The Straits Times' Grave Errors on Buddhism!
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I have been reading the news article about Religion in the Straits Times. Although I enjoyed reading it I noticed some errors that the editors wrote which IMHO, shows a lack of research.
Firstly, on Page 2 of the Saturday Special Report, under the topic of “A force both social and spiritual”, it is written that “Religion in the local context is closely tied to race and ethnicity. This is the case for four of the five most popular religions here – Buddhism, Islam, Taoism and Hinduism. The only exception is Christianity”. I believe it is wrong to say that Buddhism is tied to an ethnicity and race.
Firstly, one should note that Buddha was born in India as an Indian (not a Chinese hehe). He was among the first who taught that our lives should not be pre determined by the Caste system due to their race (the blacker Indians are lower caste and white Indians were of higher castes), which was deemed as quite unfair. Buddha belonged to the Kings/Warrior caste, which was the second highest caste, before he renounced. The followers of Buddha came from all kinds of different caste during those days. This shows that Buddha was impartial to everyone regardless of race or background.
Upali, one of the top 10 disciples of Buddha, used to belong to the Sudra caste, meaning the outcaste, and was destined to be a slave for life. He was nevertheless accepted as BuddhaÂ’s disciple, which was thought to be unthinkable if it were to be Brahmanism or other teachings in those days. He became the foremost disciple of Buddha in Discipline and Precepts, and enjoyed high prestige in the Sangha (community).
Buddhism is flexible and not fixed on a particular culture, ethnicity or race. Its teachings has spread beyond India – to the Sri Lankans, the Thais, the Tibetans, the Chinese, the Koreans, the Japanese just to name a few, and now it is spreading fast to the Western countries. History since 2500 years ago shows that Buddhism is not truly tied to a particular ethnicity or race – and has spread to many different places. Ultimately Buddhism is not concerned about such minor things but aims to deal with something at large among all Humanity – the reliving of Human Sufferings, attaining Bliss, Wisdom, Enlightenment, uprooting Ignorance.
Therefore although Buddhism in Singapore is mostly among Chinese, it is definitely not “tied to race and ethnicity”.
Secondly, on the same page and same section, Andre Ong, 22, who claims to be a Buddhist, says that “Religion is not really important to me.” And he also said that he is someone who “does not burn joss sticks regularly but clings to Buddha’s leg at the last moment”. And later he says that his Grandmother "went to Kwan Im temple at Waterloo Street, prayed hard and picked up some wooden sticks to draw lots. The answer she received: Canada, bad; Australia, good."
From this we can see clearly that Andre Ong and his Grandmother is practicing certain Chinese Folk traditions, but is definitely not practicing Buddhism, and neither does he knows what Buddhism is about. I believe such traditions also do not reflect the spirit and purpose of Buddhism. Buddha does not ask anyone to draw lots, or seek divinations. The editor of the news article has obviously mixed up Chinese Folk traditions with Buddhism. Just because practitioners of Chinese Folk traditions pray to the Buddha (and in fact any other kind of gods), it does not mean they are Buddhists or practitioners of dharma. In the first place, to be a disciple of Buddha, a Buddhist, one must at least take refuge in the triple gems: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. I highly doubt that person is a Buddhist.
Another example of portrayal of Buddhism as some folk practice is in page 5, “Parents upset at first but came around”. “He refused to eat food placed at the ancestral altar and his mother accused him of becoming ‘a religious extremist’” suggests that the parents were practitioners of Ancestral Worshipping, but has nothing to suggest that they were Buddhists. In fact, earlier in that article it was stated that “His family considered themselves Buddhists”. Again, it is most likely they are practitioners of Folk Traditions, but not true Buddhists, but only "Considered Themselves as Buddhists". Note that there is a great difference.
Thank you for patiently reading the points I have stated. -
Btw, Islam too, is not tied to ethnic and race either.
