I 989

VOLUME IV NUMBER 6

IRI, KOREA

982

WO].I BUDDI{ISMRrblished by :

Research lnstitute forOverseas Missions

Wonkwang UniversitYlri City, ChonPuk

The Republic of Korea

983

CONTENTS

Editorial .....1

AMessagefromDr.JohnB.Taylor.... .....3Interreligious Dialogue as a vehicle for Peace and Prosperity

by Ven. Dr. Havanpola Ratanasara 5

Toward Organization of United ReligionsbyDr.PalKhnChon .....8

East-West Interreligious DialogueDo Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity (and Other Religions)Have the Same Mission

by Dr. Leonard Swjdler . . . 13

NewsCorner ..27

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WON BWDHISM 1

VOL. N NO. O VON BUDDTIISM tq88

Editorial

The Los Angeles Temple of Won Buddhism hosted very noteworthyevents on the 5th and 6th of August. The program included speechesat the Korean Cultural Service Hall by three religious scholar-profes-sionals. Mr. Jerry Freedman - Habush, Associate Executive Directorof the National Conference of Christians and Jews, spoke on "Reducinghejudice among Religious Traditions"; Ven. Dr. Havanpola Ratanasara,President, Buddhist' Sangha Council of Southern California, addressedthe theme of "Interfaith Dialogue among Religious Traditions," andVen. Dr. Pal Khn Chon, Vice President of Wonkwang University, pre-sented a rationale "Toward the United Religion." The occasion was forthe celebration of moving to a new temple of Los Angeles WonBuddhism which has enough space for reliflous services and all theactivities.

Both events were held in comparatively modest form, with only300 attending, including thirty peace envoys, consisting of WonBuddhist devotees and lay members from the Headquarters of WonBuddhism in Iri, Republic of Korea.

All those present were impressed by both events; especially by thespealiers, under the main theme of "AIl People, One Family."ttfill People, One Family" is not an unfamiliar phrase to WonBuddhists. The catch-phrase "Truth is one, the world is one, the Humanrace is one family, the World is one workshop" has been the centralidea upon which all Won Buddhist activities have proceeded so far.The three speakers, from the different religious traditions, manifestedtheir view on religions, supporting the idea of rtflll People, OneFamily."

The Most Ven. Sotaesan, the founder of Won Buddhism, eD-lightened us that all laws and principles of religions such as Buddhism,Catholic, Protestant, Won Buddhism, Confucianism, Sikhs, Bahai,etc. are rooted in One Truth. The religions are likened to branches ofa tree.

Our World is becoming a multi-religious society more and more,which tells us that people need some shelter where they can keep theirmind peaceful and restful. One of the main tasks of religion must beto indicate the right way to original Truth which may save people from

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2 WONBWDHISM

some evil or wicked unrighteous path, finally giving them peace.

Whereas, unfortunately, we. see many instances in this multi-religioussociety of some religions constantly acting against the main reasonfor the existence of religion, causing troubles between religions andfinally destroying social peace.

Religions exist for the peace and happiness of dl the peoples of theworld. Inversely, this means that religions which focus on prestige,power, and property may only lose their meaning of existence. Therecould not be any conflicts, struggles, fightings, or w;us between religions as far as they concentrate upon their original tasks.

Should the length of the history of a religious organization, thenumbers of its members or the size of the temple have anything to dowith acknowledging superiority of any religious organizations? Great-ness or superiority do not depend upon external trappings and politicalinfluence as much as upon their relevance for self-disciplinary, devo-tiond, cooperative, and enlightening lives of members who may thencontribute to social peace and welfare.

This is the time for all religious people, especially for religiousleaders to reflect upon the genuine meaning of a religion and its task.Then we cannot but cast off the old garments of self-assertive or self-serving ways of thinking, prejudice, discrimination and namow mindedattitudes.

World peace will be realized when all religious people are en-lightened that the root of all religious denominations is one, and whenthey take as a priority to share understanding and to love each other.In this context the two events which were sponsored by Won BuddhismTemple mlght be highly commended. The more movements of this kindtake place, and the more people are enlightened to the truth of "Allpeople One Family," the closer world peace might come.

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WON BWDHISM 3

A Message from Dr. John B. TaylorThe following was given by John. B. Taytor, secretary-general of WCRp,

who visited Won Buddhist Center, met with the studen is, would-be 1rlonBuddhr'st prt'ests, and gave a short speech to share an idea toward world peace.

The Master _Chongsan (the first successor to the Great Master,founder of won Buddhism) speaks of "one Family within one House.,,This is a beautiful description of the role of wcRp the worldConference on Religion and Peace. Humanity is one family and theworld is the house we share - we inherit it irom our ancestors in allnations; we live in it sharing its resources, its joys, its sufferings; we passit on to future generations. We must use our sense of one famiy to rtopwars, to prevent injustice and to create love and compassion.

The Master Chongsan's verse on Samdong Moraliiy (Three SamenessMoral Philosciphy) also invites us to be ';co-worklrs in one work-place." We have many different tasks and skills in one workplace.There are architects- and carpenters, there are teachers and pupils, thereare strong and weak. But we all have one task to perform: to buildthe House of Truth, to make a home for love and injistice. One personcannot build a house and one person cannot create a family. We needeach other.

The World Conference on Religion and Peace has been trying for 20years to build co-operation between the different religious families ofthe world-Buddhist, christian, Moslem, Hindu, .t.. ihi. is not easybecause we have fought and exploited each other. we wish to .o-operate (a) to stop wars by promoting disarmament and building trust-we shall not need weapons if we trust Lach other, (b) to stop the causesof conflict which come from- violating human iighm

"nd p.".ticing

economic injustice, (c) to work together to build "

more just and sus-tainable society by protecting the environment and by sharing ourlimited resources, (d) to learn together how to underrtrrd and relpectour differenees but also realize our common visions and goals.

The contribution of won Buddhism to our *oild-*ide wcRpmovement is very, very important and much appreciated. Your Ieadershave been to -"ll our major conferences. you have made generousfinancial contributions to our work, But most important your beliefin One Family, One House and One Work-place ir

"r, insplration to

WCRP. We cannot solve the prcblem of war, hunger, disease, illiteracy,etc. by ourselves. we must learn to be co-workeis. we pray the sameprayer, so let us do the same work, each contributing our special gifts.

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WON BUDDHISM 5

lnterreligious Dialogue as a Vehiclefor Peace and Prosperity

by Ven. Dr. Havanpola Ratanasara

President, Buddhist Sangh a Council of Sou thern CaliforniaPresiden t, College of Buddhist Studies, Los AngelesE xe cu tiv e Chairman, Am er ican Buddhis t Con gress

Human society is entrapped with all types of beliefs, customs,habits, and prejudices. Religious and racial beliefs stand foremostamong all such prejudices. The religiousness of a person depends onhis or her own traditional inclinations. Those who have greater elementsof faith in a particular religious tradition find it difficult if not impossi-bie to appreciate religious other than their own.

However,'if we examine the attitudes, beliefs and practices of thefounders of many religions we will find that most of them practicedtolerance, kindness, compassion, and had a liberal policy towards otherreligions. In my view, religious intoleranee is perpetuated by certainfollowers of religious denominations. This attitude of religious intole-rance may have developed and been motivated as a result of selfishinterests.

