are in a majority the larger Christians nations are brought to bear pressure to effect a partition like in the case of East Timor. Conversions must be stopped and combated by all means possible. GopalKrishnaiah, you have swallowed the Christian propaganda hook, line, sinker and all. Caste system is the one thing that christists constantly beat the Hindus with. If you sincere about discussion and convincing anybody, you will also mention that each caste in India strives to maintain its caste identity irrespective of how much Christists shout from rooftops about how the "lower" castes are oppressed. the concept of hierarchy arose due to the European steeped in the eurocentric thinking, projecting his own social structure on to the Hindu way of life. I ask you to speak to a Kuruba or a Madiga and ask him if he wants to be a Brahmin, the loud and resounding answer will be a NO. Each caste/tribe is proud of its identity and beliefs. Violence that happens are due to struggles for increasingly scarce resources and the jockeying for political space by both groups. This is normal in any country including ones where there is no democracy. Hogwash is what Christists claim to be a utopian society. There are separate churches for different castes and there is no intermarriage. Now Christists are claiming reservation! Why do you need reservation when you are no the oppresssed class anymore? | ||
| vijay | ||
| 03 Apr 2009 |
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