A Giant Leap for Mankind in Ethnic Transcendence (3/3)
Wong Weng Hon
The most ancient religious Scripture, the Hindus’ Vedas affirms about 3,000 B.C.E thus, “There is a single Truth but the wise call it by different names.” Likewise, George Bernard Shaw concurred thus, “ There is only one Religion, though there are a hundred versions of it.” Discerning that the esoteric dimension of one’s own religion differs not from that of other religious faiths, one has actualized non-discriminative wisdom. Racial transcendence in politics is a form of non-discriminative wisdom. Politics of non-discrimination is sacred and divine because it brings about harmonious unity. Every unity of existence is the Essence of God or Tao or Emptiness. Monotheistically put, it carries the connotation that the supporters of non-racial politics are closer to God even though they know how to love God and love the neighbour. Buddhitsly put, it mirrors that non-racists’ thought resonates with the Truth of Emptiness. Emptiness is the harmony of association of diverse cause (hetu) and conditions (pratyayas). It is innate supreme humanism of Man not to discriminate others racially. This is the foundation of all world’s religions. It is innate humanism to be altruistically benevolent towards others. Religion trains us to unearth this innate supremacy of humanism of Man.
Unless a believer knows that discrimination of multiplicity is an illusion, he or she is spiritually perverse. The ignorant one is still not self-awakened from the slumber of ignorance (avijjā). Discriminative politics is not only a violation of U.N Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Monotheistically put, it is an alienation or separation from God, Tao or Emptiness. Such alienation or separation from the Lord (eternal Truth) is sinful. Buddhistly put, it is assertion of attā (self) which is tantamount to negation of the eternal Truth of Anattā (Non-self; Egolessness; Insubstantiality). In fact, God and Anattā are equal in Essence or in terms of the eternal Truth of cosmic Unity. Racially discriminative or un-Godly political leaders should not be elected into office of political governance because they create sins and bring God’s wrath to their own nations in the form of chaos or crisis .
Love
The love of God and love of neighbour are the pivotal divine commandments of the Monotheism, such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Mundanely put, Monotheists advocate the harmonious unity of co-existence for the common good. We are blessed to witness such Godly decision in the election of the first American black President Obama in the year 2008 in the United States in which ethnic transcendence was witnessed by the world. That election brought much exuberance to the world. This is precisely why 2008 U.S presidential election captivated the world. Furthermore, the President’ Obama’s selection of presidential administrative think tank of blue-chip elites also transcends racial prejudice. Non-discriminative meritocracy builds political, economic, education, science and humanity power house of U.S. This is what the east can learn from the west. Nevertheless, judging from the eruption of western financial meltdown, the western secularists ought to draw wisdom of Thesophy from the oriental religious philosophy to invigorate their Theism philosophy. For instance, American Bhikkhu Bodhi, former Editor and president of the Pali Publication Society of Sri Lanka, has learned Pāli and Buddhist philosophy proficiently from Sri Lankan eminent scholar monk,Ven. Balangoda Ananda Maitreya.
Ethnic discrimination is an unpleasant element of multiplicity that tends to evoke aversion and resultant anger in others. Multiplicity is illusory and unreal. Worship of racial politics is idolatrous. It is an alienation from God or Tao or Emptiness. It conceals the face of God or Tao or Emptiness (Truth). Multiplicity conceals Unity of Existence. In bipolar Reality, politics is never divorced from religion or the worship of the Absolute. Religion is susposed to shepherd us towards the Unity of Existence which is God (Truth) or Tao or Emptiness. Ethnic discrimination impurifies religious practice through self-centric ego. It obstructs spiritual upliftment. It impedes salvation – the common goal of all faith adherents of world’s religions.
Alas, what occur in the political elections in some third world nations are tainted with ethnic discriminations dependently co-arisen from religious discrimination. The worst political scenarios have even emerged : People of a similar ethnic background or religious background are bikering and conflicting among themselves in order to preserve their powers and positions in the grasp of wealth. Many countries in the third world are politically chaotic and unceasingly quarrelsome. One of the causes is ethic discrimination rooted in religious blindness.
Article Two of ICERD (International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discriminations) prohibits any form of discrimination. UDHR and ICERD are two very sacred and divine documents. If U.N member nations fulfill their commitments to UDHR and ICERD, the Gross National Happiness (GNH) of the member nations would not have declined appreciably with the ascent of their respective GDPs (Gross Domestic Products). Currently, the world’s GNP (Gross National Product) has descended and slided into the ongoing unprecedented financial crisis and economic recession. The economic slide is obviously correlated with global descending GNH.