A strong attachment to anything is discouraged in Buddhism"The favored policy advocated by the Buddha is that of "non-align-ment", the middle path. Not to get involved in any extreme is the posi-tive path toward Nirvana, the goal in Buddhism.

Unfortunately, this attitude of Buddhism is not always shared.There seems to exist an ever greater amount of misunderstanding,mistrust, non-cooperation and conflicts of different kinds in our humansociety. I believe some of the leading personalities of certain religionsare greatly responsible for the continuation of such travesties againsthuman nature. If we are interested in developing harmony arnongdifferent social groups, we have to educate our religious leaderscorrectly in the first place.

Once the thinking of religious persons is motivated by undesirablefactors such as prestige, power, pride and mercenary considerations,social stability is greatly disturbed. When elements of jealousy, mistrust,contemptuous attitudes and competitive means are accentuated, severe

One of his disciples said, ,,A greatSeoul these days. I thought our Greatit. "

exhibition is being held inMaster would like to visit

The Great Master answered, "Through exhibitions we learn ofdevelopments in_ scholarly and official wlrks, ag,riculture, industryand commerce by comparing those in the pasi with those in thepresent day. Also, an exhibition contributes io the development ofhuman wisdom, giv_ing peopre opportunities to hear and seewidely, which bring forth very fruiiful.results when one,s attitudeis very sincere. Today, however, let me introduce a truly greatexhibition. The whole universe is the exhibition grornd *ti.r, i,limitlessly wide and vast. Ail beings in ih; universe without ex-ception are nothing but exhibits. The exhibition has been takingplace for millions of years. compared with trri, e*r,iuiril" jrr,, or,.in seoul you have mentioned is like a feather. It may have manyexhibits, but will never be able_to display Mt. pae, iak. H*"r,g_deung or the widely known Mt. Diamond in the exhibitiongnound. There must be various antique objects displayed in theexhibition ground, but nothing can be *tr. antique than themountains or rivers on the earth. The fish in an aquarium or the.lo!r- in the granary exhibit are only small portions of the numberof fish in the fiv_e_oceans, ress significant than a grain of rice amongsix continents. Using this way of thinking, this kind of artificialexhibition in seoul gives only a narrow and unnatural impression

t-o one of profound wisdom and broad view. Therefor., ir,Ir. whodiscover the immeasurable exhibition surrounding them, andalways look into it with a broad mind, will be benefited immea-surably from what they have seen and what they have heard.From ancient times, therefore, all Budchas and sages, observingthis everlasting exhibition, foll,owed as tf,ei. model the Truth ofthe Absolute Unity and its components, and Being and Non-being,which are displayed in the exhibition ground of the rimitressuniverse. As they establish th-e- Law of Right and wronj, andAdvantage and Disadvantage of human beings on the basis or tni,Truth, they wili never become destitute_,,

From "On Buddhahood,,,The Scripture of Won Buddhism

ff\-.ff^-/N----J

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6 WON BWDHISM

social conflicts and violence follow. This state of unruly behavior can

be checked only by the behavior of the clergy in charge of religiousorganizations. Religious harmony depends on the attitude of the clergy:once they have disciplined themselves, then they can present correctteachings and a solid example to their followers.

Defilements such as hatred, malice, jealousy, ill-will, unwholesomecompetition, the attitude of exalting oneself and despising others arejust foreign to most of the founders of the great religions. It is thesuccessive leaders of certain religions who have incited their followersto resort to violence, often on a large scale. We can see in history thatmillions of innocent people have been massacred in Europe and else-

where in the name of religion. The Crusadqs, the Inquisition, and manyIslamic "jihads", or holy wars, have born witness to this, as well as

lesser known religious conflicts. Although the teaching is "love thyneighbor", intoxicated by the teachings of the vicious circles, manyhave advocated a policy of mass kiling in the name of religion.

Buddhism, the religion which I have chosen to follow, has a

different history altogether. There is no restriction on any follower ofthe Buddha against learning and listening to the teachings of otherreligions. Buddhists are not expected to despise or look down on anyother religion. Freedom of thought and speech, intellectual pursuits,and a scientific approach toward problem solving, including a toleranceof other views, are paramount in Buddhism. Buddhism is a sort of"shock absorber" of religions, riding with the waves yet maintaining itsown steady course. Buddhism's liberal attitude helps individualsdevelop sober human relations. The principle of democracy which ischerished in Buddhism has contributed immensely to a peaceful socialorder among mankind

Fortunately, now in Los Angeles, the rectification of the attitude ofreligious leaders is a reality, one which is more widespread daily. Thisis in no small measure due to the existence of the InterreligiousCouncil, which this year celebrates 20 years of existence. I have been a

member for the past 10 years, and am a past vice-president, so I have

had a chance to observe closely the progress of this organization.Through the Interreligious Council, we clergy of widely different

religions have come to know and respect each other through regularmeetings, visits to each other's places of worship and religious instruc-tion, attendance at each other's religious ceremonies. We have activelystudied each other's religions, and have held seminars with paperspresenting the typical attitudes of one religion, followed by a general

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discussion and question and answer period to help all understand theattitudes of different religions.

As Koreans, you may have borne witness to the process of implan-tation of foreign religions in your country. You may know from yourown experience how the contact between two religions, if not basedon mutual trust, can lead to rumors and innuendo about each other,and vying to show the superiority of one religion. over another. Youmay further have seen how the ignorance of one religion's clergy canlead to offending the sensibilities of followers of another religion.

Now in Los Angeles we no longer need to suffer from theseattitudes. Our clergy have the opportunity really to get to know otherreligions, so that they can learn to live peacefully with others andaccentuate the positive in their own religion. We must continue toencourage our religious leaders to open themselves to the wide world,for the greater benefit of all mankind.

+++++*+++++lr+++++++++++++++

Dr. Ratanasara was born in Sri Lanka in 1920. At age 12 he entereda monastery and was.ordained as a novice Buddhist monk. At age 20 hereceived final ordination. Following his studies as a monk he enteredthe University of Sri Lanka and took a B.A. with Honors in Pali. Hereceived and M.A. and a Professional Diploma in Education fromColurnbia University and then did his doctoral work at the Universityof London, receiving a Ph.D. in Education. He served ag a DelegatLfor Sri Lanka to the Twelfth General Assembly of the United Nationsin 1957.

The Great Master said, "It is important that you write andpreach my Dharma in order to transmit my Law to future genera-tions. But it is more important to practice it and become enlight-ened to it so that it may never cease. Then your merit will be'beyond

measure."

From "Words of Commission,"The Scrip ture of Won Buddhism

I

lr

:l

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Toward Organization of United Religions

by Dr. Pal Khn Chon

The ultimate goal of mankind, in my opinion, is the attainment ofthat state of peace and happiness which transcends both time andspace. In all the centuries since the human awakening economists,professors, artists, politicians and religionists have all pur"sued this goaiof personal and. s^lobal happiness

"rid p.""e in thei, o*n ways, and

consciously. And it is a fact that the world as a whole has il;"-i;-creasingly blessed with solutions to many of the problems whichdisturb and diminish the prospects for p.".. .rrd happiness.-

Yet the perfect world of peace andhappiness foi'which all mankindyearns, and for which so many have *orked, is not at hand. There havebeen, and continue to be, numerous regional and national wars in theworld. Most lamentably, many of thlse have been of a religiouscharacter, thul mocking the case made by religionists io, .ynonymybetween the Name of God and the end of suffeiing ruppor.a to resultfrom God's embrace

- The bright sp-ot il thit picture, if so it can be called, is that despitethe see-mingly unbreakable chain of tragic conflict, it has b".n possible,through mutual agreement between tlie prot"gorirtr;rd their inter-cessors to cease- killing one another on the baitlefield and step downhostilities a level to cold war and detente.

