15. Buddhist Attitudes Towards Non-Buddhists.
Tolerance has been an outstanding moral characteristic
of
Buddhism from earliest times. Buddhism has at-
tempted to arrive at the truth, not by excluding its
opposites
as falsehood, but by including them as an-
other
form of the same truth. Buddhists are generally
noted for their liberal
attitude toward other religions,
whether polytheistic, monotheistic, or
atheistic. Bud-
dhists admit the truth of any
moral and philosophical
system, whether primitive or developed, provided
only
that it is capable of leading men at least part way
toward their
final goal. Although Buddhism has been
predominant in many Asiatic
countries, there is no
record of any persecution by Buddhists of the
followers
of any other faith. They have waged no religious war.
Buddhism has tolerated the various pagan faiths
native to some countries of
Asia which lack any clear
religious doctrine. In South Asiatic countries,
many
Hindu gods and goddesses have been included in the
religious
ceremonies of the Buddhist community, and
many Buddhists still observe
festivals and customs as-
sociated with
goblins or demons (nats) and other nature
spirits of
each country.
In China, Buddhism had actually been amalgamated
with many Taoist beliefs
and practices; many shrines
were semi-Buddhist and semi-Taoist. Chinese
legendary
sages were worshipped in temples. The same tolerance
brought
about a blending of the various Buddhist sects
in China producing one mixed
form of Buddhism. The
situation is similar to the condition of Buddhism
in
Korea.
In Tibet, Buddhists assimilated with Bonism, the
native religion of Tibet,
by incorporating many of its
gods and goddesses into the lowest grade of
Guardian
Deities, without affecting the doctrinal integrity of
Buddhism. The animal sacrifices were replaced with
symbolic worship, and inner purification was taught
in place of
black magic.
In Japan, the indigenous gods and goddesses of Shin-
toism were dealt with in the same way. Till the eighth
century
they were assigned rather low positions, but
later their positions became
gradually higher and
higher; they were regarded as incarnations of
Buddhas
and Bodhisattvas. The Japanese people very often do
not
distinguish between Buddhistic divine beings and
Shintō gods. In
the past in Japan there were very few
shrines that did not have
shrine-temples built in their
confines, where Buddhist priests performed
the morn-
ing and evening practices of reciting
Sutras and served
the shrine gods and goddesses together with
Shintō
priests. The majority of the Japanese pray before the
Shintoist shrines and at the same time pay homage in
Buddhist temples,
without being conscious of any con-
tradiction. A devout Buddhist is very often a devout
Shintoist at
the same time. Buddhist authorities do not
interfere with Buddhists who go
to Christian churches
or attend Christian colleges to learn English or
Western
culture.
The relation between the Buddhists and the Hindus
is viable insofar as
Hindus regard Buddhism as a branch
of Hinduism.
