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draftsman

Interreligious Dialogue - A No Go?

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Hello,

 

If you ever wondered why interreligious dialogue is not flourishing in Slovenia (or elsewhere :,( ), below is a possible explanation - an excerpt from the Slovene Catholic Church web forum, actually an opinion of the forum administrator :read_this: , a young man :vieuxsmiley: , still a student at the Theological faculty, responding to the claim that all religions are equal (translation is mine).

 

"I will again state my point of view. The only thing that is good in other religions, is that, which brings someone, who has faith in something else, to believe in Jesus Christ as the only son of God and the only Saviour, who suffered and died for our sins, and risen (from the dead - note D.) - the rest is worth nothing! In that way I also understand the standpoints of the Second Vatican Council, which deals with dialogue between different religions. In this sense I see a lot of space for dialogue between religions."

 

Best regards,

Draftsman

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Another information that I just received recently is that apparently the Council of Christian Churches of Slovenia was formed with the purpose of focusing exclusively on Christian doctrine and of avoiding inter-religious dialogue and participation in the initiatives of the civil society.

 

The members of this Council are the Roman Catholic Church, Evangelical Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church.

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I just checked the link to the forum of the Slovene Roman Catholic Church and I am horrified! Its members ecplicitly encourage the killing of those of other faiths, not to mention their names and avatars. Very militant and not at all Christian. They claim that other religions are not entitled to equality, but in the name of this same equality and democracy they themselves are tolerated even when they encourage violence. By the way, nobody on that forum said anything about this call to killing as if it was something normal and acceptable.

 

Well, when I see stuff like that, I am glad that my path is different.

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Well, when I see stuff like that, I am glad that my path is different.
Me too. And extremly sad for the Blindness there is.

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I found this on the internet:

 

"Do not be attached to anything. Attachment itself is the root of bondage.

Do not criticize other teachings and do not disparage people. All the teachings are ultimately indivisible, like the taste of salt.

Do not criticize any of the higher or lower vehicles. They are identical in being the path to be journeyed, just like the steps on a staircase.

You cannot know another person unless you can perceive with superknowledge. So do not criticize others.

In general, all sentient beings are by their nature spontaneously perfect buddhas. They possess the essence of enlightenment. Do not examine other people's fault's or delusions.

Do not examine the limitations of others. Examine how you can change your own.

Do not examine the shorcomings of others but examine your own shortcomings.

The greatest of evils is to hold religious prejudice and to criticize other people without knowing their mind. So give up prejudice as if it were poison."

 

- Padmasambhava; Dakini Teachings

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Guest Felix

Tashi Delek.

 

Thank you for this inspiring quotation. :bow: In fact, your post is not in contradiction to the posts of Dechen and Pamo. We are living in a conventional world and we have conventional obligations for the society that we live in. At the same time, it is good to remember that our perception is not so very pure, and that for most of us, the Ultimate Reality is still to be discovered. It's good to be reminded about our long-term goals, it puts our short-term duties in the right perspective. ;)

 

Respectfully,

Felix

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Tashi delek,

Thank you for this inspiring quotation. :bow:
You're welcome.
In fact, your post is not in contradiction to the posts of Dechen and Pamo.
Of course not. It is a brilliant summation of the Buddhist approach to other religions and all the branches of Buddhism, as I see it. Keeping this approach in mind, interreligious dialog is very much possible with people whose minds are not stained by bigotry and sectarianism.

 

Best regards,

Khyenrab

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Of course not.
Of course not. In fact, the message I wished to express was that; though it does make me sad that there such pain as killing is caused, that people who are causing it do not have it somehow somewhere to care, and that it will most likely be going on and on like this until much longer time.

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Of course not. It is a brilliant summation of the Buddhist approach to other religions and all the branches of Buddhism, as I see it. Keeping this approach in mind, interreligious dialog is very much possible with people whose minds are not stained by bigotry and sectarianism.
I agree with you Khyenrab. From ulitmate point of view this things do not exist the way we percieve them. To grab at the first tool of our ego, which is discernemet (I hope I wrote it right :// ), is not very wise. Everyone can have its own view about the situation, yet only the actions motivated by love and compassion + wisdom lead somewhere. It is also very tricky to generalize things, as every group of people consitsts of so many different individuals (with different perceprions).

 

When I went to USA lots of people really do not support wars and there are some who do. Yet when we talk about USA, we say, oh they just make problems, caos, wars.... For people from that country who do not support war this can be very disrespectful.

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Guest Felix

Tashi Delek.

 

Good point. Generalizations are too often a tool of intolerance and discrimination, on the personal and the societal level. The majority of people might feel helpless and just follow what they are told to, but fortunately there are also NGOs and civil society movements, who do not just “watch the Titanic sinkâ€.

 

According to my narrow range of experience, the beliefs that we hold about our abilities (to shape the society, for example) influence our actions much more than we usually think. Totalitarian regimes, imposing the submissive role to its adherents, know it very well. We can use it in another direction, taking the responsibility.

 

Respectfully,

Felix

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Good morning,

if I may to put my opinion I would say that interreligious dialogue is a process between people about the religions, about what they think the religions are. If the philosophy of the people is "you lose - I get" then the framework is nothing else but a hustle about who is the first. Usually, such a hustle become silent when a deeper recognition is accepted, that after all it is about the same aims, and when the philosophy of the people is changed into "you get - I get".

 

Best regards,

Simona

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I found another quote that can be useful. It basically states that having equanimity towards other religions is very important for our own mind. And I would think that not having a sense of equanimity makes interreligious dialog an impossibility. The Catholic Church consisently turns a blind eye to such ideas, with some very exceptional events in history (the previous Pope was open to dialog). But the new Pope is not helpful in this in any way. :(

 

'Another way of describing equilibrium is to call it the middle way. That is why, from a practical point of view, in order for Buddhists to be healthy we should have an equalized feeling with Western religion and eastern religion. We should have an equalized feeling and respect for people who practice Christianity. That's the way to be happy, and happiness is your main business. I think it's a mistake for Western baby Buddhists to think that Buddhism is better than Christianity. It's wrong. First of all, it's not true, and secondly, it creates bad vibrations and makes your mind unhealthy.' - Lama Yeshe

 

Best regards,

Khyenrab

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