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Gerard Thurai / May 23, 2013
Those who comply with this are already decent people.
Those who kill, steal and lie are unlikely to pay much heed to this as they don’t abide by the teachings of Lord Buddha in the first place.
Meanwhile, the knuckle-dragging BBS goons, who claim to uphold the Buddhist faith and are illiterate, are unlikely to understand the text anyway. ;-)
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Don Stanley / May 23, 2013
Wonderful intervention! Keep up the great work AHRC!
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Amarasiri / May 25, 2013
Yes, well said Asian Human Rights Commission.
All Asians should be proud that Lord Buddha was Asian, though Indian.
Yes let us follow True Buddhism without distorting and Buddhism. The Angulimalas, the BBS Maras need to be reformed or expunged.
Here is a 5 minute guide for you.
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/5minbud.htm
To many, Buddhism goes beyond religion and is more of a philosophy or ‘way of life’. It is a philosophy because philosophy ‘means love of wisdom’ and the Buddhist path can be summed up as:
(1) to lead a moral life,
(2) to be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions, and
(3) to develop wisdom and understanding.
• Who Was the Buddha?
Siddhartha Gotama was born into a royal family in Lumbini, now located in Nepal, in 563 BC. At 29, he realised that wealth and luxury did not guarantee happiness, so he explored the different teachings religions and philosophies of the day, to find the key to human happiness. After six years of study and meditation he finally found ‘the middle path’ and was enlightened. After enlightenment, the Buddha spent the rest of his life teaching the principles of Buddhism — called the Dhamma, or Truth — until his death at the age of 80.
• Was the Buddha a God?
He was not, nor did he claim to be. He was a man who taught a path to enlightenment from his own experience.
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Point of View / May 23, 2013
Vesak, should be a day of reflection. Celebrations and decorations should be serene, the poor should be fed, children should be educated of teachings of the Buddha and the significance of Vesak.
Instead, what you see is cheap decorations all over the city, which is an eyesore, lantern competitions, mudalili’s trying to out beat each other in Dansal competitions, loud music, all sorts of masks are worn with no significance to Buddhism.
Is this the way to celebrate Vesak ? Where is the reverence ?
Instead of focussing on other religions, the Buddhists should get their act together.
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JimSofty / May 26, 2013
Agreed whole heartedly.
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Muliyawaikkal / May 23, 2013
London?
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Save Buddhism. / May 23, 2013
Let me wish all a peaceful happy Vesak season !!!
Having inquired from few learner-ed monks about Buddha statues / idols and it role in Buddhism, almost all agree that idols don’t have anything to do with Buddhism and it is not within Buddha’s teachings. They also say the Buddha has left this world for good and has no influence in granting anything to anyone. ( regards to Budu saranai..)… having said that, when you ask them why the masses are not educated on this. They say the normal layman’s mind is not that advanced and by having a statue it helps them to picture the Buddha which indirectly helps them to become good followers…
If we are to interpret Buddha’s teaching in a simple way…. this is lying. It is high time that some force comes forward to safeguard the Original Buddhism.
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Amarasiri / May 25, 2013
Save Buddhism,
I say, save Humanity! the Human Species.
Very well said. The need for statues of “God” who are all powerful and can help one when is helpless, goes back to the roots of fear and afterlife. This question of the Statues of Buddha, and the need for Statues probably have multiple reasons.
1. You said:”They say the normal layman’s mind is not that advanced and by having a statue it helps them to picture the Buddha which indirectly helps them to become good followers…”
2. When Alexander, the Great,(356-323 BCE) conquered Persia, Afghanistan and India,the Greek influence, the need for statues of “Gods” prompted the Buddhists to have statues. There was a bigger Greek influence in Afghanistan, and more statutes were made and erected.
3. The Buddhists converted Hindus to Buddhism, and the Hindus had Gods and statues of Gods. This may also have had an influence in the Buddha statue culture. Since Buddhism is a Philosophy, like the Aristotle, and the Greeks had statues for Philosophers as well as Gods, this may have had an influence.
4. There are many religions that forbid statutes, claiming that it is clay or stone, and cannot do anything for you. Judaism, Islam are examples. Others have Saints, like in Catholics and many sects of Islam.
Perhaps, as long as there is no harm done, in the various beliefs, it should be all right. Unfortunately, with statues it has become very political, nationalistic, sectarian and racist as we are seeing with BBS, Wahhabis, Christian and Hindu Fundamentalists.
Science and reason can guide and help, but for the Believer in the Faith, facts, reason and data does not matter,if it was a Myth or not.
https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/
…to help answer fundamental questions about where humans originated and how we came to populate the Earth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha
Gautama taught a Middle Way compared to the severe asceticism found in the Sramana (renunciation) movement [11] common in his region. He later taught throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kośala.[12][13]
The time of Gautama’s birth and death is uncertain: most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE,[14] but more recent opinion dates his death to between 486 and 483 BCE or, according to some, between 411 and 400 BCE.[15] [note 5] However, at a symposium on this question held in 1988,[14] the majority of those who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha’s death. These alternative chronologies, however, have not yet been accepted by all other historians.[16][17]
Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition, and first committed to writing about 400 years later.
Amarasiri
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justice / May 23, 2013
The Five Precepts given above are for humans who beleive in justice for all.
Those who thirst for power and riches for themselves and their families have to ignore them to attain what they want.
They cannot be overcome by those who beleive in the Five Precepts.
This is the reality of modern society.
Justice has to be attained by force.
This is the history of all nations.
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sach / May 24, 2013
It is a shame HRW was not able to teach LTTE that killing is bad in Hindu religion as well.
Does HRW issue such greetings for USA and Europe on christmas day reminding about loving thy neighbour?
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Amarasiri / May 26, 2013
Human Rights Watch, HRW, is Controlled by Christians or or Christian influenced Westerners and Easterners who are Christian or Christian influenced.
LTTE is influenced and controlled by Christians.
The Portuguese wanted to turn Lanka to a Catholic Island Philippines and South Sudan.
Where was HRW when the Americans and British, based on lies of WMD, invaded Iraq and killed 1,300,000 or more.
Some of these Arabs are really idiots. They have let themselves to be manipulated by the British and the Americans. A good example is Iraq and Saddam Hussein, secular, being used to fight Iran, and and let each other being weakened.
The Wahhabis and Deobandis are not Muslims. They are agents of the Original Satan, and the Great Satan (Mao Tse Tung terminology) so that they can cause calamity within the Muslim Community.
They are the ONLY “Muslims” who kill other Muslims and other non Muslims. So they are NOT Muslims, but Satan Followers.
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JimSofty / May 27, 2013
I think AHRC’s that it respects buddhist principles while AHRC’s financiers wait until buddhism disappears.
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JimSofty / May 26, 2013
Does AHRC follow the FOURTH PRECEPT ?
I would honestly like to know that.
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