Page 165 - Applied Buddhism

One of the greatest contributions of lay Buddhism in present three major schools would be converging. There are several factors
time is the promotion of inter-sectarian understanding and harmony for this, and the role played by lay Buddhists is one of them.
amongst the various schools of Buddhism. There are many sects
and groups in the Buddhist world today. Having many different ii. Nurturing equality
Buddhist groups or centers can be positive as it means more people
are interested in Buddhism. In many cases, devotees tend to support The world today emphasises on equality. Lay Buddhism can
their own temples or centers, and seldom interact with each other. play an effective role in promoting equality amongst the sexes. In
On the negative side, there is little interaction among members of Taiwan, the dissatisfaction amongst females on the Eight Rules
the various groups; hence instead of different Buddhist activities (Gurudhammas) had caused an upheaval. In Theravāda countries,
being well coordinated, duplication arises instead. There are also women still faced difficulties in getting ordained. Although there
instances where devotees of one temple disparaged those of other are monks sympathetic toward female ordination, nonetheless
temples. The situation becomes worse when certain groups deify conservative forces are strong and a breakthrough seems unlikely
their masters as a “Living Buddha”, sometimes even denigrating in the near future. Lay Buddhism, which practices gender equality
Sakyamuni Buddha himself. will be able to showcase this practice to the conservatives and
gradually change their attitude. It is only when Buddhists practice
Most of the Buddhist groups belonging to the various schools gender equality can it hope to gain further ground in the West.
of Buddhism are led by monastics. Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda
once said that “The term ‘Theravāda, Mahāyāna, Vajrayāna’ are In Buddhist circles, there is a common belief that monastics are
applicable only to monastics, because of certain customs, traditions superior to lay people. For instance, however mediocre a monastic,
and practices specific to the school they follow. However, lay his words must be taken as the truth, or as commandments to be
Buddhists should not classify themselves as ‘Theravāda, Mahāyāna obeyed, and lay people are not supposed to question them. On the
or Vajrayāna’.” This means that lay Buddhists who follow a other hand, lay people, no matter how knowledgeable or advanced
particular school of thought should not have a bias or narrow view in their Dharma practice, are not allowed to teach the Dharma. This
of other schools but learn to respect the uniqueness of each school belief had resulted in self-conceit amongst some monastics causing
or tradition. A good example is the Kuching Buddhist Society, a lay Buddhists to lose confidence in them. However, the scenario had
lay Buddhist organisation that has successfully encouraged all changed recently with the rise of an active lay Buddhist movement
three major schools of Buddhism to be practiced within the society in the country.
harmoniously.
iii.Offering alternatives
In the West, many lay Buddhist organisations have monks as
their resident teachers, but the feeling of self-centeredness is not This is an era of economic globalisation. The essence of
strong. Many people have predicted that it is in the West that the economic globalisation is to exploit human greed to the fullest extent.

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