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In optimism I much prefer to look at the faith of other churches, philosophies, religions...with the limitless power of the Holy Spirit in mind...to always look for the good in it all...and to see God's hand in it...
This page is for everyone, including those who follow the teachings of Buddha Siddhartha Gautama.
Man has killed man based on the most ridiculous differences. During WW2, Nazi Germany killed people based on the size of their NOSES.
Buddhism, soon after Siddhartha Gautama's death broke up into a number of aposing sects. These sects had their share of violence and war.
K. Radhakrishnan Dept. of Buddhism Institute of Asian Studies Chennai - 600 119 India Dear Sir, This is in response to your E-mail communication to Dr. John Samuel, Director of IAS, which he has forwarded to me. Buddhism in its long history in several countries of the East has undergone several changes and has been characterised by its plurality of beliefs and practices. Differences between Buddhist sects outside of India have sometimes developed into hostility leading even to violence. Some such instances are given below. In this connection I have not included Indian Buddhism because sustained conflict of a violent nature between Buddhist sects is hard to come by in Indian history. Ceylon: In the third century A.D. King Voharaka Tissa representing the orthodoxy suppressed the sect of Vetullava$dins (Sanskrit: Vaitulyava$dins). In the reign of King Maha$sena (275-302 A.D.) a Maha$ya$nist monk, Sanghamitta, induced the king to destroy the Maha$viha$ra$ monastery of the Therava$da sect. The monks of the monastery were turned out and subjected to persecution. By way of revenge Sanghamitta, the instigator of the persecution, was killed later on. In the ninth century A.D. King Mungayinsen recognized the three orthodox schools or nika$yas called Theriya, Dhammaruci and Sa$galia but proscribed the other sects. Japan: In the Heian period in Japanese history there was increasing rivalry between Buddhist schools which had their own armies of "monk-soldiers" and engaged in bloody fights, burning of temples and perpetual intrigue. The Tendai monastery at Mt. Hiei and the Shingon monastery at Mt. Ko$ya kept mercenaries to fight their wars. In the Kamakura period, Nichiren who founded a new Buddhist sect combined religion with nationalism and engaged in bitter attacks upon the other sects like those of Shingon, Amida and Zen. He went to the extent of calling for their annihilation. This resulted in reprisals and persecution. Nichiren was twice exiled and once he barely escaped death at the hands of his persecutors. The persecution of the Nichiren sect by the monastic establishment of Mt. Hiei continued during the 14th century. In the next century the followers of Nichiren began to arm themselves. Their successful uprising is known as the Hokke-ikki. In the 16th century their victory was followed by serious reversals and in 1536, twenty-one of the temples of the Nichiren sect were destroyed by the armed forces of the monastery of Mt. Hiei. Tibet: The Buddhist order of Dge-lugs-pa (Yellow Hat) was the sectarian rival of the order of Karma-pa. This politico-religious rivalry led to fierce fighting between the two and in the 17th century the Dge-lugs-pa succeeded in crushing their enemy sect. The references cited above are all to be taken as accounts of a value-free nature. Any historical and sociological value-judgment of the use of violence in the cases cited can be made only after thoroughgoing research into each case. (the exact same thing can be said about Christianity) Sincerely, K. Radhakrishnan References: 1. Charles Eliot:'Hinduism and Buddhism' Vol. 1-3 RKP Reprint 1971 2. Joseph M. Kittegawa:'Religion in Japanese History', Columbia, 1966 3. Byron Earhart H: 'Japanese Religion', Wadsworth Publishing Co. 1982 4. Ed. Charles Prebish S. 'Buddhism - a modern perspective', Sri Satguru Publications, Delhi 1995
In all honesty, if you base your rejection of Christ on violence done in His name, you will have to reject Buddhism too. Because history reveals a great deal of bloody killing and war has been done in the name of Buddha also.
[Mat 19:6.12] So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has JOINED (YOGA) together, let not man put asunder."
and
[Psalms 55:22] Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.
Enlightenment is described as: a cool cave, the place of bliss, the harbour of refuge, the farther shore (these descibe being in the Spirit of Christ). Nirvana is describe as a dying out in the heart of the fierce fires of lust, anger, and delusion.[7]
Buddha determined that God was so much greater than man as to be indescribable in human terms. So, the faith Buddha had in God rests on his negative affirmations of God - the Eternal Unknowable One. [9]
Buddha often affirmed the reality of the religious goal. For example, he is reported to have said: "There IS an Unborn, an Unmade, an Uncompounded; were there not, there would be no escape from the world of the born, the originated, the made, and the compounded."[2][7]