The problem with Singaporeans is that they took a narrow view of the world, and lack knowledge of stuff going on.
Do you know that, once you step outside of Singapore, the whole world actually dont know and dont care about Singapore?
Same thing. The majority of the Muslims in Singapore are Malays, but it doesnt mean only Arabs and Malays are the only Muslims around.
People forgot Filipinos in the south of the country, Thais in the Pattani area, Indian Muslims, Chinese huge Muslim population in Xinjiang. In fact, it was predicted the Islam is going to overtake Christianity as the most popular faith...in UK.
Geez... -
Well thats very true.Originally posted by laurence82:Btw, Islam too, is not tied to ethnic and race either.
The problem with Singaporeans is that they took a narrow view of the world, and lack knowledge of stuff going on.
Do you know that, once you step outside of Singapore, the whole world actually dont know and dont care about Singapore?
Same thing. The majority of the Muslims in Singapore are Malays, but it doesnt mean only Arabs and Malays are the only Muslims around.
People forgot Filipinos in the south of the country, Thais in the Pattani area, Indian Muslims, Chinese huge Muslim population in Xinjiang. In fact, it was predicted the Islam is going to overtake Christianity as the most popular faith...in UK.
Geez...
Islam is rising globally in Western countries, along with Buddhism also. Some places like U.K and U.S, Islam grows faster, some places like Australia, Canada and some European countries, Buddhism is the fastest growing religion right now. -
I believe the authors/editors of the article had not taken the time to understand what is Buddhism before undertaking the task to write these things. I'm shockingly surprised that such shallow article which clearly shows a lack of respect towards other religions, was allowed to be published by SPH - which has the social responsibility to promote racial and religious harmony. In this times of terrorism and racial/religious sensitivity, I believe the SPH should do something to prevent this from ever happening again.
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i like the previous article tho.
Anyone got it? -
You mean previous issue of Straits Times or?Originally posted by laurence82:i like the previous article tho.
Anyone got it? -
yeapOriginally posted by An Eternal Now:You mean previous issue of Straits Times or? -
Yea previous one not bad
You mean the Vesak one right? It's here:
http://buddhism.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=133145
Title: UPFRONT: Buddhism's draw is no longer as a folk religion -
oh actually not this one, but the one that focus on all religionsOriginally posted by An Eternal Now:Yea previous one not bad You mean the Vesak one right? It's here:
http://buddhism.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=133145
btw this article is good too -
oh actually not this one, but the one that focus on all religions
Oh then I cant remember liao... -
why not send this to The Straits Times
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My friend Sanath is going to meet Mrs Monksfield and ask her to suggest a feedback to ST.
Sanath knows Mrs Monksfield personally and used to be from the Singapore Buddhist Federation before going to Japan and ordained as a Buddhist priest there.
Nevertheless I will also send an email to the ST to feedback on that news article. -
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
i think the person who refused to eat food placed at the ancestral altar should be a converted Christian.
Another example of portrayal of Buddhism as some folk practice is in page 5, “Parents upset at first but came around”. “He refused to eat food placed at the ancestral altar and his mother accused him of becoming ‘a religious extremist’” suggests that the parents were practitioners of Ancestral Worshipping, but has nothing to suggest that they were Buddhists. In fact, earlier in that article it was stated that “His family considered themselves Buddhists”. Again, it is most likely they are practitioners of Folk Traditions, but not true Buddhists, but only "Considered Themselves as Buddhists". Note that there is a great difference.
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i have not thought of a comment yet, but i do agree that people who think they are Buddhists mix their believes with folk traditions and Taoism and are misunderstanding of BuddhaDharma. Even Dalai Lama said so himself.
A bit of advice from President S. R. Nathan himself. "Of all the religions, I most respect Buddhism teachings that 'real' Buddhists stress on the inside(significant) rather than on the outside (customary). "
President S. R. Nathan although a Hindu got the theory Right.
