Page 112 - Applied Buddhism

label for political parties actually limit their own development as
they will have difficulty reaching out to the non-adherents, and in
some cases, result in chaos and conflict in those countries.
The 3 rule: “A religious organisation should make a clear stand
rd
against oppression and injustice” includes Buddhist organisations
as well. They should state their stand on certain public issues that
affect the rights of Buddhists in society, as well as issues that may
create disharmony due to misconceptions about Buddhism among
non-Buddhists. As pointed out by Prof. Liu Yu Guang, “When a
Buddhist organisation involved itself in religious activities, as
provided for under the constitution, it actually enters into a scenario
of exercising its rights, and hence the responsibility of protecting
the rights of civil society when the situation demands”. Another
scholar, Dr You Xiang Zhou (of Taiwan) pointed out that if a
religious organisation chooses to ignore public issues, it is either
closed-minded or hypocritical.
The 4 rule: “A religious organisation should strive to
th
transform the situation without engaging in partisan conflicts.” This
rule is a test on the wisdom and skills of Buddhist leaders. It is
not easy to make changes without causing partisan conflicts. To
reduce partisan conflicts, Buddhist organisations should address the
issues objectively, without considering the interests or views of the
political parties involved.
Apart from the above rules, Dr. You Xiang Zhou of Taiwan (See
You Xiang Zhou: The Development of Global Engaged Buddhist-
its Political Approach to Public Affairs. 游祥洲：论全球入世佛
教之发展进路--兼论其涉及公共事务之政治取向）opined
that there should be five additional rules to this code of ethics.
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Religious leaders should ensure that the resources in an
organisation are used in accordance with the original objectives
they were established. Otherwise, it will be an abuse or misuse
of these resources. When members of the public make financial
contributions to a religious organisation, such donations should be
used only for the purpose they were requested. Religious leaders
have no right to convert resources received for religious purposes
into political donations.
When religious leaders mobilize its devotees for certain
projects, it should not deviate from the original purpose why they
were mobilized. Otherwise, it becomes a form of inappropriate
mobilization. For instance, if religious leaders mobilize devotees
to support a political party, it is likely to attract a negative response
from the public, especially in today’s society that upholds the value
of separation of politics and religion.
The respect a religious leader receives is derived from his many
actions in society. He is expected to lead the devotees from the
“mundane” to the “supra-mundane” in terms of their understanding
and practice of the religion. He must not degrade the sanctity of
the religion by encouraging or mobilizing the devotees to support
any political activities. Furthermore, he must not impersonate any
divinity or claim to have received any divine message from some
supernatural beings. Finally, he must understand that he is not a
saint but a human with faults on the path to perfection.
Religious leaders are supported by devotees because of their
faith in them. While faith tends to be emotional, it does not mean
that it is irrational. However, devotees should not blindly follow
religious leaders, especially when they have exceeded the boundaries
of their roles. It is for this reason that all religious leaders should be
Applied Buddhism 101