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In Search of Mahatma (Highest Self): The Paradigmatic & Interreligious Significance of Early Buddhist Teaching for Re-Imagining God & Mission within Australian Cultures A paper for presentation at the Australian Missiology Conference, Melbourne, 26 to 30 September 2005 The Revd Dr Ruwan Palapathwala TheolM MEd PhD Lecturer in Asian Religions The United Faculty of Theology, the Melbourne College of Divinity Director The Centre for Social Inquiry, Religion and Interfaith Dialogue Melbourne Noel Carter Lecturer in Pastoral Theology Trinity College University of Melbourne 1 This paper seeks to offer Buddhist-Christian interfaith paradigm to re-imagine God in the mission context of Australia. With special reference to the historical context of Buddhism and its primitive texts of the Pali Cannon from which Buddha’s essential teaching concerning the nature of the egoless self could be inferred, I wish to argue that Buddhism provides us with an interfaith paradigm to re-imagine God in the mission context of Australia. Buddhism has been chosen to provide insights to the Christian quest of re-imagining God in the mission context of Australia because it enables us to: - draw conceptual and interreligious parallels between a point in the histories of Hinduism and the contemporary Australia where a radical re-imagining of God has become pivotal for mission. - examine the fascination with Buddhism in Australia and evaluate the task of mission in a context in which people subconsciously yearn to re-imagine God to find meaning in the midst of materialism. - critically evaluate the phenomenon of people embracing Buddhism as an alternative to Christianity and to demonstrate that such “conversions” is symptomatic of a need to reimagine God for contemporary mission. Furthermore, having taken a “religious tradition” which largely operates outside a theistic framework of reference – Buddhism – it also presents a serious challenge to re-examine inter-faith perspectives on our essential understanding of mission as Missio Dei. While the specifics of these issues will be discussed in depth in the workshop at the conference, in this pre-conference version of the paper I wish to discuss some broader concerns which are essential to understand the interfaith contribution of Buddhism for re-imaging God and missions in Australia and in the West in general. General Introduction: the Significance of Buddhism It is an undeniable fact that Buddhism has come to play a significant role in contemporary Australia and in the global community. While Buddhism has played and continues to play a very important 2 role in South and South East Asia, its pervading influence in the West is undeniable. Given that the history of the West was predominantly influenced by Christianity since the 3rd Century CE, the increasing influence of this South Asian religion in the West must be carefully studied and understood. In this introduction it is necessary to give further reasons beside the one I have given above to justify the selection of Buddhism to provide an interfaith perspective on Christian missions in Australia. These reasons fall into two main categories; i) historical and sociological and ii) philosophical and political, which need to be briefly discussed. Historical and Sociological Reasons Although it is only during the recent years that the increase popularity of Buddhism and conversions to its teachings have been widely recognised, Buddhism has played a part in Australian history and spiritual landscape for some time. According to some anthropologists Buddhism was possibly the earliest non-indigenous religion to reach Australia before white settlement. It is possible to argue that many Buddhists made contact with Australia between 1405 and 1433 when the Chinese Ming emperor, Cheng-Ho, sent sixty-two large ships to explore southern Asia. While there is evidence to suggest that several ships from that armada landed on the Aru Islands to the north of Arnhem Land, it is not known whether they reached the mainland. The earliest documented arrival of Buddhists in Australia was in 1848 during the gold rushes, when Chinese coolie labourers were brought into the country to work on the Victorian gold fields. Since these workers made up a transient population that usually returned home within five years it was not until 1876 that the first permanent Buddhist community was established by Sinhalese migrants on Thursday Island. From about the late 1870’s many Japanese Shinto Buddhists also arrived and were active in the pearling industry across northern Australia, establishing other Buddhist enclaves in Darwin and Broome. The Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 slowed down the Buddhist immigrants to Australia. Following a period of nearly fifty years with insignificant numbers of Buddhist in Australia in places such as Broome and Thursday Island a small group of Western Buddhists formed the earliest known Buddhist organisation in Australia in 1925 in Melbourne. The organisation was called the Little Circle of the Dharma. 