Common Ground - Islam and Buddhism

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Setting the Scene from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered (2:136). As noted above, verse 2:62 of the Qur’ān teaches us that salvation is dependent upon the realization of three principles: belief in the Absolute, accountability to that Absolute, and virtuous conduct in consequence of these beliefs. At this point it would appear that the Buddha certainly taught the latter two principles; as regards the first, belief in the Absolute, we shall be addressing this below, in chapter 1. If our argument there is valid, then there would appear to be sufficient grounds for asserting that Buddhist beliefs are certainly close enough to Islamic ones to be regarded as authentic guidance: if they believe in the like of that which ye believe, then are they rightly guided. It would be appropriate at this point to proceed with an evaluation of the nature of the Buddha’s enlightenment—bearing in mind that the word ‘buddha’ means ‘awakened one’ 22 —in the light of the Islamic concept of divine revelation. Revelation from on High or Within? ‘With the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human’: this phrase, from The Middle Length Discourses, cited above, is one of the keys to understanding the Buddha’s message and his dialectic. However much be the emphasis on the human aspect of his enlightenment, it is clear from this citation alone—and many more could be given—that it is only something beyond the human and the relative that can give rise to the transcendent perceptions of spiritual realities which constitute the message of the Buddha. In other words, this phrase gives us a clear intimation of the transcendent source of the vision enjoyed by the Buddha, even if in the Buddhist perspective one refuses to name this transcendent source. This refusal stems from a fear of reifying this transcendent source of enlightenment, that is, turning it into an object. For in reality it is the supreme source of all consciousness, which cannot in any way be given a ‘name’ and a ‘form’ (namarupa) without diminishing one’s receptivity to it as the ultimate reality; being the very substance of all thought, it cannot 22. In certain Mahayana texts, the word ‘refers to reality itself, and to people who In certain Mahayana texts, the word ‘refers to reality itself, and to people who are awake to reality’, according to Thomas Cleary in the introduction to his translation of the seminal Mahayana text, The Flower Ornament Scripture—A Translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra, Translated from the Chinese by Thomas Cleary (Boulder & London: Shambhala, 1984), p. 3. 19
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 be the object of thought. It is nonetheless ‘objective’ in relation to human subjectivity, and that is why the Buddha refers to the ‘divine eye’ which surpasses human modes of cognition. The transcendent objectivity of the source of enlightenment reveals itself through and as the immanent consciousness of the one enlightened, the ‘Buddha’. At first sight it may seem that the Islamic conception of prophecy (nubuwwa) contradicts the Buddhist conception of enlightenment (bodhi). In Islam, the function of prophecy devolves upon particular individuals, chosen by God, and nobody can aspire to the status of prophecy, or participate in its function. In Buddhism, by contrast, it is stated that enlightenment was not bestowed upon the Buddha by any external, objective ‘divinity’; it sprang up from his own innermost substance, and his state of enlightenment is attainable by all, in principle. This point of view is succinctly expressed in the following text from the Pali canon: Therefore, O Ananda, be ye lamps unto yourselves. Be ye a refuge unto yourselves. Betake yourselves to no external refuge. Hold fast to the Truth as a lamp. Hold fast as a refuge to the Truth …it is they, Ananda, who shall reach the very topmost Height … 23 The idea of seeking ‘no external refuge’, and being a refuge unto oneself appears to fly in the face of the Qur’ānic insistence on total dependence upon God and upon His revelation conveyed by His chosen Prophet. Any attempt to be independent is severely censured: Read, in the name of your Lord who created; created man from a clot. Read, and your Lord is most bounteous, He who taught by the Pen; taught man what he knew not. But nay, verily man is rebellious, in that he deems himself independent. Unto your Lord is indeed the Return (96:1–8). However, it can be argued that the Buddha’s enlightenment comprises two aspects, one of which was proper to him alone, the other which is universally accessible. The first aspect can indeed be regarded as the source of his ‘prophecy’, to use Islamic terms, the ‘message’ or sāsana which formed the basis of the Buddhist tradi- 23. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Buddha and the Gospel of Buddhism (New Jersey: Citadel Press, 1988), p. 77. 20
Page 2: Common Ground Between Islam and Bud
Page 5 and 6: First published in 2010 by Fons Vit
Page 7 and 8: Contents, continued Loving Compassi
Page 10 and 11: In the Name of God, the Compassiona
Page 12 and 13: Introduction to Common Ground By H.
Page 18 and 19: Preface by Professor Mohammad Hashi
Page 24: Common Ground Between Islam and Bud
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Epilogue The Common Ground of Sanct
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COMMON GROUND BETWEEN ISLAM AND BUD
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Common Ground - Islam and Buddhism

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