Perversion
Being religious, the believers are susposed to promote and foster unity. Perversely, they promote and foster disunity to preserve self-interests or sectarian interests. Discrimination is one of the causes of disunity. Disunity is anti-God or anti-Tao or anti-Emptiness. It opposes the Truth or Dharma. Religious believers are susposed to preserve harmony to catalyse cohesive co-operation. Perversely, they diffuse disharmony to satisfy their selfish motives. Disharmony is anti-God or anti-Tao or anti-Emptiness. Believers are susposed to maintain cohesive co-existence. Perversely, they cause separation to fulfill their private hidden agendas. Discrimination is one of the causes of alienation or separation. Separation is anti-God or anti-Tao or anti-Emptiness. Religious believers are susposed to annihilate self-centric ego or the lower self. Perversely, they inflate the self-centric ego or the lower self. Discrimination is linked with self or ego inflation. Ego inflation or lower self is anti-God or anti-Tao or anti-Emptiness. Religious believers are susposed to obliterate discrimination in any form. Perversely, they worship discrimination to outwit or injure others emotionally to preserve ethnic or self interests. Discrimination is anti-God or anti-Tao or anti-Emptiness.
Religion as Antidote
Religious wisdom is the only antidote to obliteration of discrimination in any form because the highest knowledge of spiritual emancipation is derived from non-discriminative wisdom. The whole world has utilized a large portion of financial wealth to construct houses of worship, such as churches, temples, monasteries, mosques, religious infrastructure of associations or societies. The investment is orientated towards the love of the Lord or the development of wisdom, and the love of the neighbour or the development of benevolence. The final objective is to discern the Truth of non-discriminative wisdom. The harvests so far are not proportionate to the investment outlays hitherto. However, ethnic discrimination is still much evident especially in political governance, the distribution of wealth, the educational opportunities and in other domains in many parts of the third world countries.
Left and Right Brains
Most significantly, religion learning can only be effective and consummated if and only if the left and right brains are trained and utilized simultaneously. Brain scientists and brain spiritualists have discovered and corroborated correlation between human brains and religious wisdom. The left-brain functions deals with knowledge of conventional truth of phenomena. The right-brain function deals with the knowledge of ultimate Truth of the Principle or Absolute. Modern educational pedagogy is left-brain centred and neglects the education and training of the right-brain function. Without involving the right-brain function, non-discriminative wisdom can not be developed. The inner Heart of Man dwells in the right-brain.
Ocean and Waves
The intellectual or conceptual minds of different people or diverse races are dissimilar but the inner Heart of all people is identical. Metaphorically put, to be more exact, all minds of people of divergent creed, colour, race and belief are compared to the waves and the inner Heart is likened to the Ocean. The waves are contained in the Ocean; the Ocean contains the waves. The waves originate from the Ocean and the waves are always the integral parts of the Ocean. Likewise, the phenomenal world and the Absolute of God or Tao or Emptiness (Buddha) are correlated. We are all brothers and sisters in a human family in a cosmic community. This universality of brotherhood or sisterhood of humanity is ethnic transcendence.
Thus, contemplating daily on this bipolar relationship of waves and Ocean and discerning the same bipolar reality of the world, one can effectively actualize ethnic transcendence. Ethnic transcendence leads to cohesive unity of existence. Understanding Unity leads to understanding God or Tao or Emptiness. It can also work the other way round. When God or Tao or Emptiness is intuitively comprehended, ethnic discrimination is transcended.
All Included
Religious and ethnic discrimination is the unfortunate product of not knowing the Truth of the Lord of each faith. In truth, God, Tao, Brahman and Buddha include believers, non-believers and atheists. Nobody is excluded in the Unity of Existence of God or Tao or Emptiness. God or Tao or Emptiness (Buddha) is infinite. It includes all beings and non-beings in the infinite cosmos. Strictly put, the ultimate Truth of Hinduism is not confined only to the Hindus; Taoism not confined only to the Taoists, Buddhism not confined only to Buddhists, Christianity not confined only to Christians and Islam not confined only to Muslims only. Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam are only exoterically dissimilar but are esoterically identical. In God or Tao or Emptiness (Buddha), all races are included without exception. Advocate of ethnic politics is anti-God or anti-Tao or anti-Emptiness (Buddha). Ignorance has insulted the universality of Religion. When this communal Truth of Wisdom is discovered in inter-faith understanding , ethnic discrimination is transcended.
