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Common Ground - Islam and Buddhism

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c o m m o n g r o u n d between i s l a m a n d b u d d h i s m<br />

enter into the essence of the other. When the Prophet is described as a<br />

rahma for the whole of creation (21:107), this implies that he is likewise<br />

a source of wisdom for the whole of creation. The saint is able,<br />

in the measure of his effacement before the Face of God, to participate<br />

in this holy embrace of the whole of creation by the qualities, at once<br />

prophetic <strong>and</strong> divine, of wisdom <strong>and</strong> compassion.<br />

* * *<br />

The common ground upon which the spiritual traditions of <strong>Islam</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />

<strong>Buddhism</strong> st<strong>and</strong> together is the principle of absolute oneness, that to<br />

which the revealed texts of both traditions bear witness, <strong>and</strong> the realization<br />

of which, by the individual soul, here <strong>and</strong> now, constitutes<br />

the ultimate goal of both religions. It is in relation to the concomitants<br />

of oneness that holiness or sanctity is defined in both religions:<br />

oneness dem<strong>and</strong>s perfect knowledge, which in turn requires the total<br />

effacement of oneself within that knowledge, <strong>and</strong> the unconditional<br />

gift of oneself to others in compassion. The saint—the walī in <strong>Islam</strong><br />

<strong>and</strong> the Arahat/Bodhisattva in <strong>Buddhism</strong>—represents the summit of<br />

human perfection; it is in the saint that the deepest aims of religion<br />

are consummated in the world; it is by the saint that the religion is<br />

realized in all its plenitude; it is through the saint that the holiness<br />

of the religion is most palpably experienced. Theory <strong>and</strong> practice,<br />

concept <strong>and</strong> realization, spiritual ideals <strong>and</strong> human realities—all<br />

are united in the person of the saint. The two basic dimensions of<br />

holiness—vertical <strong>and</strong> horizontal, metaphysical <strong>and</strong> ethical, divine<br />

<strong>and</strong> human—can be seen to define the essential common ground<br />

bringing together <strong>Islam</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Buddhism</strong> in a common aspiration for<br />

the One.<br />

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