“The Task and Responsibility of Religion in a Time of Globalization” is an article written by Dharma Master Hsin Tao, the founder of the Museum of World Religions, for the 13th Buddhist-Muslim Dialogue held in Indonesia on July 17-18th, 2012. Upon seeing the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddha Statues and subsequent 911 terrorist attack in 2001, Master Hsin Tao responded by initiating a series of Buddhist-Muslim Dialogue from 2002. The dialogues seek to further understandings between Buddhists and Muslims in order for both sides to work together on many challenges in the 21th century that they face together. In the context of globalization, the article addresses issues that threaten human being’s survival on the planet. In a time of stress and anxiety, fostering people’s positive attitude towards these challenges and crises has become the task and responsibility of religion in a globalized world.
Address for the 13th Buddhist-Muslim Dialogue Conference on Love and Forgiveness
Jakarta, July 17 – 18, 2012
Ven. Dharma Master Hsin Tao
My dear friends from all over the world – greetings to all of you
I am very happy to have this wonderful opportunity to be here today to hold this at the same time very special and also already familiar dialogue conference with all of you – both my old friends and my new friends. I still gladly remember our third Buddhist-Muslim Dialogue conference that was held here in Indonesia in July of 2002, when I so much felt the warm support and diligent work of our Indonesian Muslim and Buddhist friends on that occasion. Ten years have passed since then, and we are back here today. And I see you all just as eager to come together, to work hard and give your very best for the well-being and happiness of all humanity. Especially seeing so many young people here gives me the confidence that we can indeed realize our ideal of a “Global Family for Love and Peace,” given all of your enthusiasm, idealism and the power of our combined wishes, vows and prayers.
The topic that I want to address today is “The Task and Responsibility of Religion in a time of Globalization” Why is this topic important? In today’s globalized world, our survival as human beings and the survival of the earth are faced with many new challenges and crises. This situation makes us feel stressed and worried, not at ease in our hearts and minds. And so instead of thinking of the common good we easily become prejudiced and partial. Given this situation, how can we help human beings to develop the right attitude and thinking necessary to address the challenges and crises we are facing together? How can we lead them to deeply care for and help others, especially in times of need? These issues are the task and responsibility for religions in a time of globalization. It is my deepest hope and wish that religion can become source of strength and support for all human beings, especially during those trying times of hardship and crisis; and that it can guide all of us towards the path of light and harmony.
Throughout human history, religion has mostly been a contributing factor to peace and stability in society, and helped human beings to find peace of heart, body and mind. Religions have developed under different historical and geographical contexts, and different conditions have given rise to various cultures with their own distinctive sets of religious beliefs. Those grew into the religions that we have today. The different religions have originally arisen in response to the spiritual needs of the people of those times, and as material culture developed further and further they became an important stabilizing and energizing force in the lives of the people. But because religions developed their own distinctive sets of beliefs, they could during certain times be in conflict with each other. But conflicts always arise under certain conditions only – they are not programmed into religions as such, they are not part of religion, and need not arise.
Religion is the basis of our faith, and a source of our spiritual sustenance. The task and responsibility of religion is to help all people lead a better life based on religious faith. Its task is to guide us to choose and lead a life of service, a life of self-sacrifice, a life that is deeply fulfilling, a life that is meaningful and well directed, no matter whether this life is lived in the ordinary world or in a monastic context. Thus we people of all religions can form bonds of friendship and allegiance, and we can build one big body of faith to work together in relieving the situations of pain and suffering that occur around us all the time.
The place accorded to religion in society and religious responsibility go hand in hand together. I feel that in our times, the responsibility of religion is at least threefold:
- We need to wholeheartedly care about and work to eliminate all forms of human suffering and pain. This can be achieved by acts of charity, social outreach work, and all concrete means that our society has at its disposal to address situations of suffering.
- We need to elevate the spiritual and moral values of all of humanity, so that our hearts can be at peace and full of love and goodness. For this to happen we need to sow the seeds and let them grow through life education, starting from a very young age.
