We put our trust in the three Precious Ones. In what do you trust? Is not your
Shang Ti (name for God used in China) a being lower than Buddha and just a
little higher than a Bodhisattva? Is not Shang Ti the tribal god of the Jews?
Do you believe in the existence of _purgatory?_ What sufferings will those
endure who do not live a virtuous life? Do you believe in the reality of the
Western Paradise? How can one enter it? There being three kinds of merit, by
what method is the great merit accumulated? How is the middle and the small
merit accumulated? What are the fruits of these proportions of merit and what
are they like? Tell me how to believe Christ. What work of meditation do you
perform? Is not Buddhism more democratic than Christianity, because it holds
out the possibility of Buddhahood to all beings? Is not Buddhism more
inclusive, because it provides for the salvation of all beings?
_2. Knowledge and Sympathy_
These questions make it plain that the worker who is to deal with Buddhists
should have a broad background of general culture. He must be thoroughly
humanized. He should have a good knowledge of the history of philosophy and
religion, including the work of the modern philosophers. A knowledge of the
life of Buddha and of the doctrines of the Hînayâna or Southern Buddhism, as
well as the tenets of the Mahayâna should be in his possession. The psychology
of religion should interpenetrate his historical learning; the best methods of
pedagogy should guide his approach to men. Of course he must speak the language
of the Buddhist, not only the spiritual language, but his everyday patois. He
will find it an advantage to know some Sanskrit. While this requirement is not
very urgent at present, it will rapidly become a necessity for doing the best
work.
This knowledge should be interpenetrated by a genuine sympathy, that is,
imagination tinged with emotion. The worker should be able to view doctrines,
values and actions from the point of view of the Buddhist and his past history.
He must have a genuine interest in and a great capacity for friendship. The
Buddhists are very human, responding to friendship very quickly. Such
friendship forms a link between the man and the larger friendship of Christ.
_3. Emphasis on the Aesthetic in Christianity_
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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