I quote from a web-page devoted to the Dalai lama:
The Heart of the BuddhaForget all the fancy meditation practices, says His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the real heart of Buddhism is complete commitment to others. In this commentary on The Way of the Bodhisattva, he describes the awakened heart of the Buddha, which is his vow to attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. - http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=161 |
Hmmm? Is that true? Well, some Buddhists have lived lives demonstrating care for others, just as some Christians have and some Muslims also. But does that "love" and "kindness" come from the religion, or does it simply draw on a quality that is part of human nature? And, we may note, some animals seem to demonstrate these qualities also.
Right now, in a world that started to be torn apart by western Imperialism in the nineteenth century (if not earlier) there are opportunities for people to demonstrate "love." Sadly, many who claim to teach 'love' do not practise it.
An example can be seen in Myanmar and my posts will attempt to offer graphic evidence of Buddhist involvement in violence against a minor ethnic group who are Muslim.
It's neccessary to point out that the real cause of this problem is likely the British occupation of India and later Burma, and where they decided to set the border. For some insight into the British attitude toward the people they ruled of and exploited, you could read George Orwell's, Burmese Days. Set in the 1920's in a fictional town, it tells the story of John Flory, a teak merchant who exploits the timber in the area's jungles. Here's some of the plot highlights (from wikipedia).
(Quote)
Flory dismisses these (government) administrators as mere moneymakers, living a lie, "the lie that we're here to uplift our poor black brothers instead of to rob them." Though he finds release with his Burmese mistress, Flory is emotionally dissatisfied. "On the one hand, Flory loves Burma and craves a partner who will share his passion, which the other local Europeans find incomprehensible; on the other hand, for essentially racist reasons, Flory feels that only a European woman is acceptable as a partner. "
His dilemma seems to be answered when Elizabeth Lackersteen, the orphaned niece of Mr Lackersteen, the local timber firm manager, arrives. Flory saves her when she thinks she is about to be attacked by a small water buffalo. He is immediately taken with her and they spend some time getting close, culminating in a highly successful shooting expedition. After several misses Elizabeth shoots a pigeon, and then a flying bird, and Flory shoots a leopard, promising the skin to Elizabeth as a trophy. Lost in romantic fantasy, Flory imagines Elizabeth to be the sensitive non-racist he so much desires, the European woman who will "understand him and give him the companionship he needed." He turns Ma Hla May, his pretty, scheming Burmese concubine, out of his house. Under the surface, however, Elizabeth is appalled by Flory's relatively egalitarian attitude towards the natives, seeing them as 'beastly' ... (unquote)
If you check out the trouble spots of the world, you'll often see the problems are the result of first, colonial administrators setting borders without regard to the ethnicity or religion of the local peoples, and second, the continued colonial filching of adjacent territory. Not the contemporary governments of former colonial powers ever acknowledge that their predecessors were at the root of so many modern problems.
