Baháʼí Faith and Buddhism
The teachings of the Baháʼí Faith regard Buddhism as a religion founded by a Manifestations of God, and Baháʼu'lláh as the expected Maitreya Buddha.[1] The authenticity of the current canon of Buddhist scriptures is seen as uncertain. In recent years there has been an increase in the number of Baháʼís from Buddhist background.[2]
Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion |
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Religions |
Baháʼí scholarship
The differences between religious concepts in Buddhism and the Abrahamic religions has caused questions for Baháʼí scholarship. Jamshed Fozdar presents the Buddhist teaching about an unknowable reality as referring to the concept of God,[2] for example in the following passage from the Udana (v.81) in the Khuddaka Nikaya: "There is, O monks, an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. Were there not, O monks, this Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, there would be no escape from the world of the born, originated, created, formed. Since, O monks, there is an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, therefore is there an escape from the born, originated, created, formed."[3] Moojan Momen shows the many similarities between the ethical teachings in Theravada Buddhism and the Baháʼí Faith, and states that the metaphysical differences originate from culture-bound terminologies.[2][4][5] See also scholar Ian Kluge's “Buddhism and the Baháʼí Writings: An Ontological Rapprochement" and Professor of Religion and Philosophy, Roland Faber's, "Baháʼu'lláh and the Luminous Mind: Baháʼí Gloss on a Buddhist Puzzle".
Eightfold Noble Path
The Baháʼí teachings uphold all parts of the Eightfold Noble Path: right view, right aim or right-mindedness, right speech, right action, right living or livelihood, right effort or endeavour, right mindfulness and right contemplation.[6]
See also
References
- Momen, Moojan (1985). Buddhism and the Bahá'í Faith.
- Smith, Peter (2000). "Buddhism". A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. pp. 95–96. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
- Fozdar 1995, pp. 133
- Momen 1988, pp. 185–217
- Momen 1994
- Momen 1994, pp. 5
- Fozdar, Jamshed K. (1995) [1973]. The God of Buddha. Ariccia (RM), Italy: Casa Editrice Baháʼí Srl. ISBN 88-7214-031-5. OL 24300363M.
- Momen, Moojan (1994). Buddhism and the Baháʼí Faith. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-384-4. (short version of this title here).
- Momen, Moojan (1988). Studies in the Bábí and Baháʼí Religions vol. 5, chapter: A Basis For Baháʼí Metaphysics. Kalimat Press. pp. 185–217. ISBN 0-933770-72-3.
Further reading
- Buck, Christopher (1980). The Mystery of the Sworded Warrior in Hindu Apocalypse: Was Kalki Visnuyas Baháʼu'lláh?.
- Buck, Christopher (2004). "The eschatology of Globalization: The multiple-messiahship of Bahā'u'llāh revisited". In Sharon, Moshe (ed.). Studies in Modern Religions, Religious Movements and the Bābī-Bahā'ī Faiths. Boston: Brill. pp. 143–178. ISBN 90-04-13904-4.
- Cole, Juan (1996). A Zen Gloss on Baha'u'llah's Commentary on "He who knoweth his self knoweth his Lord".
- Faber, Roland (2017). Baháʼu'lláh and the Luminous Mind: Baháʼí Gloss on a Buddhist Puzzle, in Lights of Irfan 18.
- Fozdar, Jamshed K. (1976). Buddha Maitrya-Amitabha Has Appeared. New Delhi, India: Baháʼí Publishing Trust. ISBN 81-85091-83-8.
- Kluge, Ian. (2006). Buddhism and the Baháʼí Writings: An Ontological Rapprochement.
- Kluge, Ian. (2013). The Baháʼí Writings and the Buddhist Doctrine of Emptiness: An Initial Survey.
- Sours, Michael (2000). "Hindu and Buddhist Scripture in Baháʼí Scripture". Without Syllable or Sound: The World's Sacred Scriptures in the Baháʼí Faith. Los Angeles, United States: Kalimat Press. ISBN 1-890688-06-1.
External links
- ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi. Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster and Related Subjects, compiled by Research Department of the Universal House of Justice.
- BIC Statement: The Common Goal of Universal Peace in Buddhism and the Baha'i Faith (1990)
- Article about Maitreya Buddha, by Christopher Buck
- Prophecy Fulfilled: Buddhist Prophecies