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13. May
2005: Toward a New Era of Dialogue: Humanism Explored
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Shin Yatomi
SGI-USA
Study department leader
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The
basis for the kind of dialogue required in the twenty-first
century must be humanism--one that sees good in
that which unites and brings us together, evil in
that which divides and sunders us.
The controversy between the members of the SGI and
the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood embodies a movement
for religious reform that is at its heart the struggle
of humanism against anti-humanism. |
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Followings are excerpts from SGI President’s
2005 Peace Proposal:
Toward a New Era of Dialogue:
Humanism Explored
Seeking to look beyond national and ideological differences,
I have engaged in dialogue with leaders in various fields
from throughout the world. I have met and shared thoughts
with people of many different philosophical, cultural
and religious backgrounds, including Judaism, Christianity,
Islam, Hinduism and Confucianism. My consistent belief,
reinforced through this experience, is that the basis
for the kind of dialogue required in the twenty-first
century must be humanism--one that sees good in that which
unites and brings us together, evil in that which divides
and sunders us.
As I review my own efforts to foster dialogue in this
way, I gain a renewed sense of the urgent need to redirect
the energies of dogmatism and fanaticism--the cause of
so much deadly conflict--toward a more humanistic outlook.
In a world rent by terrorism and retaliatory strikes,
by conflicts premised on ethnic and religious differences,
such an attempt may appear to some a hopeless quest. But
even so I believe that we must continue to make efforts
toward this goal.
The real essence and practice of humanism is found in
heartfelt, one-to-one dialogue.
As ripples of dialogue multiply and spread, they have
the potential to generate the kind of sea change that
will redirect the forces of fanaticism and dogmatism.
The cumulative effect of such seemingly small efforts
is, I believe, sufficient to redirect the current of the
times.
What is crucial is the hard and patient work of challenging,
through the spiritual struggle of intense encounter and
dialogue, the assumptions and attachments that bind and
drive people.
Buddhism, though often thought to be relatively immune
to such extremism, is by no means entirely free from its
snares.
In the Buddhist scriptures we find these words: Shakyamuni
taught that the shallow is easy to embrace, but the profound
is difficult. To discard the shallow and seek the profound
is the way of a person of courage. People seem too easily
to lose sight of and forget their own capacity for courage,
to cling and become captive to a particular dogma. We
seem to possess an instinctive weakness that drives us
to the shallow and easy choice of unquestioning, blind
belief in dogma.
There the snares of extremism await, ready to take advantage
of the weakness and folly that are found in all people,
where pandering and other stratagems are used to stir
up such destructive tendencies as hatred, fury, jealousy
and arrogance. This kind of dogmatism works to degrade,
weaken and stultify the human spirit. It stands at the
opposite pole to humanism.
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What are the examples of extremism
in Buddhism and how it affects your daily life? |
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In terms of religious dogma,
how will you explain to your friend about the controversy
between the members of the SGI and the Nichiren
Shoshu priesthood ? |
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The controversy between the members of the SGI and the
Nichiren Shoshu priesthood that flared up in 1990 is a
case in point. In its essence a struggle against the perils
of religious authoritarianism, it embodies a movement
for religious reform that is at its heart the struggle
of humanism against anti-humanism. Hiding behind their
assumed authority as priests, the Nichiren Shoshu establishment
sought to blind others to their corruption and degradation,
and to crush and oppress the spirits of lay believers.
This indeed represents the worst form of anti-humanism.
For the members of the SGI, to have allowed ourselves
to be cowed and defeated by this would have been to surrender
our humanity. The implications of this controversy go
beyond the scope of a single school of Buddhism. Rooted
in the universal spirit of human dignity--that which we
feel to be human--we believe it would be a disservice
to humanity if we were to retreat on this issue.
When the priesthood issue first arose, the educator Taro
Hori (1920--95) (at the time president of Newton College,
Shiga) offered this analysis: This represents a challenge
to the authoritarianism and supplicant faith lurking in
each person's heart. By overcoming this, each member [of
the SGI] will grow and develop to an astonishing degree.
In the years since this issue first surfaced, through
our struggles against corrupt religious authority, members
of the SGI have, both as individuals and as an organization,
outgrown the restraints of our past selves, strengthening
and tempering the hearts of the courageous. It is something
of which I believe we can be justly proud. This pride
stems from the confidence that our struggle ties into
the larger challenge--inherent in the nature of civilization
itself--of constructing a genuine and robust humanism.
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