The Unity of Existence of the Process Reality include all without exception. All world’s religions teach the Emptiness of external forms. In other words, external forms including race or colour are illusory and unreal. Attachment to or aversion towards race or colour is spiritual ignorance if one is genuinely religious. God does not like ethnic discrimination because any form of discrimination separates one from God.
Self-cultivation
Generally, many modern religious teachers are themselves academic achievers . However, many of them are not religious self-cultivators for self-improvement. Their religious knowledge is merely intellectual or conceptual. Spiritually put, intellectual or conceptualized knowledge is only conventional truth but not the ultimate Truth. It is still directed and empowered by self-centric ego. The ultimate Truth is intuitional and insightful wisdom. It is directed and empowered by the True Self or cosmic Self. Highest knowledge of eternal Truth is esoterically and intuitively derived from Self-Realization or Gnosis. Being non-cultivators and non-spiritual achievers or Truth Knowers, such religious instructors are not adept or professionally skillful enough to instruct and guide the school students or general public to return and redeem themselves at their inner Heart. They neglect the esoteric dimension of religion which requires intensive self-cultivation or self-contemplation in order to develop spiritual insight or wisdom. Without religious insight or wisdom, ethnic transcendence is impossible.
Intensive self-cultivation or self-contemplation involves properly guided study of the religious canons or scriptures, adherent to the Precepts or Commandments or Law in practice, constant reflection upon the bipolar Truth of conventional truth and ultimate Truth, and serious participation in contemplative prayers or tranquility-insight meditation leading to Truth discernment or direct experience of Gnosis. Modern religious education emphasizes academic religious study mastering only the external ritualistic skills and moral restraints from external imposition of precepts or commandments or law. However, without distinguishing the True Self from the false self through contemplative prayer or meditation, the unsaved believers are too fallible and vulnerable to withstand the pressure of conflict of interests or the evil forces or adversities of mundane life. Without insightful wisdom, it is impossible to eliminate ethnic discrimination.
God or Emptiness
In whatever work or task undertaken, if one annihilates individuality in full co-operative unity, one brings forth the spirit of God or Tao or Emptiness. This is true practice of Dharma for the Buddhists or true submission to the Lord for the Monotheists. Whoever knows himself or herself truly knows God or Tao or Emptiness (Buddha). Consequently, the saved believers cease worshipping external forms including racial colours. This is how ethnic discrimination is transcended by religious wisdom. This is in fact the original function of religion.
Non-discrimination
Thus, metaphorically depicted, Zen masters or patriarchs discern Truth-body (Dharmakāya) in all yellow flowers; he also discerns Wisdom (Prajñā) in all bamboo trees. In fact, he penetrates the Truth of Reality in everything perceived. A Japanese entrepreneur practising Zen can discern Zen in a Japanese rock garden and QCC (Quality Control Circle) of TQM (Total Quality Management. A Shaolin monk practising Chan through his Kung-fu art of self-defense, daily labour of gardening, carrying big water baskets with pointed-cone bases, kitchen work and so forth. What they eventually develop is the perfection of wisdom known as non-discriminative wisdom through daily labour. Zen is non-discrimination wisdom of Emptiness applied mindfully and insightfully in all daily secular activities.
Zen Gnostics do not perceive Chinese as Chinese; Japanese as Japanese ; Indians and Indians. He perceives everyone as Mr. Five Aggregates or Mr. Emptiness or Mr. Non-self. Beautifully, he does not even grasp upon the Five Aggregates or Emptiness or Non-Self. A genuine Zen achiever rejects ethnic discrimination. Racial colour is self-nature or intrinsic nature (svabhāva). Emptiness (‘Sūnyatā) negates the existence of self-nature (niḥsvabhāva). Mr. Emptiness is raceless.