The skirmishes and conflicts between groups, and even withingtroups' of the most.devout believers are oit"n-the most cruel andsevere. This is especially true where points of religious doctrine are atissue, because of the depth to whictr- devotion is rooted in the humanpsyche. The continuing and far-reaching influence of religious ideas onhuman societies can hardly be overstatld. These ideas hire withstoodthe test of time in an increasingly secular world. R;iigio;"r.

"*ong "handful of the most powerful public-based organizaiiorm which existtoday. They are bo-rne along by the popurar support of their role ingoverning the welfare of the humin soul or spirit, traaitionally.Because of their universality, the religions have iet to-make theirgreatest contributions to the realization of humanity's goal of everlast-ing peace and happiness.

Religions, as a source of wisdom, are now playing a great role incontrolling excessive desire and teaching the reaf *L"nlrrg lf iif.. This

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helps to lessen the chances of wars fought for material gain, but thoseof religious or sectarian origins remain persistent and serious.

Fully conscious of this situation, religious leaders in recent timeshave begun to seek avenues toward mutuality and cooperation throughunity of the religious spirit, regardless of contrasting doctrine anddogma. Thus an atmosphere of interreligious dialogue and mutualunderstanding is being oeated by their awakening to the need forharmonious cooperation on programs of research and development ofprograms to approach shared goals, especially peace-oriented goals.

Understandably, there are those who are concerned about possibleerosions of the distinct characteristics which Eive the individual religionits unique identity,. the maintenance of which is a substantial part ofany group's reason ior being. It is suggested here that by placing grea-test emphasis and importance on the elements of contrast betweenone's own religion and that of another makes more difficult the kindsof cooperation which advance those aspects which are shared. Sincebasic human needs are universal, it seems a question of the welfare ofthe members. What religion will be harmed by promoting the principlesof peace and harmony? After all, bridges are built to bring two sidescloser together. If the bridge is built in an atmosphere of mutualrespect, the risk of exploitation or erosion of identity can be avoided.

The most important point to be made in this regard seems to bethat,.if we are thoroughly awakened to the truth that the source of allreligion is one, we can readily see that such fears are groundless, if notviolations of the religious principle of spirituality.

Just as a leafy tree greris from one root, all religions are groundedin one idea. Enlightened to the one Truth, Ven. Sotaesan said, "il-Won(One-Circle) is the origin of all beings in the universe, the mind-seal ofall Buddhas and saints." According to the teachings of Won Buddhism,while the objects and symbols of religious belief may take differentforms and expression, in ultimate reality they are the same, indistin-guishable.

Religions, although their doctrinal principles may be different, areaimed at the same goal of leading the world into a righteous wayand bringing its benefits to all beings. The basic spirit of Won Buddhismis that it is possible to respect the tradition and systems of otherreligions while striving to eradicate those barriers between them inpursuit of the goals of peace and salvation of humanity.

This same spirit is represented in another Won Buddhist saying,"The truth is one, the world is one, mankind is one family, the world is

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one workshop". Let's construct the Il-Won world as workers in thesame workshop, as a family in the same household, through oneprinciple in one rvorld.

The concrete expression of this basic spirit is to be found in themovement for the establishment of the United Religions. The move-ment for a "United Religions" following the model of the UnitedNations is viewed as an organization to promote and build a worldpeace through mutual understanding and cooperation among religions.This is to be done without discarding any of the doctrine, tradition,system or character of any religion, but by transcending barriers andcustoms of a non-religious sort. My strongest hope is that this move-ment will not be viewed as an operation of the Won Buddhist religion,but a movement to be promoted by all religious devotees of goodwillin the name of religious agneement.

The United Nations has been very effective in the supervision ofpan-national and international relations in areas of material relations -politics, economics, public health, culture, science, etc. The UN charter'contains an article related to religious relations, but it is a small section,zubsidiary to the big political picture.

Today it is, I think, absolutely necessary that every religion, capableas they are of the benevolent governanee of the human spirit or mind,in full recognition of their original mission, join hands for a combinedeffort. This can be done, I suggest, by gathering all our efforts nowdispersed in innumerable international religious organizations.

We are not deceived that it will be an easy matter to organize sucha body on a worldwide scale, either in name or in fact, and much lessin haste. First, we must arrange for the place of meeting, where theIargest group, as well as the smaller groups can gather as often aspossible to ripen the atmosphere for progress toward the eventual per-manent establishment.

Amicable meetings and dialogue are vital to establish the at-mosphere necessary to realize the United Religions. Interreligiousmeetings and dialogue will provide an opportunity for mutual under-standing to grow. Communicative competence between religions canbe cultivated through regular'religious education, then contributing acentral unifying basis for harmonious and cooperative relationship.In contemporary society, where many religions and values coexist, wemust join hands to conquer the many miseries which face us, trans-forming them instead into opportunities to build a brlghter futurethrough a universal religious culture.

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The importance of interreligious dialogue can be shown in thefollowing five aspects. First, it wilI remove the prevailing prejudiceamong religionists against other religions and sffengthen mutual under-standing. Frequent conferences can make it possible to understand thatthe ultimate goal of aII religions is the same. Second, it can promoteinter-religious understanding and friendship, thus weakening exclusivityand hostility which exists among them. This will foster a philosophicalbasis for a lasting world peace.

Third, social cooperation between religions will be advanced tosettle disputes peacefully.

Fourth, the general cultural level of religions will be enhanced,greatly improving the climate for a new morality of peace.

Finally, religions will feel compelled to complement their weakpoints by following superior examples which become evident in collea-gue religions, thereby widening the ethical and moral range of theirown religions and setting positive examples for others.

From the beginning of Won Buddhism, Ven. Sotaesan, the founder,was very generous to other religions. He said, "According to the timesin which on'e is living, study all lessons diligently and try to acquire allforms of knowledge." He opened the door to accept the superior pointsof other religions so as not to hinder the development of WonBuddhism. "

Declaring the ll-Won-Sang truth to the world, Ven. Sotaesan awak-ened his followers to the truth that the ultimate reality of the univenseis one, so all religions are grounded in the same source. AI religionistsare seekers after the same truth. He paved the way for interreligiousmeeting and dialogue with,the phrase, "The ultimate truth of the uni-verse is originally one".

General problems pointed out in interreligious dialogue are as

follows: First, religionists usually adhere only to their own doctrineand system and are lacking in general religious knowledge and arepossessed with narrow-mindedness. Second, due to the chronic con-flict between specific religions, the doors to dialogue are closed. Third,sonxe major religions and rapidly growing religions fall into a kind ofcultural imperialism of exclusivity and chauvinism. Fourth, inter-religious dialogues are done only among minor groups of scholars andparticipants in international meetings. Accordingly, popular under-standing and education through inter-religious dialogue haven't beenaccomplished yet. Fifth, religions are not following rational ways tosolution of these problems. Sixth, they are not seeking social coopera-

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tion for productive dialogue.

