Religious Harmony

Setting the Motivation To differentiate from the non-Buddhists, there is the taking of refuge or safe direction, and to differentiate from the Hinayana path, there is the taking of the Mahayana refuge. We look to the Buddha Shakyamuni as our main example of a source of safe...

There is a long history of Muslims being regarded by the Christian West as the forces of the devil. This began at the end of the eleventh century CE with the Crusades to take the Holy Lands from the Muslims. It continued with the fall of ­­the center of Eastern Orth­odox...

Introduction His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama emphasizes that religious harmony must be based on education, knowing about each other’s traditions. With thorough knowledge, we can acknowledge the common goals we share, while respecting the differences. In fact, from...

What does it mean to understand something is a very important topic because there are so many things that we need to understand. We’re not talking simply about understanding the various points of the Dharma, but this issue is very important in our daily life as well. We need...

General Assertions Buddhism does not assert creation or a creator. The mental continuums of all sentient beings have no beginning. “Sentient beings” are living beings that act with intention and experience happiness or unhappiness as a result. Like souls in Islam, however, the...

The Different Lineages of Mahamudra In general, we could gain a decisive understanding of voidness with respect to any basis characterized by voidness, or having voidness as its nature, such as a vase. There is no difference in the abiding devoid nature itself of a vase or...

The Dalai Lama advises Buddhist centers on a number of topics, from giving in-depth teachings on emotions and the mind, to making sure that instead of only giving information to the practitioners, they also make a contribution to the betterment of the society where they live.

The Dalai Lama warns not to fall into religious hypocrisy by only paying lip service to the Buddhadharma, without actually implementing the teachings in the form of right action in everyday life.

The main aim of the Islamic-Buddhist dialogue, as experienced by Dr. Berzin, is educational, for each to learn more about the other’s beliefs and cultures. The prospects for increasing contact and cooperation are vast.

The Dalai Lama advises that the concept of nonviolence and dialogue needs to be taught in educational institutions. It is important for the younger generation to learn them, so that the ideas of dialogue and nonviolence become a part of their lives.