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Amituofo! -
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
frankly speaking how many real buddhist are there? how many actually practice or even know about the triple gems?
I have been reading the news article about Religion in the Straits Times. Although I enjoyed reading it I noticed some errors that the editors wrote which IMHO, shows a lack of research.
[b]Firstly, on Page 2 of the Saturday Special Report, under the topic of “A force both social and spiritual”, it is written that “Religion in the local context is closely tied to race and ethnicity. This is the case for four of the five most popular religions here – Buddhism, Islam, Taoism and Hinduism. The only exception is Christianity”. I believe it is wrong to say that Buddhism is tied to an ethnicity and race.
Firstly, one should note that Buddha was born in India as an Indian (not a Chinese hehe). He was among the first who taught that our lives should not be pre determined by the Caste system due to their race (the blacker Indians are lower caste and white Indians were of higher castes), which was deemed as quite unfair. Buddha belonged to the Kings/Warrior caste, which was the second highest caste, before he renounced. The followers of Buddha came from all kinds of different caste during those days. This shows that Buddha was impartial to everyone regardless of race or background.
Upali, one of the top 10 disciples of Buddha, used to belong to the Sudra caste, meaning the outcaste, and was destined to be a slave for life. He was nevertheless accepted as BuddhaÂ’s disciple, which was thought to be unthinkable if it were to be Brahmanism or other teachings in those days. He became the foremost disciple of Buddha in Discipline and Precepts, and enjoyed high prestige in the Sangha (community).
Buddhism is flexible and not fixed on a particular culture, ethnicity or race. Its teachings has spread beyond India – to the Sri Lankans, the Thais, the Tibetans, the Chinese, the Koreans, the Japanese just to name a few, and now it is spreading fast to the Western countries. History since 2500 years ago shows that Buddhism is not truly tied to a particular ethnicity or race – and has spread to many different places. Ultimately Buddhism is not concerned about such minor things but aims to deal with something at large among all Humanity – the reliving of Human Sufferings, attaining Bliss, Wisdom, Enlightenment, uprooting Ignorance.
Therefore although Buddhism in Singapore is mostly among Chinese, it is definitely not “tied to race and ethnicity”.
Secondly, on the same page and same section, Andre Ong, 22, who claims to be a Buddhist, says that “Religion is not really important to me.” And he also said that he is someone who “does not burn joss sticks regularly but clings to Buddha’s leg at the last moment”. And later he says that his Grandmother "went to Kwan Im temple at Waterloo Street, prayed hard and picked up some wooden sticks to draw lots. The answer she received: Canada, bad; Australia, good."
From this we can see clearly that Andre Ong and his Grandmother is practicing certain Chinese Folk traditions, but is definitely not practicing Buddhism, and neither does he knows what Buddhism is about. I believe such traditions also do not reflect the spirit and purpose of Buddhism. Buddha does not ask anyone to draw lots, or seek divinations. The editor of the news article has obviously mixed up Chinese Folk traditions with Buddhism. Just because practitioners of Chinese Folk traditions pray to the Buddha (and in fact any other kind of gods), it does not mean they are Buddhists or practitioners of dharma. In the first place, to be a disciple of Buddha, a Buddhist, one must at least take refuge in the triple gems: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. I highly doubt that person is a Buddhist.
Another example of portrayal of Buddhism as some folk practice is in page 5, “Parents upset at first but came around”. “He refused to eat food placed at the ancestral altar and his mother accused him of becoming ‘a religious extremist’” suggests that the parents were practitioners of Ancestral Worshipping, but has nothing to suggest that they were Buddhists. In fact, earlier in that article it was stated that “His family considered themselves Buddhists”. Again, it is most likely they are practitioners of Folk Traditions, but not true Buddhists, but only "Considered Themselves as Buddhists". Note that there is a great difference.
Thank you for patiently reading the points I have stated.
[/b] -
take refuge in triple gems? I'm not a refugee...
