Buddhist Diplomacy: History And Status Quo. - USC Center on ...

42 BUDDHIST DIPLOMACY: HISTORY AND STATUS QUOThis being said, a number of factors may hinder the constructiverole of Buddhism in global affairs. First, although in most countrieschurch and state are separated, the latter seems to always havean urge to employ the faith for its political purpose. This is veryclear in China and India’s cases, where the faith is considered tobe a tool to project their “soft power”. As history has shown, this isnot always beneficial to Buddhism. Second, although all <strong>Buddhist</strong>sects regard the Buddha as the ultimate root of their faith, in reality,Buddhism is not a one-god religion like Christianity and Buddha isnot worshipped as a god. As a result, there are numerous <strong>Buddhist</strong>sects, many of which use different texts and practice and worshipvery different things, and often there is little communicationbetween the sects. This inevitably results in inconsistent messagesand can cause confusion among the world audience, in particular inregions that are newly exposed to Buddhism. Third, the managementof different <strong>Buddhist</strong> sects represents very different power relationswithin the sects. In some there are Western-style committees, but inothers the masters, teachers, and founding members have the finalsay. 184 This could become problematic because a number of scandalssurrounding Buddhism in the West have to do with the temples’unique management styles. 185 Last but not least, English has becomea global language and <strong>Buddhist</strong>s have to master the language toimprove their communication. Many <strong>Buddhist</strong> temples have facedlanguage problems in engaging in international communication.As the world’s only superpower, the United States has been thetop destination of <strong>Buddhist</strong> immigrants. Although the predominantreligion in the United States is Christianity, ironically it may bethe only country in the world where all sects of Buddhism couldbe found. In the past decades, many eminent <strong>Buddhist</strong> monks haveimmigrated to the United States, founded temples and taught Dharma.Top universities in the United States, such as Harvard University, theUniversity of Chicago, Yale University, and Columbia University,have hosted the best academic programs and prominent scholars on<strong>Buddhist</strong> research. In this sense, the United States boasts very rich<strong>Buddhist</strong> resources. Some even argued that an indigenous Americanform of the Dharma, or “American Buddhism”, will emerge. 186 With