Buddhism and Christianity: Rivals and Allies PDF
Preview Buddhism and Christianity: Rivals and Allies
BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY: RIVALS AND ALLIES Also by Ninian Smart BEYOND IDEOLOGY THE CONCEPT OF WORSHIP DOCTRINE AND ARGUMENT IN INDIAN PHILOSOPHY THE LONG SEARCH MAO THE PHENOMENON OF CHRISTIANITY THE PHENOMENON OF RELIGION PHILOSOPHERS AND RELIGIOUS TRUTH THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION REASONS AND FAITHS RELIGION AND THE WESTERN MIND THE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION AND THE SOCIOLOGY OF KNOWLEDGE SECULAR EDUCATION AND THE LOGIC OF RELIGION THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS WORLDVIEWS THE YOGI AND THE DEVOTEE BuddhisID and Christianity: Rivals and Allies Ninian Smart J.F. Rowny Professor of Comparative Religions University of California, Santa Barbara and Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies University of Lancaster M MACMILLAN © Ninian Smart 1993 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1993 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WIP 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 1993 by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndrnills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 978-1-349-12658-3 ISBN 978-1-349-12656-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-12656-9 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. For Luisabel Contents Preface Vlll 1 Diverse Worldviews in Today's World 2 Contrasts and Comparisons between Buddhism and Christianity 12 3 Buddhism in the Context of Chinese Religion and Philosophy 26 4 Meditation in the Two Traditions - Nirvana versus God 41 5 Hua-yen Buddhism and Modern Japanese Thought 57 6 New Christian Interpretations: Science, Liberalism and Religion 69 7 Continuities and Discontinuities between Mao Zedong Thought and the Traditional Religions of China 84 8 Buddhism and Christianity: Complementarity? 99 9 Buddhism, Christianity and Other Religions 114 10 Towards a Higher-Order Agreement on Worldviews: the Coming Victory of Pluralism 128 Appendix: The Western Meaning of Eastern Philosophies 139 ~~ 1~ Bibliography 151 Index 153 Vll Preface I am greatly indebted to Professor F.C.T. Moore of the Philo sophy Department of the University of Hong Kong and to the Master of StJohn's College, Mr K.S. Leung, for the opportunity to visit Hong Kong during the fall of 1989 for the most part of the autumn semester, and to deliver the Martin Lectures of which this book is an outcome. I have written on a theme which should be important in Hong Kong - the world role of Buddhism and Christianity. In this I continue discussions started in my Beyond Ideology, arising from the Gifford Lectures of 1979-80. To the main text of the lectures I have appended that of my Louis Cha Lecture also delivered at Hong Kong University. It is most germane to the themes of the Martin Lectures, though it comes at them from a different angle. The period I spent in Hong Kong was a sabbatical leave from the University of California, Santa Barbara. I am most grateful to that institution for the opportunity to pursue this project. Also, 1989 was a memorable year, confirming some of my judgments. University ofH ong Kong: Stjohn's College NINIAN SMART Vlll 1 Diverse W orldviews in Today's World Perhaps there are four billion worldviews, since every person has her or his set of values and perspective on life. But there are also major patterns and systems which shape and are shaped by societies, and we give to these such labels as 'Christianity' and 'Buddhism'. They break down of course into varied incarna tions, such as Roman Catholicism, the Theravada, Protestant ism, Mahayana and so on, and more particularly into breeds such as Anglicanism, the Quakers, Hua-yen Buddhism, Zen and so forth. Blending with these varieties are national and regional variants: Sri Lankan Theravada, Scottish Presbyterianism, Ger man Catholicism and so on. There are other blends too, where social and political diversities get conjoined to major traditions: liberal Protestantism, say in the United States; and socialistic Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Each hybrid in this luxuriant garden of the spirit commands its own loyalty. How do we get such plants to grow together, as the psychic surface of the globe shrinks, and every culture and every set of values is in interaction with all the others? I shall be addressing these matters in this small book. There is more. I have listed above some of the great religious movements. But secular worldviews, such as Marxism, secular humanism, nationalism and so forth play (so to speak) in the same league as religion, often struggling against it, and some times beguilingly taking its hand. That is how we have the combinations I referred to above. But the bitter struggles be tween some modern ideologies and traditional religions match the more ancient internecine fighting of former times. The Khmer Rouge mowed down Buddhist monks and turned tem ples into granaries and barracks; Stalin persecuted Ukrainian Catholics and Russian Orthodox; nationalism in Italy came into conflict with the Church during the time of Garibaldi; and so on. Consequently, it makes sense to treat religious and non-religious world views together. I There are in any case formal points of resemblance between a 2 Buddhism and Christianity secular worldview and a traditional religion. The way East German Marxists told the story of Germany is itself a kind of justificatory myth: the struggle of the Communists against N az ism gives the new country, liberated by the Soviet armies, a glorious background essentially untainted by the crimes and blood of Hitler and his gang. The nation had its doctrines: these are summed up in the thought of Marx and Lenin. It also had its ethical values - equality, justice for the workers, loyalty to the revolutionary ideal, etc. Its rituals were varied: marches and parades, listening to speeches, the use of special vocabulary and words such as 'comrade', the raising of the flag, the use of the symbolic colour red, and so forth. Its experiential side was inculcated through an education designed to induce feelings of pride and dedication. Its institutionalisation involved the cadres of the Communist Party. Its art and iconography were socialist realism and stirring portraits of heroes, etc. Whether we call it a religion or not is a matter of debate and choice: but it is an embodied worldview having some resemblances to more tradi tional worldviews. What we have in the world is diverse worldviews living side by side, and sometimes in conflict. As the globe's psychic surface shrinks, the question of their deeper relationship becomes of greater moment. Can we devise a global ideology which will somehow embrace them all? Do all religions in principle point to the same truth? To what extent will differing values blend? Such questions will have practical meaning in regard to human coop eration and strife. In looking to these questions I shall give great prominence to Buddhism and Christianity. They have helped to create the values which underlie Eastern and Western culture. Buddhism was and is a remarkably successful missionary faith, without being especially aggressive. It has permeated nearly all Asian countries: only the Philippines has been untouched by it. But not only this: it has played an especially creative role in the Chinese milieu. It has merged with a Taoist ambience in producing Ch'an Buddhism, and it has created a positive philosophy in Hua-yen. In T'ien-t'ai it has pioneered an embracing and syn thetic approach. Moreover, its metaphysical subtlety inspired a great response in the form of Neo-Confucianism (li-hsueh, .@ij!). I ts organisation and discipline helped to stimulate the monastic organisation of the Taoist tradition. In its interaction with the
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