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subject to rational scrutiny. to a divine level by positioning them on a high pedestal. It is not
uncommon to see devotees blindly following their masters, and
When a religious organisation engages in partisan politics, claiming them to be incarnations of Maitreya Buddha, Guan Yin or
many of its devotees would choose to withdraw themselves. Hence, Living Buddha, eventually convincing the masters themselves that
religious leaders should always consider the consequences of their they are indeed the true embodiment of sacredness. Therefore, the
actions. proposal by Dr You for rational scrutiny of all religious leaders is
most apt.
Dr You fine-tuned the fundamental rules of Thich Nhat Hanh
by making them more structured, compact, and easier to follow. Priority to Deal with Issues Related to Buddhism
For example when Thich Nhat Hanh said Buddhist organisations
should not be used for personal benefits, Dr You elaborated by Apart from the nine rules mentioned above, I hereby propose
specifying that resources should not be abused, and there should to add another three rules. The 10 rule is to give priority to issues
th
not be wrongful mobilization of human capital and utilization of related to Buddhism. As pointed out by Dr David Loy in his article
financial resources. “What’s Buddhist about Socially Engaged Buddhism?” it is not
possible for any individual or organisation to engage in every issue.
The third and fourth points raised by Dr. You deserved special Hence, there is a need for us to focus on selected issues.
attention. This is because the moment religious leaders become
identified with the sacredness of the religion, it ushers into a How to make the selection? As a Buddhist organisation, it
theocracy. A theocracy is incompatible with a democracy in civil is natural and appropriate to engage in issues closely related to
society. In a theocracy, the religious leader becomes supreme in Buddhism (or where Buddhist values can be of great contribution).
law, and is considered an embodiment of the divine because his This is not self-centrism but setting the right priority and determining
words are deemed as messages from God. Those who go against what really needs to be done. This is more practical than trying to
his words are seen as challenging God and thus are punishable solve every issue that appears before us or what is considered a hot
with death. While there is no Buddhist theocracy, Buddhist leaders topic for society at the present time.
who engage in politics must not think that they are embodiment
of supreme purity of “Non-greed, non-hatred, non-delusion” while I am fully aware that some people will use Martin Niemöller’s
others are impure and acting out of greed, hatred, and delusion. words (see Appendix) to challenge the above proposal, saying it
Buddhist leaders must not think that they are on higher spiritual is a selfish approach. I wish to reiterate that this proposal does not
ground and therefore endowed with a mission to save all “greedy, mean ignoring altogether all other issues. One can still handle other
hateful and deluded” beings. issues but in a more subdued, limited, and appropriate manner (in
accordance with the capacity of the organisation). Taking up all
Devotees are also responsible for elevating religious leaders issues (which is not possible in the first place) would eventually
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