- -_ These problems, without popular recognition, may prohibit thefollowers of religious principles from seizing opportunities for meetingand dialogue.Ven' Chongsan elaborated on the unity-oriented thought of Ven.sotaesan by proposing the ,"three-sa-.".., ;lr"rr,, , (samdong).ven. Daesan, currently prime Master of won Buddhism, has been pro-moting the organization of the United Religion, a, .t .oncrete way ofpractical observance of the previous two piime lvt"rtJ, ideas. More-over, during the past two decades, won Buddhism has been.keeping upcorrespondence with overseas religions and p"rti.ip"tirg in interna-tional religious conferences as well as encouraging and participatingin rounds of visitor exchanges with others to cultivat-e friendly relations

In 1986, we hosted the ACRP meeting in seoul, and the resultexceeded our expectations, in an_ atmosphere of t "r*orrv and under_standing, thus securing a foothold for the movement for a UnitedReligions' Currently there exist a goodly number of internationalorganizations in the worrd, ar with tti. toriv purpose of building para_dise on this earth.However, the idear h;r;;; been put into practice yet,partly because the real motive of the *or.-.nt for a united Religionshas not been widery conveyed to the wo.ra,^""a partly because of somemisunderstandingr l, rorne peopret *i"al caused by rerigion-fosteredoppression, historically.

In this context, every religionist and religious order should in-cessantly reflect on and repent tf th.*selves. The modest attitude ofreflection and penitence should constitute the u"ri. guialur. of themovement for United Religions.won Buddhism has proposed the movement for the unitedReligions, rather than the movement for widely sp.ead-rerigions, rargeand small, to promote a return to the originar posture of religions -enlightenment to -the truth, harmony and c6operation in the construc-tion of a peaceful paradise in the wtrld. I;ls believed that only whenall religions return to their original r.rigiom attitude can the realintention of the movement for tne united'Rerigions be.u"iir.a. Then,united^Religions can successfuily functio" .r ri"rr..r

"i;;" *heeledcart' of which the United Nations forms tn. ...ond wheel. The road topeace and happiness will be long and difficult, and this cart of unity isbadly needed if we are to .o*pi.t. tt. ior*ey in time to save human-kind.

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East -- West lnterreligious Dialogue

Do Buddhism, Judaism, christianity (and other Religions)Have the Same Mission?

by Dr. Leonard SwidJer

In these remarks I wish to reflect on what interreligious dialogue is,why it is neceg$ary, how it must be carried out, and how that appiies toa Buddhist-Jewish;Christian dialogue. The conclusion will be ihat themission of all three religions is essentially the same: the liberation ofthe human being to live a fully authentic human life. I will then add afew practical comments about moving this project forward on a global,organized basis.

I nterrel igious D ialogue

During the course of the Second vatican Coun cil (L962-65), popePaul VI issued his first encyclical (Ecclesiam suain, L964), speciiicaliyon dialogue. He was not at all, in those early days, hesitlnt in hislanguage: ,

' Dialogue is demanded nowadays ... rt r's dem anded by the dynamiccourse of action which is changing the face of modern society.It r de-manded by the p,luralism of society and by the maturity man has reachedtn this day and age. Be he religiorrs or not, hrs secular education has en-abled him to think and speak and conduct a dialogue with dignity.r

Vatican Secretariat for Unbelievers recommended that "alI Christiansshould do their best to promote dialogue as a duty of fraternalcharity suited to our prognessive and adult age." A key notion in thisinterreligious dialogue and dialogue with nonbelievers is freedom for allparties concerned:

Doctrinal dialogue should be initiated with courage and sincerity, withthe greatest of freedom and with reverence ... If diatogue t's to achieve itsaims, it must obey the rules of truth and liberty. ft needs s.rncere truth,thus excluding manipulated doctrinal dlscussion ... rn drscussjon the truthwill ptevail by no other means than by the truth itself. Therefore the

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liberty o! the participants must be ensure d by law and reverence inpractice.

To be sure, there is risk involved in dialogue: if one is really opento what other partners say, one has to reckori with the possibiliiy thatthey will prove to be persuasive on some given issue. Tire Vatican hasT incredibly strong statement supporting this position: ,'Doctrinaldiscussion requires perceptiveness, Uottr in honesitv r.ttirg out one,sown opinion and in_ recognizing the truth everywh.i., .u.n if the truthdemolishes one so that one is forced to reconsider one's own position,in theory and in practice, at least in part.,,3

A similar commitment to dialogue with other religions, includingChristianity, wa9 also expressed by t-he Great Master of fuon buddhismlSotaesan, when he asked of a Christian minister,

" 'Have you ever liberated yourself ftom the bound.ary of the Christianrealm and looked around the wider woild,?' The minister asked, ,Where isthe wide world?' The Great Master said, 'You wilt find a wider woild whenyou break the boundary of your mind. Those who do not open their mindwitde stubbotnly lnsr'st only on their own concerns and are iontined withintlre boundaries of *eir ia ruIes and habits, despising and rejecting theworks and habjts of other peopre. Therefore thiy tinatty nn"nri irii"_dice, making a barricade like the thickest and hardest wall or mountainbetween themselves and otlrer people. The conflicts betwe"., ;;t;;;churches, and individuals are carred by this prejudice. we shoulddestroy the banicade or thick bon wail btween people . . . makingharmonized relationshrps with al| other people.,,a ' :

Deabsolutizing Truth

- -or.- m_qst, then, ask: why has this dramatic turn taken place evenin that highly conservative institution, the Catholic Church? (And onegan effectively argue that if it has taken place there, then iic"n happenif it has not already, in other less conservative religious tradititns.)The ansurer to this simple question is quite complex, 6ut I believe thata foundational element for the revolutionary turn is the deabsolutizingof the understanding of truth that has finilly camied through in theCatholic Church - and other Christian and Jewish institutions. This isnot the place to spell out that deabsolutizing process in detail. But afew lines in its regard might be helpful.

Until the nineteenth century iruth in the West was thought of in avery static manner: if something was found to be true in tne placeand time, then it was thought to 6e true in all times and places, and this

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was so not only in regard to statements about empirical data, but alsoabout the meaning or morality of things. For example, if it was true forSt. Paul to say that it was all right for slaves to be subject to theirmasters (in fact, he demanded it!), then it was always true.

But no Christian theologian today would admit the truth of thePauline statement. In the past one hundred fifty years our understand-ing of truth statements in the West has become historical, perspectival,Iimited, interpretive in a single word: relationat. And that meansdeabsolutized. It is now understood that the particular historicalcircumstances within which a statement about the meaning of some-thing arose have a profound influence on the statement - the veryframing of the question, the thought categories in which it and thesubsequent answers were expressed and developed, the kind of languageused (poetic, mythic, scientific, legal), the audience for which it wasintended, the goal it was meant to accomplish. Text can be properlyunderstood only within context; given a significantly new context, a

proportionately new text would be needed to convey the samemeaning. Great Master Sotaesan expressed much the same insight whenhe said: "AIl the founders of religions have from ancient times madetheir appearances at different times, teaching people the ways of life.The essentials of their teachings, however, have been different due todifferences in the times and locations in which they lived."s

Further, what the new sense of history did to make time and cir-cumstances dynamic elements in the new view of truth statements, thedevelopment of the sociology of knowledge did in regard to such thingsas class, status, and sex in society; these also had a profound effect onhow one perceived and expressed reality. With the development oflanguage analysis and hermeneutics (the "science of interpretation"),all our statements about the meaning of things were seen to benecessarily limited by the nature of language (although reality ismultifaceted, we can speak of only one facet at a time; hence, all ourtruth statements are limited). And all such statements include anelement of interpretation (I perceive reality, and I express my percep-tion of it; although there clearly is an extramental it, I am inextricablybound up in the perception/description of it).