- We need to come and work together with other religions, so that religions will become a strong force for forgiveness and peace among people and harmony in the world, rather than a source of division and conflict.
The contributions that religions have made in addressing human suffering are quite impressive. Many religious groups have built hospitals or established outreach and relief organizations. For example in Taiwan there are Buddhist organizations such as Tzu-chi, Fo-guang shan or our own Ling-jiu shan organization that are fully engaged in local charity and international relief work. They have also built hospitals, schools and established non-for profit charities for outreach work. Education, poverty relief, charity work and medical work always need to be informed by a spirit of care, compassion and constancy, a spirit that religion instills in us. I would like to invite all of you here, all our friends from the world of religion, to join us in our endeavors. Religion and social outreach work belong together; they inform each other so that we do not just try to address the material and physical needs, but are also able to comfort the spirits of those who suffer.
The origin of suffering, no matter whether it is brought about by natural disaster or man-made causes, is always intimately connected to the human heart and mind. The never ending and superficial thoughts in our mind lead us into action, and then we create a world in which all kinds of dramas are constantly happening. No matter whether it is war or environmental destruction – all of these are born from a human heart and mind full of greed and delusion. The task of religion therefore is to instill spiritual and moral values in all human beings through life education, so that our mind can be at peace and in harmony with others.
As all of you know, I have established the Museum of World Religions in order to provide a platform for people all to learn about and experience religion. In the recent years the Museum has developed a program of life education which starts from teaching children the basics – namely how to embrace and care for life. The program also helps with the spiritual formation of all people in society. We hope that the goodness and love to be found in religion inspires people to start from the heart, so that they will experience the true value and meaning of life in deep listening and humility. The Museum is built on the ideals of “respect, tolerance and love.” We wish that all people –those who come through the Museum and others can start from the cultivation of the heart and mind, which unlocks the key to love and forgiveness. We hope that they can cultivate a spirit of silence, develop the power of wholesome concentration, give up their self-centeredness, learn to know themselves and develop a wholesome attitude towards all of life.
In addition, in order to cope with the constant changes of time, we can also apply the contemplative methods and practices of religions to help people find a way of stilling their mind. My own practice comes from the Ch`an Buddhist tradition, which uses the teaching of quieting the mind through listening and concentration. Based on my experience from many years of practice, Ch`an meditation can stabilize and quiet our heart and mind. It lets us experience the light of our true nature at the origin of our heart and mind, and reveals to us the essential world of enlightenment. In the essential world there are no distinctions between religions or races, or between you and me – it is one world of equality, peace and harmony.
The practice of Ch`an meditation can be difficult for some people, and so in these last two years I have devised the method of “One minute Ch`an” which consists of five simple steps:
“Take a deep breath, put your palms together, relax, quiet down, let your heart return to its origin.” This method helps all of us, to quiet down both on the outside and inside. It lets our mind and body become peaceful, so that our heart can return to its origin. This one minute Ch`an method is very simple, and at the same time it is a pure method to reach inner peace. All of you, no matter which religion you to belong to, can practice it.
Now concerning the cooperation and dialogue among religions, many people may ask us – why have you engaged in this series of Buddhist – Muslim dialogues for so many years, why is it the main focus of the dialogue? I often say to this in reply: “Possibly there are quite a few people out there who hold some prejudice against Islam based on their misunderstanding. But from my own experience of meeting with Muslims I know that there are so many peace-loving brothers and sisters out there who wholeheartedly help other people and devote themselves to peace.” In our Buddhist-Muslim dialogues we discuss the problems and challenges that we all face as human beings together; and of course it is necessary for all religions to be involved in these kinds of discussions. This is the task and responsibility of religion that those of us who belong to our respective religious communities may never neglect. This is especially so, since there are many kinds of wounds that have been inflicted on us and on our fellow human beings in the name of religion. For this, we turn to the very heart of our religions to seek sources of love and forgiveness toward healing those wounds. Only then can our religions contribute to world peace, rather than being a threat against it.
To end let me express my sincere hope that this world will become a family garden of peace, and that we can transform each present moment in this world into heaven on earth.
