Page 96 - Applied Buddhism

Christ and who ore happy in their faith community can without
undue risk and with hope of positive fruit engage in interreligious
dialogue”.
“lt is therefore important for the Church in Asia to provide
suitable models of inter-religious dialogue - evangelisation in
dialogue and dialogue for evangelisation - and suitable training for
those involved.”
Above extracted from Post-Synodal Apostalic Exhortation
Ecclesia in Asia of the Holy Father John Paul ll to the Bishops,
Priests and Deacons, Men and Women in the Consecrated Life and
all the Lay Faithful, On Jesus Christ the Savior and His Mission of
Love and Service in Asia: “... That They may have life, and have it
abundantly” (Jn l0:10)
These statements clearly show that such so called dialogues are
nothing more than a strategy to foster religious imperialism. When
a religion is bent on converting every human being into its own
faith, even to the extent of adopting unethical means, it is natural
that other religions would not sit still. This results in vigorous
competition.
Such a competition has resulted in a cold war previously, and to
open confrontation today. It would eventually threaten world peace.
When people try to convert others, it is not certain whether the new
convert will enter heaven, but it is certain that hell is created on
earth - the process of conversion brings about tremendous suffering
to all parties concerned here on earth.
What Do We Do?
084 Applied Buddhism
How do Buddhists response to such a threat? Firstly, Buddhists
must be fully aware of the situation we are in. Without such
awareness, Buddhists will continue to indulge ourselves in self-
satisfaction thinking that Buddhism has progressed very well. Only
when there is awareness will there be a will to act.
Furthermore, Buddhists must develop a comprehensive plan,
which is based on the Buddha Dharma, to protect the Dharma
while avoiding unhealthy competition. In this way Buddhism will
be offering a peaceful solution to the world. Such a plan should
consider how to harness the power of the masses to contribute to
the development of Buddhism; how to improve Buddhist out-reach
programs; how to support the weak and suppressed, and to ensure
the availability of human resources in all critical areas, such as
care for the terminally ill (an area where unscrupulous evangelists
actively target the terminally ill for conversion), and participation
in politics and mass communication.
(Paper presented at the Seminar on Counter Evangelisation, organised by
the Buddhist Missionary Society Malaysia on Jan 7, 2006 at Armada Hotel,
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.)
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