Buddhism is teachings from Buddha and I seriously think it should not be called a religion.
I have ceased in all forms of praying to gods. As I believed one should answer for his doing.
I believed a lot of people just burn some joss sticks and pray pray and labelled themselves as buddhists.
Many are not learning buddha teachings and instead choose to worshipping buddha as a god...
What seed you sow is what fruit you get.
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you are right. buddhism is not a religion.Originally posted by maggot:take refuge in triple gems? I'm not a refugee...
Buddhism is teachings from Buddha and I seriously think it should not be called a religion.
I have ceased in all forms of praying to gods. As I believed one should answer for his doing.
I believed a lot of people just burn some joss sticks and pray pray and labelled themselves as buddhists.
Many are not learning buddha teachings and instead choose to worshipping buddha as a god...
What seed you sow is what fruit you get.
most people are affected by taoism. -
A man asks 'Bhante', "What is Dhamma(Buddhism)?
Can you summarize it in simple words?"
"Do good, do no evil, purify your mind,
That is Dhamma", replied Bhante.
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Amituofo! -
There is a large percentage of (true) Buddhists out there in Singapore and many Buddhist monasteries and dharma centres, still I have to admit that many people out there who are "IC-Buddhist" (self claimed Buddhists) have no idea what Buddhism is about, are followers of a folk practise and tradition.Originally posted by dragg:frankly speaking how many real buddhist are there? how many actually practice or even know about the triple gems?
But one should also not portray these type of "Buddhists" as followers and practitioners of Buddhism, because they are not.
The Buddha requires that we must at least take refuge in the triple gems to be considered his disciple. -
Whether you consider Buddhism as a religion or not.... to be a Buddhist you must take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, which is to return to the Buddha's domain and relying on the Three Treasures as your teacher and guide towards enlightenment.Originally posted by maggot:take refuge in triple gems? I'm not a refugee...
Buddhism is teachings from Buddha and I seriously think it should not be called a religion.
I have ceased in all forms of praying to gods. As I believed one should answer for his doing.
I believed a lot of people just burn some joss sticks and pray pray and labelled themselves as buddhists.
Many are not learning buddha teachings and instead choose to worshipping buddha as a god...
What seed you sow is what fruit you get.
As for joss stick, I believe too that burning joss sticks does not answer all your wishes and desires. Just think about it: how much does 3 joss sticks, or 1 joss stick, costs?
With these joss sticks, you expect good career, good family, bright sons and daughters, how Realistic is that? Poor gods, poor Bodhisattvas, poor Buddhas, who are given such ridiculous demands.
What is the meaning of burning Joss Sticks? Joss Stick symbolizes "Dao De", in short Dao De means "benefitting oneself and the others". Things that are not beneficial, and harmful to oneself and others, we must avoid. Things that will benefit us and the others, we must do. People who burn Joss Stick should learn to have "Dao4 De2 Zhi1 Xiang1" (the fragrance of Dao De) -
Yes. In fact Buddha says that all the Buddhas in the past have also taught this.Originally posted by sinweiy:A man asks 'Bhante', "What is Dhamma(Buddhism)?
Can you summarize it in simple words?"
"Do good, do no evil, purify your mind,
That is Dhamma", replied Bhante.
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Amituofo!
Also, the focus on purification of the mind is also one that makes Buddhism special from most other teachings. -
Recently i just heard that my Master Chin Kung said that, we should not blame people for their misunderstanding. we should blame ourselves for not explaining enough and setting good example. it's reasonable for them to misunderstanding. i think He said it well, enlightenment is to see our own mistake first.
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Indeed, that is why I see the importance of explaining to the people who are misguided.Originally posted by sinweiy:Recently i just heard that my Master Chin Kung said that, we should not blame people for their misunderstanding. we should blame ourselves for not explaining enough and setting good example. it's reasonable for them to misunderstanding. i think He said it well, enlightenment is to see our own mistake first.
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