By way of an example, an object (reality) is perceived by a circleof perceivers. My perception/description of the object (reality) maywell be accurate, and therefore true, but it may not contain the percep-tion/description of someone who is opposite me, which will also betrue. An awareness of this nature of truth statements logically leads to

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16 WON BWDITISM

the conclusion that I need to supplement my truth statements bybeing in dialogie with those who perceive reality other than I do.We shall never come to a complete perception/description of reality,but we can move toward an ever fuller one. Hence, dialogue and conse-quent self-transformation is dynamic, never-ending.

What Dialogue Is

Dialogue is a conversation between persons with differing views,

the primiry prrpose of which iS for all participants to learn from theothers so that they can change and grow in the perception and under-standing of reality, and then act ac'cordingly. Minimally,'the very factthat I liarn that my dialogue partner believes "this" rather than 1'that"proportionately changes my attitude toward that person, and a change

in my attitude is a significant change in me. We ent'er into dialogue sQ

that we can learn, change, and grow, not so that we can induce change

on the other, as one hopes to do in debate. On the other n'and, because

in dialogue each partner comes with the intention of learning andchanging, one's partner in fact will also change. Thus the goal of debateand much more, is accomplished far more effectively by dialogue.

Without using the word dialogue, Great Master Sotaesan also

expressed much the same idea when he was visited by a man fromanother religion, who asked him, " 'How can I broaden my scope ofknowledge?; The Great master replied to him, 'You are prabticing the

way to broaden the scope of your knowledge by asking me that ques-

tion. I am also broadening my scope of knowledge by listening to yourtalk."6

In addition, persens enterinq into interreligious dialogue must be atleast minimally ielf-oitical of both themselves and their own religioustraditions. A lack of such self-criticism implies that one's own traditionalready has all the correct answers. Such an attitude makes dialogue notonly unnecessary, but even impossible, for we enter into dialogueprimarily so that we can learn - which obviously is impossible if ourtradition has never made a misstep, if it has all the right answers. To be

sure, in interreligious dialogue one must stand within a religious tradi-tion with integrity and conviction, but such integrity and convictionmust include, not exclude, a healthy self-criticism. Without it there can

be no dialogue - and, indeed, no integrity.In interreligious dialogue there are at least three phases. In the first

phase we unlearn misinformation about each other and begin to knoweach other as we truly are. In phase two we begin to discern values in

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WON BWDHISM 17

the partner's tradition and wish to appropriate them into our own tra-dition. If we are serious, persistent, and sensitive enough in dialogue,we may at times enter into phase three. Here we together begin toexplore new areas of reality, of meaning and of truth, of which neitherof us had even been aware before. We are brought face to face with thisnew, as yet unknown to us dimension of reality only because of ques-

tions, insights, and probings explored in dialogue.There is something radically different about phases two and three,

on the one hand, and phase one on the other. In the former we do notsimply add on quantitatively another "truth" or value from thepartner's tradition. Instead, as we assimilate it within our own religiousself-understanding it will proportionately transform our self-under-standing. Because our dialogue partner will be in a similar position,we shall then be able to witness authentically to those elements of deepvalue in our own tradition that our partner's tradition may weII be ableto assimilate with self-transforming profit.

AII this of course will have to be done with complete integrity oneach side, both partners remaining authentically true to the vital coreof their own religious tradition. In significant ways that vital core willbe perceived and experienced differently under the influence ofdialogue, but if dialogue is carried on with both integrity and openness,the result will be that the Jews will be authentically Jewish andChristians authentically Christjan, not despite the fact that Judaism orChristianity has been profoundly "buddhized," but becausq of it. Andthe same is true of a judaized or christianized Buddhism. There can beno room for syncretism here: syncretism means amalgamating variouselements of different religions into some kind of a (con) fused wholewithout concern for the integrity of the religions involved - which isnot the case with authentic dialogue.

How to Dialogue

If we are to enter into dialogue with each other across religiouslines, we shall have to learn to speak a language that will be under-standable to our partner. The Jew and the Christian will have to learnsomething of the thought world, and language expressing it, ofBuddhists, and Buddhists that of the Jews and Christians. This will beespecially difficult inasmuch as the cultural milieux out of which thetwo perceptions/descriptions of reality arose are so very different,much more different than between Protestants and Catholics, orChristians and Jews, or even Jews or Christians and Muslims, for all

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18 WON BWDHEM

these have a largely Semitic and biblical root'In the Wesi, ihristianity and Judaism have been going through a

deep crisis of ontologization. For modern critically-thinking Westerners

the old Ianguage "fr-om above" sounds too much like fairy tales; it isnot convincini. The response of critically-thinking Christian and

Jewish theolog-ians has been to rethink their traditions with categories

and language ifto* below," "from within," that express the transcen-

dent in terms of the immanent. It is precisely this language "fro-m

beIOW," "frgm Within," "immanent," humanity'baSed, fOr that iS the

o"fy kind of language that we can have in common. In terms of the

Judeo-Christian-B-uadnist dialogue it-is that humanity'based language

that provides a most apt bridge between the Judeo€hristian and

Buddhist traditions, not only because it is more and more the language

of gitically-thinking Jews and Christians, but also because it is likewise

the language of much of Buddhism.

Return to Sources

In term of the conceptualization and expression of reality, much

the same sort of misadventure overtook Judaism, Christianity, and

Buddhism. AII suffered the fate of an externalizing and ontologizing ofthe original, metaphorical, nonideological message of their founders.

In this ionnection the very names of the latter two religious traditionsare revealing. The names come not from the names of the founding

persons, Siidhartha Gautama and Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew) ofirlazareth, but rather, from their titles: Buddha (Enlightened One) and

Christ (Anointed One). Here already is reflected the move from the

interior to the exterior. One need only compare the Ianguage that

Jesus, Yeshua, uses to describe himself and his relationship to the

ultimate source of reality, which he, in good Jewish - indeed, Pharisaic

councils oi the fourth and fifth centuries to note clearly the move from

metaphor to ontology. A similar comparison could be made of the

Ianguage of Gautam-a in the Buddhist scriptures with s_9me of the

dociriries of later Mahayana Buddhism. Externalization and ontologiza-

tion occurred in both instances.What is necessary then, in both traditions and in Judaism, is a

ressourcement, a probing back to the sources, the original vital core,

of each of the ,.iigiorr iraditions, to the teachings embodied in both

the words and lives of Yeshua and Gautama (there are of course

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WON BWDHISM 19

immense historic-critical problems in achieving this goal, but significantprogress has already been made), and the "rabbinical" founders ofJudaism. When that is done one finds startlingly similar mess.lges beingtaught by the original founders, despite the radically different milieux.

Gautama, Yeshua and the Rabbis in Dialogue

It will be worth our while to pause and look at a few of theteachings of Yeshua and the rabbis (Yeshua too of course was a rabbibut, for the sake of clarity, the term "rabbi," will not be used hereof him) to see just how close they are to those of Gautama.

