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Wednesday, September 15, 2010 - 8.26 GMT |
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Buddhist,
Judaist discussion will lay foundation for
lasting friendship - Kohona |
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Buddhism and Judaism are two great religions that have had an enormous impact on human thinking over the centuries, said Dr. Palitha T.B. Kohona, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations addressing the inauguration ceremony of the first meeting between the Buddhists in New York and the Jewish community.
"I hope that this meeting will lay the foundation for a friendship and an understanding that will continue into the future between the two communities," he said.
Buddhism which originated in India rapidly spread along trade routes, on one side, to the Middle East and, on the other, to distant Korea and Japan. Based on the principles of loving kindness, understanding and tolerance, Dr. Kohona added.
Similarly, Judaism has influenced the thinking of the people in the Middle East and in the West from its inception, he further said.
In Sri Lanka, we pride ourselves in having preserved Buddhism in its pristine form. The Sri Lankan interpretation of Buddhism is simple and straightforward. There is very little embellishment of the basic tenets as propounded by the Master and for over 2500 years, our culture and attitudes have been influenced by Buddhism, he said.
We built great monuments in honour of our teacher, the Buddha, and almost every aspect of our lives has been influenced by his teachings, he said adding, at one point, Sri Lanka was the centre from which Buddhism was propagated to South East and East Asia.
‘The great Chinese traveler monk, Fa Hsian, spent over eight years in Sri Lanka studying Buddhism. Our ancient cities, such as Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, are testimony to the impact of Buddhism on our daily lives. The influence of the religion on both kings and commoners was immense. Huge religious monuments, later engulfed by the jungle, were built from around 300 BC till after the 13th century and to this date, these ruins, rival other major archeological sites around the world’.
We have also noticed that many Buddhist thinkers of the West were of Jewish background. Bhikku Bodhi is from a Jewish family from Brooklyn. Similarly, Epstein, who wrote extensively on Buddhism, was from New York. It comes as no surprise that minds trained in the Jewish tradition could absorb the philosophy of the Buddha without difficulty, he also stated.
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