Religious Pluralism In Buddhism Essay

An Inquiry into Likelihood of Religious Pluralism in Buddhism

Dr. Vijitha Kumara,

Lecturer,

International PhD Programme in Buddhist Studies,

Depaertment of Humanities,

Mahidol University,

Thailand.

Religious pluralism goes far beyond tolerance

The world?s religions usually stress that the teaching they believe in is the most reliable. To corroborate their supremacy, they criticize and reject the philosophies and practices of the other religions. For instance, ?this is the only truth. Other is untruth?.? This rejection is widely ranged and multifaceted. In this regard, some recent scholars have proposed two different concepts: religious tolerance and pluralism. It is more complicated defining ?religious tolerance?. The Webster dictionary

The Brahmanic tradition as existed in the 6th century BCE was entirely opposed to the doctrine introduced by Buddhism. It does not mean that the Buddha abominated Br?hma??s. He used to visit Br?hma??s and had friendly talks. Tevijja, Ca?k? and So?ada??a were some of them. In the Suttas, though these Br?hma??s attempted to put forward pluralistic features between Buddhism and Brahmanism, the Buddha turned away their views straightway. For instance, while So?adan?a gives five reasons why he decided to see the Buddha and discuss, the Buddha logically rejected So?ada??a?s facts and suggested five different practices.? This discussion found in the So?ada??a sutta implies that there are no pluralistic features between Buddhism and Brahmanism. Moreover, the Ca?k? sutta of the Majjhima-nik?ya contains the facts that the Buddha rejected the truth and theory of knowledge that Brahmanism had introduced.? Especially, the divine revelation that was the ultimate teaching in Brahmanism was rejected by the Buddha in the discussion with Br?hma?a Tevijja.? In this respect, it is clear that though Buddhism practiced tolerance towards Brahmanism, it did not hold even a nominal point regarding