"BUDDHISM IN A NEW LIGHT"...Patriotism and Faith..Patriotism turns into nationalism when it asserts cohesivene
ss through hatred of other peoples and draws fuel from a false sense of superiority. Faith turns into fundamentalism when dogmas take precedence over human happiness and the authority of priesthood mocks prayer of the desperate. When nationalism and fundementalism merge, the Orwellian night mare becomes our daily : "WAR IS PEACE. Freedom is slavery. Ignorqance is strength."(George Orwell, 1984, p.3)
The spirit of Nichiren Buddhism, in one sense, is to struggle against those two roadblocks to peace through the power of prayer and dialogue.In his treatise on peace, Nichiren writes, "If you care anything about personal security, you should first of all pray for order and tranquility throughout the four quarters of the land, should you not ?" (WND, 24)
It may seem that peace through individual change is too indirect and time- consuming to be effective in reality. But since we as ordianry humans beings renounce our faith in force and start acting on this alternative vision of peace through prayer and dialogue, we may be suprised by the power of exponential expansion - as Nichiren wrote that "two, three" awakened individuals are therefore to be followed by "hundreds" (WND, 385)
As long as we continue to pray and dialogue about the new vision of peace, the time will come when we think the heads of state will listen to the voices of the new global race or become irrelevant to the course of human history. (C&E)
The spirit of Nichiren Buddhism, in one sense, is to struggle against those two roadblocks to peace through the power of prayer and dialogue.In his treatise on peace, Nichiren writes, "If you care anything about personal security, you should first of all pray for order and tranquility throughout the four quarters of the land, should you not ?" (WND, 24)
It may seem that peace through individual change is too indirect and time- consuming to be effective in reality. But since we as ordianry humans beings renounce our faith in force and start acting on this alternative vision of peace through prayer and dialogue, we may be suprised by the power of exponential expansion - as Nichiren wrote that "two, three" awakened individuals are therefore to be followed by "hundreds" (WND, 385)
As long as we continue to pray and dialogue about the new vision of peace, the time will come when we think the heads of state will listen to the voices of the new global race or become irrelevant to the course of human history. (C&E)
1. No religion is immune from fundamentalism.
2. Faith in force is based on fear, and fear stems from a sense of powerlessness.
3. A "global race" can be a 'vision'in our daily life far removed from the rest of the world.(C&E)