3 Soon after World War II when local enthusiasm for the White Australia Policy declined and opened the way for Buddhism to flourish again in Australia. It was marked by a series of notable events: - 1951: the first Buddhist nun – Sister Dhammadinna, born in the USA, ordained and with thirty years experience in Sri Lanka – visited Australia to propagate the Theravadin School of Buddhist teaching. - 1952: inspired by Sister Dhammadinna’s visit, the Buddhist Society of New South Wales was formed under the presidency of Leo Berkley, a Dutch-born Sydney businessman. - 1958: the Buddhist Federation of Australia was formed to co-ordinate the growing Buddhist groups that had begun to start in Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and Victoria. - 1970's: with the significant increase of Buddhists – both Asian and European – created a need for resident monks. The arrival of many Buddhist monks in the country inaugurated a new phase in Australian Buddhism. In 1971 the Buddhist Society of New South Wales was established and the Venerable Somaloka, the Sri Lankan monk, came to reside at its retreat centre in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. This retreat centre is the first monastery in Australia. Following this a number of other Buddhist monasteries representing different schools of Buddhism came to be established around Australia; in 1975 at Stanmore in Sydney, in 1978 at Wisemans Ferry in country NSW and in 1984 at Serpentine in Western Australia.1 The Philosophical and Political Reasons i) The Three Mail Schools and the Philosophy of Buddhism What is generally called “Buddhism” is a philosophy which is made up several schools of thought which are either branches or adaptations of the three main traditions: Hinayana (the “Small Vehicle” which is also known as Theravada, the “teaching” or the “tradition” of the Elders), 1 The Buddhists in Australia, by Enid Adam and Phillip J. Hughes for the Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research, Australian Government Publishing Office, 1996, Chapter 2. 4 Mahayana (the Great Vehicle) & Vajirayana (the Diamond Vehicle). The Buddhism which is practiced by an increasing number of Australians is either a tradition that represents one of the three traditions or a more eclectic form of “Buddhism” which is made up of elements from all three traditions which can be easily adapted to contemporary thought forms. This form of Buddhism is known as Nawayana (the new vehicle) and popularly also known as “Western Buddhism”. The essential teaching of all three main schools of Buddhism evolves out of three important concepts: no-self, impermanence & suffering. A simplified representation of the interrelatedness of these three concepts can be described thus: because of the impermanent nature of all that is, craving and attachment – which give rise to the deluded understanding that self is permanent or has substance – form the precondition for the suffering-laden psychophysical phenomenon, the human phenomenon, which is composed of the five groups (upādānakhandha) that facilitate our clinging to the phenomenal world: (i) mind and matter (nāma-rūpa); (ii) sensations (vedanā); (iii) perceptions (saññā); (iv) mental formations (samkhāra); and (v) consciousness (viññāna). Enlightenment, that is coming to the realisation and understanding that one’s ego-centred self is thus, alone paves the way to liberation – nibbana – from the turmoil of the suffering-laden psychophysical phenomenon which clings to the phenomenal world. The nibbana-bound search is the quest after one’s true self. Nibbana is the state in which the turmoil of the groups of clinging that is brought about through birth, old age, disease and death – the causes of suffering – ceases. In other words, when the causes of mundane wanderings – the five groups of clinging – are destroyed, what remains is nothing other than the pure Self. The pure Self is Mahatma, the Highest Self. ii) Buddhism’s Distinctive Characteristics Beside its South Asian roots and philosophical orientation some of the essential characteristics of Buddhism which have been the hallmarks of its attraction in the West must be noted. Buddhism operates outside the theistic framework of reference. (While Mahayana and Vajrayana forms of Buddhism make numerous reference to gods (devas) one must note that they do not constitute a distinct theo-logy). Buddhism is not a “faith tradition” in the sense which we have come to use the phrase conventionally. 5 Buddhism defies every thought category that is central to the Christian outlook and Western worldview (eg. Self, God and History). With these characteristics, at present, Buddhism presents a significant challenge to re-think the images of God and mission which have been foundational for the following experiences in the West: a) The two World Wars and the subsequent catastrophes – for instance the Stalinist terror, the Nazi cruelty to the Jews, the atomic bombing of Japan, the war in France, the hostility in Algeria, the depression in 1929 and the devastation in Vietnam after 1945, concentration camps, vast scale genocide, the two Gulf Wars, the tragedy of former Yugoslavia, the widening gap between the rich and the poor and damage to the environment in the world – which have demonstrated that technology could be used not only to better life, but also to its destruction and to cultivate perpetual greed and selfishness. b) The “Just-War” theory which is a product of the Christian tradition. The just-war theory was introduced by Cicero and then developed by