Download BUDDHIST MORALITY

BUDDHIST MORALITY
“Whosoever in this world destroys
life…..interferes with their own
progress in this very world”
The Sanctity of Life
 Tibetan Buddhists emphasise their belief
in the value of human life by using the
following analogy – “Being reborn as a
human is as likely as a blind turtle which is
swimming in a large ocean and surfaces
once every one hundred years, putting its
head through a small golden ring which is
floating on the surface of the water”
War and Peace
 “Laying aside the cudgel and the sword he dwells
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compassionate and kind to all living creatures”
Digha Nikaya ch1. v 4.
Policy of peaceful resistance to the Chinese
invasion of Tibet in 1950.
Buddhist Peace Fellowship are involved in
disarmament work and non – violent campaigns
for human rights.
Emperor Asoka showed remorse.
Vietnamese Monks and self immolation.
Prejudice
 “Many do not know that we are here to live in harmony”
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Dhammapada ch. 6.
Metta – loving kindness.
“Tolerance is a principal virtue in Buddhism and it is a
virtue that is called for when one meets different beliefs
and values. Being tolerant for a Buddhist, means
showing love to the fellow human being holding those
beliefs different to you” – Adiccabanhu, a Theravada
Buddhist Monk.
Right Action and Right Speech from the Eightfold Path.
Buddha rejected the caste system.
All peoples possess Buddha nature.
Animals
 “All things should be happy and at one” – Metta Sutra.
 “There is a striking similarity between exterminating the
life of a wild animal for fun and terminating the life of an
innocent fellow human being at the whim of a more
capable and powerful person” – Buddhist Declaration,
Assisi 1986.
 Vegetarian or not?
 “I find it disgraceful that animals are being used without
being shown the slightest compassion, and that they are
used for scientific experiments” His Holiness, the Dalai
Lama – 1994.
 “All breathing, existing, living sentient creatures should
not be slain or treated with violence, nor abused, nor
tormented, nor driven away” – Anchoranga Sutra