Buddhism in the Modern WorldSaunders, Kenneth J. (Kenneth James)
Religion
Buddhism in the Modern World
Saunders, Kenneth J. (Kenneth James)
Buddhism
(d) _A willingness to appreciate fresh truth_.--It is very desirable
that the young missionary should face such people, themselves often
creative in their thinking, with a belief that the Holy Spirit, who
has guided the nations in their search for truth, is still seeking to
lead them on, at least into fresh realisations of the power and
meaning of the truths which have meant so much in past ages. Every
such missionary will be thrilled in his contact with the inner "soul
of the people" to whom he goes, by the hope that they will find in
Christ hitherto undiscovered riches and by the desire on his own part
to catch something of a continually enlarging vision of Christ and His
Church.
4. A Great Opportunity.
The missionary to Buddhists may find encouragement and inspiration in
the growing conviction that Oriental Christianity will definitely add
strength to the universal Church in coming days. God's kingdom will
not be complete without the peoples of Southern Asia. They are deeply
religious. It may be far from being an idle dream that God should give
to some missionary of to-day the privilege of training a St. Paul, an
Origen or an Augustine of the East, who will give to the Church other
great chapters of Christian interpretation, and a truly convincing
apologetic of the gospel to the world.
II. BUDDHISM IN EASTERN ASIA
I. BUDDHISM IN JAPAN
From the Buddhism of Southern Asia to that of China and Japan is a far
cry. It must be remembered that the monastic Buddhism, in which the
_Arhat_ seeking his own salvation is the ideal, gradually gave place
before Buddhism left India and entered Eastern Asia to the
_Mahāyāna_, or Great Vessel, in which the _Bodhisattva_, or
compassionate servant of humanity, became the ideal. Other important
changes also took place in the religion of Gotama during the five or
six centuries after his death. In the first place, in spite of all his
teachings that men should not look to him for help the teacher was
himself deified: He "mounts the empty throne of Brahmā." A little
later there appeared a docetic tendency which explained him away, or
attempted to show that he was without human feeling or passion, a kind
of unreal adaptation of the eternal to the needs of time. Others
conceived of him as an Eternal Being carrying on the work he had begun
upon earth, and opening up salvation to all sentient beings, until
finally a trinitarian doctrine was evolved which related the
historical Gotama to the eternal Buddha, and conceived of him as
having emptied himself of his glory for a season out of compassion for
mankind, but as now enjoying it and manifesting it in pitiful and
helpful ministries.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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