St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas and later by both Catholic and Protestant scholars. Many Western Christians and leaders have used it again to justify the invasion of Iraq. Then, in the tradition of eliminating tyrants, we witnessed the killing of Saddam Hussein’s sons Uday and Qusay. Such an end to Saddam’s life too was desired and there was a – as the media put it –a “US$ 25 million bounty” for anyone who was prepared to Saddam’s capture (which did eventuate). Whatever the justification of such actions is, we know that there is a moral dilemma here which is created by the Christian tradition. c) The development of the capital-based market economy in the West. The “Christian faith” that once evolved as an inseparable partner of the Western tradition provided much of the “cultural resources” for political movements to harness, for instance, capitalism of which the end results were: individualism, materialism and consumerism.2 2 Historians such as Max Webber and lately Randall Collins have shown the extent of the church had played a role in the birth and the flowering of capitalism. While Max Weber located the origin of capitalism in Protestant cities following the European Enlightenment, Randall Collins has shown that capitalism had already existed in the Middle Ages in rural areas, where monasteries, – especially those of the Cistercians (Religious of the Order of Cîteaux, a Benedictine reform established at Cîteaux in 1098 by St. Robert, Abbot of Molesme in the Diocese of Langres) – began to rationalise economic life. 6 Consequentially, the ideal of self which had been seen as the gateway to all knowledge (and God) came to be regarded not as affirming a permanent soul, but as something for which one “shops”. d) The personalisation of the message of salvation and the problem of human suffering. These are, indeed, directly related to the phenomenon of individualism that has its genesis in capitalism. (By the way, Calvinism made a significant contribution to the propagation of capitalism). e) The phenomena of artificial intelligence, computer simulations, and the hybrid of humans and machines which have in recent times removed the relevance of an authentic self. They have also created issues in relation to human identity. f) The way in which suffering is understood within the Christian tradition; The New Testament does not explain why suffering exists in the world. The Gospel narratives implicitly represent Jewish views that suffering is due to a punishment or retribution to sin. Two opposing views of two Church Fathers – St. Augustine and Irenaeus – that shaped the western understanding of suffering. While St. Augustine claimed that humanity at creation was infinitely perfect and suffering was the result of the Fall, Irenaeus (c. 130- c.202) suggested that humanity was created imperfect and immature and that humanity must attain perfection through a processing of becoming in the Maker's plan. Many people who are either the post-war baby boomers or generation X have come to question these issues one way or another. While some may not intellectually question these issues, they still seek alternatives to lead their lives meaningfully. In that process they are faced with the According to Collins, it was the church that established what Max Weber called the “preconditions of capitalism”. These include the rule of law and a bureaucracy for resolving disputes rationally, a specialised and mobile labour force; the permanence of institutions which enabled transgenerational investment and sustained intellectual and physical efforts, together with the accumulation of long-term capital, and a zest for discovery, enterprise, wealth creation, and new undertakings. By the time of the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century the capitalist ethos was so well established that it was able to flourish in a more secular environment with religion facing diminution in the post-Enlightenment years to follow. Randal Collins, Max Weber: A Skeleton Key. California: Sage Publications, Inc.1985. 7 Christian/Western worldview. Why? Christianity as we know and experience it today is conceived to party to the Western civilisation which has come to be its bearer. Therefore, to the average “Westerner” Christianity and its mission is interchangeable with the global issues that were outlined above. Buddhism’s pervading influence in Australia and in the West in general is a direct response to these issues. Buddha’s teachings are perceived as: an antidote and cure for the unbearable saturation of materialism, consumerism and individualism experienced in the West. an alternative to a civilisation tainted with blood spilt over religious and political wars. offering “non-theological” practical answers to these ills. a guide through life without placing any metaphysical importance on “self” or God – the (wrongly) supposed architect of the collapsed project of modernity. a means to revitalise the depleted spiritual sap of the western civilisation. Aloysius Pieris SJ, the Theravada Buddhist scholar, commenting on the increasing western interest in Asian religions goes as far as to say: “…[the] contemporary West, in allowing itself to be seduced by the mystique of the East, may probably be indulging in a massive sociological ritualization of a deep psychological need to