Gautama teaches that at the heart of the human experience of lifethere lies a basic dissatisfaction or suffering (dukkha); it is his goal tobring us to face dukkha and liberate ourselves from it. Ignorance of ourlot is the cause of our slavery, and knowledge is the way to liberation.Yeshua's and'the rabbis' message too is one of liberation, a dialectic ofslavery and liberation that comes about through truth. As a goodteacher concerned for his disciples, Yeshua said to his Jewish followers:"If you follow my teaching you will be true disciples of mine, for youwill know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:31-32).

The Reign of God

Gautama rejected the idea that the true meaning of human life,salvatlon, was to be found first of all through religious rituals, the prac-tice of asceticism, virtuous acts or intellectual speculations - thoughsome form of all these things have their proper place in human life -but in a deep interior wisdom that sets all things in their proper order.Fundamentally this is what Yeshua and the rabbis taught with theircentral image, the reign of God. Unfortunately Christians have oftenbeen misled by the usual translation of the phrase basiJeia tou theou,"as we have it in the new Testament Greek-Yeshua probably saidmalkut shomaim .in Hebrew-the "Kingdom of God," as if Yeshua werespeaking of a place, a realm. In fact, some of Yeshua's contemporariesmade the same mistake and were corr'ected by him: "Some Phariseesasked Jesus when the basiJeia tou theou would come. His answer was:-'The basileia tou theou does not come in such a way as to be seen.No one will say, "Look, here it is"'or, "There it is!"; because thebasiJeia tou theou is inside you (entos hymon) (Luke L7:20-2I).Equally unfortunately, in Judaism a similar fate befell the rabbis'image of malkut shomaim. The authentic meaning is that the reign of

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20 WON BWDMSM

God is the situation wherein all things are rightly ordered accordingto their nature;God's will reigns.

Theism-Atheism

Of course the rabbis and Yeshua spoke in theistic terms: God wasthe ultimate source and goal of reality, and so if things were orderedaccording to their nature, their fundamental structure, they wouldnaturally be ordered according to the will, rule, reign of God. Gautamadid not speak of God, either to affirm or deny; he was satisfied withspeaking of a right ordering of things according to their ultimateauthentic structure. Clearly there are differences here between theteachings of the rabbis and Jesus, on the one hand, and Gautama on theother, but there is an even more profound unity of their messages:our liberation is to be found within us in the right ordering of all thingsaccording to their fundamental structure.

In many different ways Yeshua and the rabbis spoke of the reign ofGod, the interior right ordering of things, the importance of seeking itfirst, and its relationship to other values. At one point Yeshua said:"Rather, seek first of all the reign and its rightness (dikaiosynen),and all these things Ihe had been speaking of not worrying about whatto eat or wear] shall be added to you" (Matt. 6:33). In the Talmudthis saying of the rabbis is recorded: "Did you ever in your life see ananimal or a bird which had a trade? And they support themselves with-out trouble. And were they not created only to serve me? And I wascreated to serve my master. Does it not follow that I shall be supportedwithout trouble?"7 Yeshua and the rabbis, like Gautama, did not rejectthe values of the body, but saw them as good things to be enjoyed with-in the right ordering of things. Then one can appreciate and enjoy allthings for what they are, without any disordered clinging (tanh in thePali of Gautama), but with a proper detachment, for as Yeshua said else-where: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matt.6:21).

Love of Self, Others and God

Just how focused the message of the rabbis and Yeshua was on theinterior right ordering of all things according to the structure of reality

and, in the theistic mode, that means on the source and goal ofreality, God - can be seen in the summing up of the whole of religionin two great commandments: "You shall love the Lord your God with

1005

WON BWDHISITI 2l

your whole heart (kardra) and with your whole soul (psyche) and withyour whole understanding (dianora). This is the great and firstcommandment" (Matt. 22:37-38). Here all the essential notions areinterior ones: love, heart, soul, understanding. That is the first and greatcommandment; all others flow from it - the interior right ordering ofall things. But in the Jewish tradition - and Yeshua was a very devoutJew - one does not live isolated like a hermit, and so Yeshua went onto make an essential link between that first commandment and thesecond, which he described as like unto the first (homoia aute): "Thesecond is like unto it; You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt.22:39). Interior right ordering has immediate socio-ethical consequen-ces. According to Yeshua, one does not "save" oneself alone, .butliberation carries with it the impulse to share itself with other (as themedieval philosophers would say: bonum sui diffusivum est, goodnessis diffusive of itself). This is exactly what the whole Buddhist traditionof the Bodhisattva is all about: the liberated ones teaching liberationto the unliberated.

It should be noted that in this summing up of religion in the twogreat commandments of love, Yeshua was not only quoting from theHebrew Bible (Deut. 6:5 and Lev. I9:I8), but was also following his.Jewish predecessors in linking the two together as the sum of religionas expressed two hundred years earlier in The Testaments of the TwelvePatriprchs. In fact in Luke's version of the encounter between Yeshuaand the Jewish expert in the law who asked about horv to be "saved,"it was the lawyer, not Yeshua, who summed up religion in the two gneatcommandments of love; Yeshua simply agreed with him (Luke 10:25-28).

It is also important to discern that in the second commandment oflove, the Jewish tradition and Yeshua spoke of loving one's neighboras one's self. There, indeed, is the standard, the authentic self, and thereis the interior focus once again - which then has immediate outreachconsequences. In another place Yeshua said: "But what does it profita person to gain the whole world (kosmon) and suffer the loss of one'sown self (heau ton)?" (Luke 9:25). Should we humans not enjoy thecosmos? Yes, but we can really do so only through an interiorly rightly-ordered self.

And in the sayings of Rabbi Nathan it is written: "To whomeversaves a single soul [self] it is reckoned as if he saved the whole world...To whomever destroys a single soul [self] it is reckoned as if he des-troyed the whole world... From this you learn that one human is worth

1006

22 WONBWDHISM

the whole of creation."e It is the human self that follows the Torah -God's instruction on how to order life rightly - that is worth, and

worthy of, the whole of creation.

Nirrrana-Shalom

one of the prime teachings of Gautama was that of concentration

or focus of the mind - trris ii what the various techniques of medita-

tion are aimeJ "t. Ott. should live fully in the "now'" Of course the

fullness of ,,now,, includes an awareness of the past and a looking

iorward to th; future, but they both focus in on and move out from

tf,. pr.rrnt, which is to be embraced fully and consciously (the Western

medieval motto was: age quod agis, "do what you are doing")' The

same message is found: in the words of Yeshua: "Therefore, do no-t

*orry aboui things for tomorrow; tomorrow will worry about itself'

Suffilient for the iay is the evil thereof" (Matt. 6:34).

In some of later Buddhism nirvana has come to mean something

like the notion of heaven, a place where one goes to live happily after

death. The o*, thing h"pp.n.d to nirvani that happened to the

basileia tou th;;; "nJ

tt . ^)it rt shomaim ; it was reified and localized'

in fact, to Gautama nirvana was very much like Yeshua's basileia tOu

theou and the rabbis' malkut shomaim; a state of soul (psyche) wherein

;hi"g. are righgtordered. Nirvana literally means "blor1rn out'" What is

blown out? AII of the false selves that most men and women mistake

for their true, a.Lp self. So deep is this true self according to Gautafna

that he refers to it as a "nonse[1" anatta, a nonself in the sense of what

we have not*"Uy mistaken for our self. These pseudo -s9l1e1

are "blown

out" in nirvana,it it all tanh, "distorting craving," which is the source

of tt. pseudo selves. What is then left is the authentic self, at peace,

a.tp p.".., U.."rt. it is rightly ordered in accordance with the struc-

ture of realitY.Yeshua spoke a different language., but sent much the same

message, aistinilistring authentic pel"e (his own) from pseudo pea-ce

ilt ., of 'tf,. *oria): "Feace. I leave you, my peace I give you, not as the

*orfa gir., ao i giu. you" (John 14:27). As a Palestinian Jew Jesus

rp"f.. not Gree[ Urt liebrew and Aramaic' Thus the word he used forjr*" *"s doubtless shalom, which means much more than the mere

cessation of exterior hostilities; it indicates an interior right ordering of

ali things thatpositively spreads out throughout the surrounding world.