The communal tenet of all world’s religions is the message of non-discrimination. The wise perception of non-discrimination is the Truth discernment of Unity underlying the multiplicity. Multiplicity of forms is the perception of discrimination. Religion teaches us that we should not worship multiplicity of forms because it is ultimately illusory and unreal. However, the Supreme Masters do not recommend the denial or rejection of multiplicity of forms even though it is illusory and unreal. It is human concepts and languages that create the divergent forms and notions of multiplicity. Originally, there is non-Being of Unity of Existence. Owing to human false substantial view of ontology creating the erroneous imagination of the unreal, the concepts and designations of multiplicity have been mentally fabricated. Consequently, the ordinary worldlings perceive myriad things or beings of inherent existence. In actuality, there is oneness of the world ultimately. The worldlings see multiplicity; the saints see Unity.
Languages and Concepts
Pragmatically put, the early human beings were intelligent as well as creative to conceptualize and create diverse languages to designate them. The original purpose of concepts and languages is to facilitate human intercommunications in social as well as business intercourses. Unfortunately, these concepts and linguistic designations generate undesirable side-effects. The linguistic expressions of these reified substantial existents defile the human minds by engendering either attachment and aversion. Attachment evokes greed and aversion generates hatred or anger. The whole mass of human vexation and anguish or suffering is arisen from greed and hatred. Greed and hatred are rooted in delusion by the illusory multiplicity of the empirical world.
All Supreme Masters expound that the multiplicity is unreal and only Unity is real. However, the Supreme Masters never admonish us to reject languages and concepts or multiplicity. They advise us to employ the languages and concepts as skillful means to express our thoughts and feelings so that necessary and lucid human intercommunications are effected. Man can not live without intercommunications. Whoever perceives the Emptiness of languages and concepts transcends all forms of distinctions including ethnic distinctions .
Languages and concepts can not be rejected as they are highly pragmatic. Tathāgatas or Prophets advise us to employ them without attachment and aversion. We should utilize them equanimouly without superimposing the illusory self-centric ego. The sole function of religion to train us to see the illusiveness and unreality of languages and concepts so that they will not evoke the arising of the self-centric ego in us. Self-centric ego is the root of ethnic discrimination. ‘Sākyamuni Buddha promulgates that the five aggregates are empty of self-identities. Since form (rūpa) is empty, racial colour is also empty. The wisdom of Emptiness eliminates object reification and mental obsession aroused by racial colour. Consequently, the appeasement of mental obsession with racial colour leads to appeasement of the human mind leading to ethnic transcendence. This is the pragmatic function of religious wisdom of right view.
Race or Colour
The word ‘Race’ or ‘Colour’ is merely a concept expressed by a linguistic item. It is a part of the illusive and unreal multiplicity. Discriminative view against any race other than one’s race is alienation from God or Tao or Emptiness. However, without the knowledge of the ultimate Truth of God, Brahman or Tao or Buddha, the mention of a particular race or colour before different ethnic groups can evoke either attachment or aversion. When the group of attachment and the group of aversion are confronting one another, that confrontation can erupt into ethnic tension or even ethnic conflict. Religious training and wisdom appease our minds so that we are neither attached nor averse but stay equanimous. When one is equanimous, the humane sides of humanism, such as lovingkindness, compassion and appreciative joy are non-discriminatvely radiated to or exercised towards others through the wisdom of equanimity .
Conclusion
In religion, one’s neighbour is one who is other than one’s family members. Strangers, associates, colleagues, teammates and friends are our neighbours who associate with us socially and occupationally. Non-discriminate love of neighbour is only possible when one loves God or Tao or Emptiness. To love God or Tao or Emptiness, one must intuitively discern the eternal Truth of God or Tao or Emptiness. True religion is not blind love. It is love ensued from wisdom of knowing the eternal Truth or the Lord. Without knowing the eternal Truth of God or Tao or Emptiness, one can not love the neighbour non-discriminatively.
Likewise, Buddhistly put, without development of wisdom, it is not possible for a Buddhist to treat others with boundless lovingkindness, compassion and appreciative joy supported by boundless equanimity. Monotheistic doctrine of the love of God and the love of neighbour is parallel to the Buddhist doctrine of equanimous Wisdom and great compassion. Equanimous wisdom of Emptiness or the knowledge of God or Brahman is the most effective weapon to destroy all forms of discrimination or duality including ethnic distinction or discrimination. If discrimination of the multiplicity of forms is not annihilated, one would not know God or Tao or Emptiness. God or Tao or Emptiness is Unity or Non-duality. In Unity or Non-duality, discrimination has no place. Whoever sees racial colour or any form of discrimination can not discern God, Tao or Emptiness.
The End |
