Interreligious Dialogue: Buddhist-Muslim Dialogue

Shakill Polanco

November 1, 2014

Rita George-Tvrtkovic

Interreligious Dialogue

Buddhist-Muslim Dialogue

Hinduism and Buddhism are both their own religions and cultures. They are different in many ways that define who they are and what their faith is. Hinduism was not founded by any sort of prophet, whereas Buddhism was founded by Buddha. Hindus believe in the Vedas, but the Buddhists do not believe in the Vedas or any other Hindu holy book because they learn from the Tripitaka. Buddhists do not believe in the existence of souls, or the Christian God. Hindus believe in Atman, who is the individual soul, and Brahman, the creator of all. Hindus believe in the four stages of life, but Buddhists do not share that belief. Buddhists

This consists of three components; the seeing of the deity, worship, which includes offering flowers, fruits, and foods; and retrieving the blessed food and consuming it. By performing these sacred acts the worshiper creates a relationship with the divine through his or her emotions and senses. At Shivalya Hindu Cultural Center, puja is performed at sunrise, noon, sunset and midnight. Some of the other duties within the temple include bathing the statues of the gods/goddesses, which are called murtis, performing arati, a ritual in which light from wicks soaked in ghee or camphor oil is offered to the murtis. The arati ceremony also involves the playing of drums, bells and conch shells as well as traditional chant. The puja must organize and teach bal vihar, the practices of Hinduism to children and prepare and deliver lectures called pravacans. they must also clean and maintain the sacred temple altar, greet and teach outside groups that come into the temple, and oversee assistant priests and volunteers. Outside of the temple the priests are called a purohit and they do things like officiate over rites such as marriage, home purification, naming ceremonies and other rituals that require a priest. Hindu priests are also very involved in the community, participating in special projects such as the development and construction of libraries

Particular caste have duties to society, for humans to live peacefully, everyone must fulfill the duties designated by their caste (Wagnu, 2001). Dharma is thought to be responsible for the order of the Hindu world. In Buddhism, the dharma is also the ultimate law, although it varies greatly. The Buddha’s teachings of the 4 Noble Truths and the 8 Fold Path are the ultimate law and they provide specific action while stressing individual effort (Wangu, 2002), unlike Hindu dharma that pertains to society as a whole. The caste system is greatly challenged here, the Buddha has been said to have preached “my doctrine makes no distinction between high and low, rich and poor; it is like the sky, it has room for all; like water it washes away all”. The Buddha also rejected the authority of the Brahmin caste (one of the upper levels) especially in terms of the Brahmin being the only valid interpreters of religious truth. He preached that anyone who followed the 8 fold path could interpret their own truth. Buddhism basically declares that no matter what caste one is from, following the dharma will lead to