Venerable Thubten Chondron's Home page (website) contains an article by Dr. Alexander Berzin, Islamic-Buddhist Dialogue. I mention some content from it here:"... Historically, Islamic law has accepted Buddhism as a "religion of the Book." Because "Dharma" was translated as "law," and "law" referred to "book," Buddhists as "people of the Dharma" were understood to be "people of the Book" throughout medieval Central Asia. Islam tolerates all "people of the Book," which is defined as people who accept a creator God. This leads to some interesting discussions on the meaning of "creator God."
Indonesian Buddhists posit Adibuddha, the primordial Buddha of the Kalachakra Tantra, as the "creator." I had several interesting discussions with Buddhist monks in Indonesia about the issue of God in Buddhism. Since Adibuddha can be interpreted as the clear light primordial consciousness, and since all appearances of samsara and nirvana are the play or "creation" of that mind, we concluded that it could be said that Buddhism accepts a "creator God." The fact that Buddhism asserts Adibuddha not to be an individual, separate being who created the universe, but something present in each sentient being, can be seen as a theological difference concerning the nature of God. That is, Buddhism does accept a "creator God" but with its own unique interpretation. As the Muslims say, "Allah has many names," and many Christian, Islamic, Hindu, and Jewish thinkers assert that God is abstract and present in all beings. ...
... some modern Islamic scholars have asserted that the Prophet Dh'ul Kifl--the "man from Kifl"- mentioned twice in the Qur'an, refers to the Buddha, with Kifl being the Arabic rendering of the name of Buddha's native kingdom, Kapilavastu. The Qur'an stated that the followers of Dh'ul Kifl are righteous people. Secondly, al-Biruni and Sehristan, two eleventh century Islamic scholars who visited India and wrote about its religions, called Buddha a "Prophet ..."
hmmm....your dictations keeps getting interesting day by day. Buddha, a muslim prophet! Now thats a farcical twist that can conjure up great intrigue.But how can it be? Buddha didn't have a specific notion in the religion he preached? Although it may be possible that his actual teaching were either vandalised or encrypted, but then again, a guy who believed in being reborn tens and thousands of time can't be a prophet of the religion of peace,can he?
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, its quite possible, that like the holy grail there can be alternative descriptions of different religions, there can be real truth in these "OTHER" representations...but is it really true?
Lastly, I am a moderately religious person, but sometimes i do feel the urge to think "Is there really an afterlife?"...i know its a great sin for thee to culminate such thoughts...but whats your view on this? Why isn't there any "material" proof that there is really an afterlife? Sure, there is the fact that Allah's testing everyone with one big sessional/NDC quiz to see who defect to the dark side first, but shouldn't there've been a single omen? Why isn't there any?
To every nation, GOD sent guide or messenger. Sometime we define religion too narrowly. When we talk about religion, suddenly, church, temple or mosques comes to our mind. But guidance doesn't mean in that limited sense.
ReplyDeleteBuddha was a great teacher in the East. Of his time, he surely was a messenger, a guidance for his people. He reformed a corrupted society, gave laws to his follower and designed a successful life style.
The term Muslim means submitter, not who dress in particular dress.
Perhaps we all are reborn thousands of times. who knows? The Judio-Christian-Muslim doesn't highlight reincarnation. But both Hinduism, Buddhism talks about reincarnation, and there has been several study on it which shows there is something more. And God knows what is hidden and what is manifest.
Thinking about after life is great. Congrats on that. Who said its sin to think? Infact its a good vitue to think on the topic.
You must admit that our life is more than material. Physics tells that there is material, and there is energy. So why only seek material? We are basically spiritual being, bound in material world.
And in the spiritual world, there are different rules. Do you think if human race knew for sure that God exist and could see Him everyday, then would this world be so interesting?
Don't u think that the freethinking capability would be undermined?
There are a lot of omen, all around us. Open ur heart, polish it enough.. u can realize them. Your very existence is the best omen whereas u didn't exist at all just couple of decades back.
As humayun ahmed (in one of his recent book) says, "God Himself is mystery, that is why He loves mystery". I guess that explains a lot, doesn't it?
Dear Dr Frank,
ReplyDeletei would like to another thing is...
if u read the life of all the great messenger, inspirational teachers u will see that they didn't start to preach a religion.
They started with addressing some social problem. Moses did that along with oppressed people of Israel. He wanted justice and freedom for his enslaved people.
Jesus protested with the corrupted Jewish rabbis and ultimately paid the price.
Muhammad protested the corrupted arab society.
The time of Buddha was one such corrupted time in Indian society. People forgot morality, no philosophy concerning God was helping out. At that time he started meditation and thinking on the problem (Just as Muhammad started his retreat in mount Hera for meditation on the social problem).
