Many Buddhas in Sri Lanka. Jesus prays.
Sri Lankan Buddhist Ahangamage Tudor Ariyaratne founded the Sarvodaya Shramandana movement 50 years ago, to empower ordinary people.
In an online Newsweek interview, this beautiful leader talks about how the movement is “based on the teachings of the Buddha. In the first place, Buddha advocated that we should obey the five precepts: nonkilling, nonstealing, non-sexual indulgence, nonviolence and nonintoxication. These five precepts are the fundamentals on which we work. We believe that human beings should develop four characteristics Buddha has taught us: to practice loving kindness toward all living beings, to engage yourself in compassionate action, to gain joy out of serving other people and to work in a spirit of equality. These four principles help a person to develop one's personality. From them we can derive another set of principles for the community that we wish to practice. One is sharing, to share your efforts or whatever you have. The second is pleasant language, a language of compassion and respect. The third is constructive activity, the effort to direct your actions toward real and positive achievement. And the fourth is equality in association.”
What wonderful precepts and principles we can apply to all human endeavor, huh?
Having spent some time in the Buddhist temples of Sri Lanka in January, I feel even more ready to embrace these ways of life. Yes, I am a practicing Christian who loves Jesus. And I love Buddha, too. Both have taught me so much about ethical living, a compassionate way of seeing, of letting go of what no longer serves me.
Just this week I received a lovely book, Jesus and Buddha: the Parallel Sayings, edited by Marcus Borg (Ulysses Press,California, 2002). Borg makes a great distinction when comparing the lives of these two phenomenal beings, born 500 years apart. Though their teachings are so similar, Buddha lived into his 80s and died a natural death. Jesus was given a death sentence as a young man.
Borg takes on the question, “Why?” Why if they stood for such similar principles of living was one crucified?
"There is a social and political passion in Jesus which we do not find in the Buddha,” Borg writes. “In addition to being a wisdom teacher and healer, Jesus was a social prophet. He challenged the domination system of his day and its ruling elites, and affirmed an alternative social vision….Jesus’ early death was probably because of his social-political passion; if he had been simply a wisdom teacher and healer, I doubt that he would have been executed.”
Reflecting on how Jesus’s more active, confrontational ministry could have lead to his early death makes me think about how I conduct myself. What path am I on? How am I contributing to others' lives and my own death?
Yes, there is a line between teaching and preaching, between quietly working for change and vocally protesting. Finding the right blend is a valuable exercise for us all.
In an online Newsweek interview, this beautiful leader talks about how the movement is “based on the teachings of the Buddha. In the first place, Buddha advocated that we should obey the five precepts: nonkilling, nonstealing, non-sexual indulgence, nonviolence and nonintoxication. These five precepts are the fundamentals on which we work. We believe that human beings should develop four characteristics Buddha has taught us: to practice loving kindness toward all living beings, to engage yourself in compassionate action, to gain joy out of serving other people and to work in a spirit of equality. These four principles help a person to develop one's personality. From them we can derive another set of principles for the community that we wish to practice. One is sharing, to share your efforts or whatever you have. The second is pleasant language, a language of compassion and respect. The third is constructive activity, the effort to direct your actions toward real and positive achievement. And the fourth is equality in association.”
What wonderful precepts and principles we can apply to all human endeavor, huh?
Having spent some time in the Buddhist temples of Sri Lanka in January, I feel even more ready to embrace these ways of life. Yes, I am a practicing Christian who loves Jesus. And I love Buddha, too. Both have taught me so much about ethical living, a compassionate way of seeing, of letting go of what no longer serves me.
Just this week I received a lovely book, Jesus and Buddha: the Parallel Sayings, edited by Marcus Borg (Ulysses Press,California, 2002). Borg makes a great distinction when comparing the lives of these two phenomenal beings, born 500 years apart. Though their teachings are so similar, Buddha lived into his 80s and died a natural death. Jesus was given a death sentence as a young man.
Borg takes on the question, “Why?” Why if they stood for such similar principles of living was one crucified?
"There is a social and political passion in Jesus which we do not find in the Buddha,” Borg writes. “In addition to being a wisdom teacher and healer, Jesus was a social prophet. He challenged the domination system of his day and its ruling elites, and affirmed an alternative social vision….Jesus’ early death was probably because of his social-political passion; if he had been simply a wisdom teacher and healer, I doubt that he would have been executed.”
Reflecting on how Jesus’s more active, confrontational ministry could have lead to his early death makes me think about how I conduct myself. What path am I on? How am I contributing to others' lives and my own death?
Yes, there is a line between teaching and preaching, between quietly working for change and vocally protesting. Finding the right blend is a valuable exercise for us all.
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