[Buddha-l] Buddhist Intolerance?

[Piya Tan]

The sociopolitical histories of Buddhism in any Asian country where Buddhism
was or is of significance presence would serve as good examples:

(1) Tibet: How the institution of the Dalai Lama came into being.
The Potala with its police force and prisons.
The legitimation of power through tulkuhood.

(2) Japan: the sohei (monk army).

etc.

However two mitigating points should be noted here:
(1) There is always a strong silent traditional true-to-Dharma undercurrent
way from the ruckus.
(2) The sociopolitical is what makes it "Buddhism" as a living religion; the
spirituality of the still centre remains in the minds and teachings of the
forest monks and their like.

Piya


On 10/12/06, Gregory Bungo <gbungo at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> Hi Brad,
>
> Didn't Nichiren have some especially harsh things to say
> about his opponents?  I think they were mostly members
> of other Buddhist sects, so I don't know whether that fits in
> the scope of your project.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Greg Bungo
>
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: Bradley Clough <bclough at aucegypt.edu>
> >Sent: Oct 11, 2006 11:38 AM
> >To: Buddhist discussion forum <buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com>
> >Subject: [Buddha-l] Buddhist Intolerance?
> >
> >Dear Fellow Buddha-Lers,
> >
> >I have been recently been charged with coming up with a paper on
> >intolerance in Buddhism, and I'm a bit at a loss as to how to approach
> >it. One example I'll probably use is the Sinhala Buddhist chauvinist
> >rhetoric that says that to be Sri Lankan is to be Sinhala and Buddhist,
> >but what other examples come to your minds, and what pertinent sources
> >would be good to look at?
> >
> >I think I will steer clear of the recently discussed Empress Wu, as it
> >seems that anti-Nestorian persecution may not have been her policy but
> >that of another non-Buddhist T'ang ruler.
> >
> >I was also considering Kukai's critiques of Confucianism and Taoism,
> >but I'm wary of equating criticism with intolerance.
> >
> >I'll be interested and thankful to see what people come up with!
> >
> >Best Wishes,
> >Brad Clough
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >buddha-l mailing list
> >buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com
> >http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> buddha-l mailing list
> buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com
> http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/private/buddha-l/attachments/20061012/1adcf27d/attachment.htm