The rabbis too had a ri*it"r message couched in Hebraic categories:,,Peace (shalomi i, gt."t for it is sit aside to be the portion of the

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WON BWDHISM 23

just . . . Those who love the Torah have great peace (shalom) Peace

(shalom) is great for it will be granted to the gentle."e Thus for Yeshua

and the rabbis a synonym for basileia tou theou/malkut shomaim - andfor nirvana - would have been the pregnant word "shalom."

In the end those persons who attain liberation, salvation (whichcomes from the Latin word salus, "vibrant health"), who arrive atnirvana, at the basileia/malkut, at shalom, do not lead a grim, stoic life.Rather, only they are able to live life "to the hilt," for it is only theywho, having things rightly ordered, can fully appreciate and enjoythem. Yeshua said as much in a stunning call to full life: "I have come

that may havelife, and have it abundantly!" (John I0:I0). And yourScriptures say that,"Won Buddhism was therefore founded in order toIead atl living creatures to the vast and boundless garden of happi-ness."l o

Conclusions

Let this suffice here to indicate something of the profoundsimilarity of the messages of Gautama, Yeshua, and th9 rabbis' Ofcourse there are also diiferences, but it must be asked whether these

differences are over essentials or cultural variations, whether they are

contradictory or complementary, whether they concern primary or

secondary matters. In addition there will be many more differences -and some similarities - when one moves into a comparative study ofthe religious traditions that flowed from Gautama, Yeshua, and the

rabbis orut the millennia. That second move, of course, is importantbut, as in the very teachings of Gautama, the rabbis, and Yeshua them-

selves, the right ordering ol the original vital core of the religious !."_dition ir primiry; all otlier developments are to be seen in that light.Hence our return to the sourcei, to the teachings of Gautama, the

Torah, the rabbis, and Yeshua.Naturally such a resourc ement may not be done in a reductionist or

primitivist manner, as if we were to "play" first-century Bible land or

iifth-century B.C. India. Our contexts are different from that of the

rabbis, Yeshua, and Gautama, and therefore their messages must be

applied to our contexts; we must make interpretations. And that ispiecisely, where the history of the institutions comes in creatively:

millions of other disciples of Gautama, the rabbis, and Yeshua also triedto understand the teichings of their teachers and interpret them and

apply them to their existential context. Their examples, their tradi-

1008

24 WON BWDHBM

tions, can be of immense help to -us. But we must also be aware that

these examples and traditiont;; be negative as well as positive ("the

wise man learns by the mistakes of oihers; the fool by.his own")'

A tradition must always be tested by the original vital core in interpret-

ing and applyPg it to the present' aI vital core

Fortunat.f, f"r .r" tod"y the language o.f both the origini

of Buddhism, Judaism, and'i]tttitti"nii, (the teachings and lives of

Gautama, the rabbis, and yesr,""i i"a tire language of.modern critical

thinkers (who are largely the ones interestea in inlerreligious dialogue)

are largely a language "fr6m be}OW," "from within," the transcendent

in the immanent-- in short, humanity-based'In sum: ttre mission of Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity as ex-

pounded at th.ir sources it ;;;;;iia[y the same: the liberation of

human Ueings l;tead fully authentic human lives now' Each religious

tradition prescribes how from its own perspective' Rather than compete

with each ",f,.i it.V need to Ut in'diafogue with one another' help

one another, as Vatican II expressed it: as."equal with .ql?I," par cum

Wri.Sotaesan said: "Even "'Chtittian,

if he is worthy of being a ffue

disciple of Jesus, will understand what I am doing' -llto'- my disciples'

if they are worthy of Ueing ;, itf.. disciples, will .understand what

Jesus was affi ;r,- And "he -added: ,,Enlightened men, however,

;;;;td aII re1ig1-* "t one familv under-one roof'"]2

With tt ir'grl"f vision before you have committed yourselves anew

to the notionl ", yo.r, steering- committee for united Religions in

Korea wrote, ihat 'ithe basic, fundamental truth of all religions cannot

but be one. In addition, even'though each religion's means of education

may be different, the go"t b"ittg-sought."ritot but be one ' AII

religions urgently need io oplt, tireir dtors wide, assemble in one place

and discuss, train arrd enaci :oin, operations for the sake of mutual

understanding and cooperation' " I 3

I am in wholehearted Jgt..*."t with your goal to move global

inter-religious dialogue Ue,o]r'i-th. ,t"g. of wish toconcrete, concerted

action - and I am not alone in this agireement with you' I would urge

you to maintain the broadest possible scope in the carrying out of your

vision in collaboration with ^ others. as t have pointed out in my

,,Dialogu. D;;;;;;;i"t interreligious dialogue operates in three areas:

the practical, where we to;il."ig to help humanity phvsically; the

depth or "spiritual" dimension where we attempt to experience the

partner's religion "fromlvithi;";the cognitive or intellectual' where we

seek understanding and truth. All ttrree areas are vital to a fuII'

1009

WON BWDHISM 25

authentic human life, and your organizing efforts need to encompassall. This is the more true becausJ there

-exists already a world-wide

organization of the major religions working for world peace;a numberof scholars, myself included, are now trying to organize thi intellectua'dialogue among religions on a more comprehensively interreligious andsystematic basis; the interchange and dialogue in the spiritual area isgoing on, but it is even less global in its vision and practice than that ofthe other two areas. However, all three areas are inter-dependent. Ifthey can be brought together on the global level in a creative dialogue,interchange and cooperation, the world would begin to experience thetrue human revolution, that is, the turning of humanity away f.romfocussing on its false self toward its true self in each person, between allpersons, with all things within Ultimate Reality.

,( * rr rk * *rr * * * * rt * * * * * * rr * rk * *rr rrrr rr*

NOTES

1. Humanae Personae Dignitatem, tro. 79, in Austin Flannery, ed., VaticanCouncil II (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, L975), p.1003.

2. ibid., p.1010.3. ibid.4. .The Canonical Textbook of Won Buddhism, trans. by Pal-Khn Chon (Seoul:

Won Buddhist Publications, l97I), pp.268 f.

5. ibid., p.56.

6. ibid., p.148.7. Krddushin 4.L4, in, Morton Smith, Tannaitic PraIIIeIs in the Gospels (Philadel-

phia: Society of Biblical Literature, I95I), p.I37.8. Aboth Rabb: Nathan, 31, in Paul Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen Testa-

ment aus ?aJmud und Midrasch (Munich, L922),vol. I, p.750.f. ibid., p.2L6.

I0. Canonical Textbook, p.1.11. ibid., p.366.

t2_. ibid.13. Unite Reiigions (Iri City, Korea, l98l).L4. Leonard Swidler, "Dialogue Decalogiue," Joutnal of Ecumenical

Studies, 20, 1 (Winter, 1983), pp.1-4.