So from very secular point of view, these great teachers didn't started any religion. The appreciator or companions and followers actually formed the religion. Neither Buddha, nor Moses nor Muhammad started with religion. Religion was the name of the result of their work perhaps.
"... Historically, Islamic law has accepted Buddhism as a "religion of the Book."
ReplyDeleteI've never heard this idea expressed before. What are your sources?
Beloved Safiyyah.
ReplyDeleteSaalam.
The works of many musilm scholars who have done research on other religion suggests that Buddhist can be catagorized as People of the Book. Right now i have a book in the library of my university (National University of Singapore) but can't remember the name. I will collect it and post the name.
Here are some other links regarding Gautama Buddha's Prophecy about Muhammad being another Buddha (Maitreya Buddha):
http://www.irf.net/irf/comparativereligion/middle/buddhism/dawahtobudhhists.htm
Comparative analysis:
http://www.irf.net/irf/comparativereligion/index.htm
Also for some interesting perspective:
http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/20
05august_comments.php?id=853_0_44_30_C
We should keep in mind that God said in Quran that He sent messenger or guide to every nation. and not all of their names are mentioned in the Quran or Old Testament or New.
And Imam Mahdi's mission would be to clear out the real truth among all religion and make them open to all, which suggest all religion has its core meaning which is same. The outer apprearance only got changed over time.
Thanks again, May Allah bless you and give you the knowledge.
Pls keep me in ur prayer.
Sadiq
yeah...i guess i shouldn't have such a narrow view on religion. But how do i know which is the accurate sort of impression or idea that a "good religious" person must adhere to? How do i really know if i'm following the right way of life? There is the certain "follow your heart " theory , but like Judas, can't our heart betray us as well?
ReplyDeleteI know that quran states the arrival of a designated figure in diferent epochs/eras....but why is that most of the religions (except maybe the pagans in celtic areas and some other religion in the aztec eras) have so much in common? Can it be that they were derived from a singular source and then divided into different variants? Can it be that there was only one belief and one sect of particular believers who were later dissimated into many? This sort of thoughs takes us to the days of the "Tower of babel", when human defiance caused the anomaly we see in our race these days....but offcourse,claims have never been varified....so why is the truth encrypted with such a strong cipher? Makes me think long and hard without yielding any real result.
Lol, greate explaination with Physics man....thats why i've always hated Chemistry.
About Imam Mahdi and all....will there be any real way to single him out from the masses of people? Sure there will be certain visible "omens" before his arrival, but how do we know that those are the "omens" that were predicted in the past?
yeah...i guess i shouldn't have such a narrow view on religion. But how do i know which is the accurate sort of impression or idea that a "good religious" person must adhere to? How do i really know if i'm following the right way of life? There is the certain "follow your heart " theory , but like Judas, can't our heart betray us as well?
ReplyDeleteI know that quran states the arrival of a designated figure in diferent epochs/eras....but why is that most of the religions (except maybe the pagans in celtic areas and some other religion in the aztec eras) have so much in common? Can it be that they were derived from a singular source and then divided into different variants? Can it be that there was only one belief and one sect of particular believers who were later dissimated into many? This sort of thoughs takes us to the days of the "Tower of babel", when human defiance caused the anomaly we see in our race these days....but offcourse,claims have never been varified....so why is the truth encrypted with such a strong cipher? Makes me think long and hard without yielding any real result.
Lol, greate explaination with Physics man....thats why i've always hated Chemistry.
About Imam Mahdi and all....will there be any real way to single him out from the masses of people? Sure there will be certain visible "omens" before his arrival, but how do we know that those are the "omens" that were predicted in the past?
PS: call me "Naser" from next time on.. i didn't get my id "naser" at blogger and my nickname "atunu" means the hindu god of lust and purgatory(probably), so heh heh...you can see they are not exactly the kind of nomenclature i seek.
Oh, this is such a blessing to me…to see the thin line that separates us dissolving away.
ReplyDeleteAn open heart says, “Yes” to all things, even those things that confuse and bewilder…how else can we learn that the nature of God is to express through all things, to awaken us to divine presence within all beings, faiths, and encounters. We shall know the truth and this will make us free.
“Sell all your cleverness and purchase Bewilderment.”
Rumi
“Make no comparisons, make no judgments, delete the need to understand.”
Brough Joy
Namaste Sadiq, is it not divine that in this plane we come upon each other when the time calls for broader awakening and understanding? I bow to you in reverence.
Beloved Naser (aka, drfrank)..