sharpen its Oriental instinct blunted by centuries of misuse”3 Christian Mission and the Challenge of Buddhism The issues that I have briefly outlined assist us to appreciate Buddhism and be challenged by its particular insights into mission. Once we begin to decipher what is happening in our contemporary Australia and interpret them theologically one thing becomes obvious with regards to the significance of Buddhism: We have to dialogue with Buddhism not only because it is considered a “world religion” but because the influence it exercises in the contemporary West is both a commentary on the socio-cultural, religious and political state of the West and the events that have occasioned such a state of affairs. In the process one cannot overlook the fact that much of these are predominantly based on the Western worldview which is based on a certain and if not a serious of images of God which are central to its valuation of the world. 3 Love Meets Wisdom: A Christian Experience of Buddhism, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1988, p. 8. 8 The following statements made by the Venerable Taitetsu Unno4 demonstrate the contradictions that exist between the Judaeo-Christian understanding of God and the Buddhist understanding of Amida Buddha5; they highlight the need to re-image God within the Christian framework of reference. Amida Buddha, says the Venerable Unno: - is not a creator, but he is a saviour who performs his compassionate work without any condition whatsoever. - does not judge or punish man, for man is responsible for his own acts and invites the consequences, good or bad, of his acts. - does not perform miracles, but he manifests his saving compassion through the rhythm of natural laws. - is not transcendent, standing outside this world; but he is immanent, for his very being is rooted in the limitations of this world which will be transformed by the power of Amida's love. - is not a wrathful or jealous God; rather, the power of compassion fulfilled in his Original Vow completes the promise that he will not rest until all beings attain the same enlightenment, Buddhahood, as himself. - does not discriminate in any form, whether of belief or creed, moral good or moral evil, human life or animal life, but he embraces all in Oneness with equal warmth. 4 Assistant Minister at the Senshin Buddhist Church and a lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles. 5 The figure of Amida Buddha, the Buddha of Everlasting Light, is central in Pure Land Buddhism which developed out of Mahayana Buddhism in India and became wildly popular in China, where the invocation of Amida (in Chinese, A-mi-t'o-fo ) became the most common of all religious practices. Later, it also took root in medieval Japan in part as a response to the esotericism of Heian Buddhism, and in part as a response to the collapse of the emperor's court at Kyoto and the subsequent rise of individual, feudal powers in Japan. Pure Land was seen as a more democratic and an inclusive form of Buddhism. Amida is seen as a previous incarnation of Siddhartha Gautama. 9 - does not show his love by the blood of crucifixion, sacrificing his own being, but by making his compassion accessible to mankind through the Nembutsu, his sacred name, which resounds throughout the universe. Wherever his sacred name, Namu Amida Butsu, is pronounced, there he is. - is the timeless content of enlightenment realized by the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni. Amida means boundless compassion and immeasurable wisdom. Immeasurable wisdom sees into the fragility of human life, and boundless compassion is moved by this insight to actively embrace all the living into the timeless fulfilment of truth. A Case for Re-Imaging God The main case for drawing interfaith Buddhist perspectives for re-imaging God will be presented in the workshop at the conference. The argument will be developed on the following premises. - There are conceptual and interreligious parallels between a point in the histories of Hinduism and the contemporary Australia where a radical re-imagining of God has become pivotal for mission. - Contrary to the popular misconception that Buddhism is an atheistic philosophy of life, it could be inferred from the primitive Texts that essentially Buddha’s teaching was focused on the search of the true self. His teaching radicalised the Hindu notion of tat tvam asi – “I am that” – which had evolved into a static experience of the divine over two millennia; the Buddha introduced to it the dynamic quality of “Becoming”, that is, “wayfaring in the More towards the Most”– the Highest Self. - The “re-imaging” of life’s sole quest – the Highest Self (“God”) – was the locus of Buddha’s message from which Buddhism sprang into birth. - The fascination with Buddhism among Australians highlights the task of mission in a context in which people subconsciously yearn to re-imagine God to find meaning in the midst of materialism. 10 - The phenomenon of people embracing Buddhism as an alternative to Christianity demonstrates that such “conversions” is symptomatic of a need to re-imagine God for contemporary mission. - Contemporary multicultural and multi-faith Australia challenges Christians to consider the priority of Missio Dei as a significant component in re-imaging God and missions within Australia. 11