1010

26 WON BUDDHISM

Leonard swidler, Professor of catholic Thought and Interreligious

Dialogue at Temple university and Editor of the Journal of Ecumenical

studies, is the author of over 25 books and 100 articles' including

Buddhism Made plain foi christians, Jews and other westerners'

(Maryknoll,NY:orbisBooks,1985),co.authoredwithAntonyFernadofromsriLanka,andco.authorwithSeiichiYagifromJapanof the book A Bridge to Buttdhist-christian Diarogue (Maryknoll,

NY: Orbis Books, 1990)'

TheGreatMaster,whilesupervisi"qli:,.linedisciplesbuildinga dam to reclaim-i"na at Kityong-lit pid,"You are not accustom-

ed to such t."r, *ork. This hirdship you are now suffering' as

initiators of ,i,J gr."i Ota.t,-lt q"it. different from that of

ordinary people. Hbwever, yo; wil iind unique pleasure in doing

it. It wiII be more meaningful-io initiate a thlng yourself through

hardships and Jiifi.rtties than just taking over some other per-

son,s work. Our Order is to be of unprecedented grea-tness' and

at the same til;,-ii *iff Ue tt e tast of iis kind' To establish such a

great order, we must pr.p*.- a docrine which incorporates the

followingteachings:moratstuavandphilosophyofscienceshouldbe compatible, which might-Uti"g real -civilization

to the world;

Study in Motit" rr,o"ra 6e harmtnized with Studv in Quietness

in order that the- study of Buddha Dharma miglt parallel our

pr".iL"r *orrr; possibilitie.s for the unity of all doctrines must

be found whiJ' tiiii 6ting the wrold together in peaceful harmony

Iike a family. Thus, to accompiith "fti.":I perflctly, a Eeat deal

of effort on our part is naturally required'"

From "Introduction"'The SuiPture of Won Buddhism

1.

101 1

WON BWDHISIII 27

News Corner

Organization of lVon Buddhist Teachers' Association

Wori Buddhist Teachers' Association was organized, and thefotrnding seminar was given, at Won Buddhist Central TrainingCenter in Iri Jan.2I-22,I989.

The 8th Presentation of Won Buddhist Thoughts

Paperg and other special lectures on Won Buddhist thoughtswere given in the eighth meeting sponsored by the Institution ofWon Buddhist Thoughts at Dharma HaIl, Wonkwang University,Feb. l-2,1989.

The 5th WCRP

Fifteen Won Buddhist delegates participated in the 5th WorldConference on Religion and Peace(WCRP) meeting at MonashUniversity in Australia with the theme of "Building Peace throughTrust," Feb. 22-28, 1989. In thiS meeting Rev. Chon PaI Khnwas elected as a staff member of Korean branch Committee. Beforethe opening ceremotry, Won Buddhist delegates visited the oldestAnglican church in Melbourne, and sang together "MorningPrayer", a Won Buddhist hymn. Rev. Lee O Eun of New YorkWon Buddhist Temple, a member of the New York branch, joinedthe delegates.

Ground-breaking Ceremony of Ven. Sotaesan'Memorial Hall

The construction of Ven. Sotaesan's Memorial Hall was inaugu-rated with its ground-breaking ceremony at the square in front ofEverlasting Memorial Shrine, Won Buddhist Headquarters, Mar.30,1989.

The Standing Committee of WFB

The Standing committee and chairman group's meeting of WFBwas held at Imperial Hotel, Bangkok May 25-26, 1989, wherethe tTth WFB meeting place was decided for Seoul in 1990. Rev.Pal Khn Chon joined the meeting.

2.

3.

4.

b.

7.

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28 WON BWDHISM

6. John B. Taylor Visits Won Buddhist Center

John B. Taylor, secretary general of WCRP, visited WonBuddhist Center, Wonkwang University and the Sacred Land ofWon Buddhism Jun. 13-15, 1989. During the visit, he paid'acourtesy call to Prime Master Daesan and shared views on worldpeace. He also had a chance to meet and addiess students andwould-be Won Buddhist priests at the Center.

New Life for Children with Heart Disease

"New Life Fund-Raising Campaign Group" comprised of fivestudents of Department of Won Buddhism, Wonkwang Univ., com-pleted their third summer vacation bicycle tour of Korea to collectfunds needed for children with heart disease. So far they havesucceeded in providing 25 children with heart operations.

Dedication Ceremony at Los Angeles Temple of Won Buddhism

The dedication ceremony of the Los Angeles Temple of WonBuddhism was held Aug. 6, 1989. Aug. 6, 1989. The BranchTemple is the first temple of Won Buddhism established overseas.On the occasion of this ceremony, the Won Buddhist Peace Missionjoined the ceremony and had a special Dharma meeting at theChicago and New York Branch Temples on Aug.8 and 15, 1989,respectively.

9. Lecture Meeting on Religious Thoughts at Los Angeles Temple

On the eve of the Dedication Ceremony, a lecture meeting onreligious throught was held at the downtown Korean Cultural Cen-ter, Los Angeles, with the theme of "All people, One Family".Mr. Jemy Freedman, working to eliminate prejudice among racesand religions, suggested devices for removing the prejudices be-tween religions. Dr. Havanpola Ratanasara gave his lecture ondiaiogue-promotion betwoen religions, and Rev. Pal Khn Chonspoke for the establishment of the United Religions.

8. John B. Taylor (third from the left), Secretary-Generar of wcRp, met withhime Master Daesan_ at wanggung, Iri, on Jun. Ig, 1989. Rev. par Khn chon(standing) introduced Mr- Taylor to the audience gathered to visit the primeMaster.

The children of wonk**g K*.* scrroollrounaea by New yffilBuddhism Branch Temple, give their musical presentation at the Temple on Jun.17, lggg.

The children of wonkwang Korean school join tffial underthe auspices of New York Koreans' Association. The school, the most exempl_ary among its kind, is reputed for its leadership in educating Korean studentsliving in New York.

won Buddhist believers of chicago Branch remple of won grdahi*, g"theredin the Dharma Hall after finishing the first doctiinal training, held from May 9

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LA Temple of won Buddhisn, located at l7L7 S. Hoover st., Los Angeles,california,u.s.A.. The rl-won-sangEnstrrinement ceremony was held here onAug.6, 1989.

In commemoration of Il-won-sang Enshrinement of LA Templ, ;aw* Buddh-

The delegates of Won Buddhism, participating in the 5th WCRP, at MonashUniv. in Australia. Jun. 28. 1989.

Mr. Kim Woo Jung, the president of Daewoo Group, a leading business con-glomerate in Korea and the world, donated one billion won to Won Buddhisntfor scholarship, shaking hands with the Prime Master Daesan at the Master'soffice on Mar.26, L989.

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'j*'l lecture meeting.on rerigious thoughts, with the theme of ,,A[ peopre,One Family", was held at Korean Cultuial dervice Hall, on Aug. 5, I9g9. Mr.Jerry Freedman (standing) gave a lecture on "Reducing irejudicJ among Religious Traditions".

Members of "New Life Fund - Raising Campaign Group" get ready be begintheir bicycle tour to collect surgery funds ior children with heart disease onJun. 28, 1989. They provided operations for 25 children over the last twoyears.

The medical team of Kwangju Oriental Medicine Hospital gives free medicaltreatment to residents of remote islands on Heuksan Island Aug. 8-12,1989.