ReplyDeleteinteresting questions. "How do i really know if i'm following the right way of life? "
How do we know? well, one way to do that is to study comparative religion. u don’t hv to be an expert, but a little interest will do. God willing, u will be able to see the harmony, the same truth in everywhere. u may figure out which message is final and complete and make more sense.
Before being religious, its more important to be a good person. Cultivating compassion in heart, loving others is more important to be externally religious. No dogma is required to be compassionate and to be enlightened and work for the benefit of others.
Follow ur heart has its problem. The sufis says, the heart need to be polished before it can reflect the divine light. and one of the method to polish is to be aware, to be self-conscious. living in self denail never helps. it causes rust in the metaphysical heart.
Religion is for man, man is not for religion. And since people of all religion are human being, so Is it very surprising that all religion have so much in common. Isn’t that natural?
God want mankind to live in harmony and peace, He doesn't want us to only worship Him for the sake of it. Then He would give us Darshan every day, perhaps 5 times a day to make us worship Him.
Since human culture is different, that inevitably changes the outward nature of any religion.
About imam mahdi, his work will distinguish him. And then u will see the omens fitting with him. All great religious teachers have their contribution, which is more important that all the prophecies about them made in earlier books.
God bless you Naser. Atunu is a nice name. i like it, no matter what it means. the name sounds good in my head. :)
Beloved Isaiah,
ReplyDeleteNamaste.
Praise be to God, that He has given us the opportunity to know each other. It is a special blessings for me, cause i'm nobody, but you are someone with divine spark and enlightenment. I can see it from ur texts.
I loved ur quote from Rumi and others.
Yes, offcourse it is divine that we come upon each other. Thank you for ur post. Pls don't mention any praise which i'm not worthy of.
Pls keep this poor servant of God in your prayer. I hope God will hear your prayer and accept me. Amen.
Atunu said: "Can it be that they were derived from a singular source and then divided into different variants?"
ReplyDeleteI were at a Zoroastrian meeting here in Göteborg, Sweden, a few months ago and got this thought: may Zoroastrianism be a religion that "grew" into other religions or maybe did it carry the "seeds" of many other montheistic religions?
According to a Zoroastrian priest, Universe and all of its content is the body of God. So is therefore also among others, the bread and wine we (Christians) eat and drink every Sunday with Jesus.
I do not know much of Zoroastrianism but I keep "The Holy Songs of Zarathustra" together with the Quran, the Bible and other Holy Books. I love this first verse:
"I pray to Thee, O Mazda, with uplifted hands, and to Thy Holy Spirit, first of all and hope that through truth and righteousness I would enjoy the light of wisdom and a clean conscience, thus bringing solace to the Soul of Creation."
God is everywere!
Assalamualaikum
ReplyDeletePS. link website (thubtenchodron.org) is inactive.
Wondering if this refers to another source
Massalam
Assalamualaikum Sadiq Alam,
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the nice postings, i love reading them.
As a moslem myself with more influences outside Islam including Buddhism, I do not disagree with what you wrote. Moreover, just like you wrote, I also believe in purifiying our Heart to be able to feel, enjoy and embrace the love of Allah.
Thank you again for the sharing, and I've added link to your blog in mine, hope you don't mind. :)
Salam,
nadia.
Walikum Saalam dear Nadia and Taher.
ReplyDeletethanks a lot for visting and your comments.
thanks Taher for the link.
i appreciate your adding my link in your site, Nadia.
blessings.
hi there, i'm a Buddhist and did have informal dialogues with Muslims. Perhaps you can say Buddha COULD BE the unknown prophet dul-kappal but never can Buddhists recognize Muhammad as a Buddha as suggested by Zakir Naik.A peep into the Tipitaka's Lakkhana Sutta confirms that Muhammad cannot be a Buddha because one of the bodily marks of a Buddha is his male organ is sheathed due to some virtues.Next,the Cakkavati Sihananda Sutta tells us that the next Buddha would come after a series of events, one of it being the human's lifespan extends to 80,000 years.
ReplyDeletethanks a lot anonymous for your comment and adding the info.
ReplyDeleteindeed the Quranic statement that to all nations God (The Celestial Buddha, Amitabha Buddha) has sent guidance and people to guide. according to that universal view point, Buddha indeed a God sent social and spiritual reformer of his time, and truly an enlightened one.
Namo Amitabho Buddha!
this is my 2nd visit to your site.i base my reference on the original Pali Tipitaka, which is unadultareted text of the Buddhists. and mind you,no Adibuddha nor Amitabha can be found in there.Buddhism arose because the WAY TO END SUFFERING was lost, hence a Sammasambuddha sets the Wheel of Law a rolling again.No importance is placed on worship of any Buddha or beings.But indeed,practise is a must for one's salvation.That,is the Buddha's path.TQ
ReplyDelete