[Buddha-l] Dhammapada

[Richard Hayes]

Just an incidental curiosity to report. This weekend in Albuquerque
there was a three-day event entitled "Jesus and the Buddha," sponsored
by the Center for Action and Contemplation. Some 900 people attended.

One of the 900 attenders came to the Albuquerque Quaker Meeting this
morning and enthusiastically paraphrased lines from the Dhammapada.
(Hatred can never be removed by hatred and so on.) A few minutes later
another Friend rose and quoted a lengthy and inspiring prayer from the
Upanishads. Then a Jewish Quaker woman stood and recited a beautiful
Jewish prayer and gave a lovely talk around it, ending with a tearful
expression of joy that the Palestinians have breached the wall around
Gaza and saying that there will never be peace until people come close
to God, and no one can be close to God if they build walls to keep
others out. Quite an eventful meeting by Albuquerque Quaker standards!
And to think, it all started with a citation of the Dhammapada by a
woman who had learned it at an interfaith event sponsored by a
Franciscan monk.

-- 
Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico