mettavalokanaya_buddhist_magazine_january_2021.

The
Tolerance
Today….
People today are restless,
weary, filled with fear and
discontentment. They are
intoxicated with the desire to
gain fame, wealth and power. They
crave for gratification of the senses.
People are passing their days in fear,
suspicion and insecurity. In this time of
turmoil and crisis, it becomes difficult
for people to coexist peacefully with
their fellow beings. There is therefore,
a great need for tolerance and
understanding in the world so that
peaceful co-existence among the people
of the world can be possible. The world
has bled and suffered from the disease
of dogmatism and of intolerance. The
soil of many countries today is soaked
with the blood spilled on the altar
of various political struggles, as the
skies of earlier millennia were covered
with the smoke of burning martyrs of
various faiths. Whether in religion or
politics people have been conscious of
a mission to achieve power and have
been aggressive towards other ways
of life. Indeed, the intolerance of the
crusading spirit has spoiled the records
of religions.
Let us look back at the past century
of highly publicized ‘Progress’—a
century of gadgets and inventions. The
array of new scientific and technical
inventions is dazzling—telephones,
electric motors, airplanes, radios,
television, computers, spaceships,
satellites and electronic devices. Yet,
in the same century the children of the
earth who have developed all these
inventions as the ultimate in progress,
were the same people who butchered
millions of others with bayonets or
bullets or bombs. Amidst all the great
‘progress’, where did the spirit of
Malaysia
Most Venerable Datuk
Kirinde Dhammaratana
Nayaka Maha Thero
tolerance stand? Where is the love that
many religions preach? Today, people
are interested in exploring outer space.
But they are totally unable to live as
neighbors in peace and harmony on
the earth. The fear that humans will
eventually desecrate the moon and
other planets is today very real.
For the sake of material gain,
modern people violate nature. Their
mental activities are so preoccupied
with satisfying their pleasure that
they are unable to focus on or even
understand the purpose of life. This
unnatural behavior of present human
beings is the result of their wrong
conception of human life and its aim.
We create more the frustration, fear,
insecurity, intolerance and violence. In
fact, today intolerance is still practiced
in the name of religion. People merely
talk of religion and promise to provide
short cuts to paradise, they are not
interested in practicing it. If Christians
live by the Sermon on the Mount, if
Buddhists follow the Noble Eightfold
Path, if Muslims really follow the
concept of Brotherhood and if the
Hindus shape their life in oneness,
there will be peace and harmony in
this world. Despite these invaluable
Teachings of the great religious
teachers, people have still not realized
the value of tolerance. The intolerance
that is practiced in the name of religion
is most disgraceful and deplorable. The
Buddha’s advice is ‘Let us live happily,
not hating those who hate us. Among
those who hate us, let us live free from
hatred. Let us live happily and free
from ailment. Let us live happily and be
free from greed; among those who are
greedy’. (DHAMMAPADA 197, 200). The
Buddha was the embodiment of all the
virtues that He preached. During His
successful and eventful ministry of 45
years, He translated all His words into
actions. At no time did He ever show
any human frailty or any base passion.
The Buddha’s moral code is the most
perfect the world has ever known.
For more than 25 centuries, millions
of people have found inspiration and
solace in His Teaching. His greatness still
shines today like a sun that outshines
the glow of lesser lights. His Teachings
still beckon the weary pilgrim
to the security and peace of
Nirvana. No other person has
sacrificed so much worldly
comfort for the sake of
suffering humanity. The
Buddha was among the
first religious leaders in
human history to admonish
against animal sacrifice
for any reason and to
appeal to people not to
harm any living creature.
To the Buddha, religion
was not a contractual
agreement between a
divinity and man but a
way to enlightenment. He did not want
followers with blind faith; He wanted
followers who could think freely and
wisely and work out their own salvation.
The entire human race has been blessed
with His presence. There was never an
occasion when the Buddha expressed
any unfriendliness towards a single
person. Not even to His opponents and
worst enemies did the Buddha express
any unfriendliness. There were a few
prejudiced minds who turned
against the Buddha
and who tried to kill
Him; yet the Buddha
never treated them
as enemies. The
Buddha once said,
‘As an elephant
in the battlefield
endures the
arrows that are
shot into him,
so will I endure
the abuse
and unfriendly
expressions
of others.’
(DHAMMAPADA).
In the annals of history, no man
is recorded as having so consecrated
himself to the welfare of all living
beings as the Buddha did. From the
hour of His Enlightenment to the
end of His Life, He strove tirelessly to
elevate mankind. He slept only two
hours a day. Though 25 centuries have
gone since the passing away of this
great Teacher, His message of love
and wisdom still exists in its pristine
purity. This message is still decisively
influencing the destinies of humanity.
He was the most Compassionate One
who illuminated this world with lovingkindness.
After attaining Nirvana, the
Buddha left a deathless message that
is still with us. Today we are confronted
by the terrible threat to world peace.
At no time in the history of the world
is His message more needed than it is
now. The Buddha was born to dispel the
darkness of ignorance and to show the
world how to get rid of suffering and
disease, decay and death and all the
worries and miseries of living beings.
(Tribute to Most Venerable Dr. Kirinde
Sri Dhammananda Maha Thero)
Destination of
Humanity
56 l Mettavalokanaya l January l 2021 2021 l January l Mettavalokanaya l 57