“Interfaith Issues for Global Mennonites and Brethren in Christ”

Mennonite World Conference Workshops, July 2015
With Youth at Messiah College and with Adults near Harrisburg, Pa.

Introduction to Interfaith Issues

During this workshop we will talk about religions. We will look distinctly at three Asian religions—Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh. Religion is a very personal matter; it expresses a way to be. Religio means “to bind”; religions are meant to bring people together. Each adherent knows about her or his own faith—its past strengths and errors. Each conveys how religion gives meaning for personal life. To talk with other Christians—Protestant, Roman Catholic or Orthodox—is INTRA religious exchange. To heal intrafaith conflict, calls us to respect, listen, avoid demonization, confess and forgive, discern, and serve together. To converse with people of other living faiths or world religions is INTER religious exchange. As we Christians today honor and take seriously people loyal to Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh faiths we do not mean to value Judaism and Islam, Shinto, Tao or Parsi insight less. I value where religious pluralism exists, where multi faiths daily live together, where Christianity is less prominent but valued for what it offers. I have lived in India multiple times where about 3% of the population is Christian.

We as Christians have a strong Jewish base. Our mentor Jesus valued his Jewish heritage which he hoped to reform. Christianity would not exist without Judaism. But few of us live daily alongside Jewish believers. We hardly recognize their scrolls or sub groups like Orthodox and Reformed. Whether as an active resistor of injustice or through my claim to the One universal God of varied names, I believe that Jesus taught through parables and direct action about God’s Way of welcome. Jesus ever-pointed a way to God who includes other Ways into a broad kin-dom of faithful followers. Jesus best conveys for me what God is like or how God cares for all people. Yet, I expect to learn from people loyal to other living faiths what gives them meaning, how their terms for the Being whom I call Creator, Yahweh or God might be Allah, Krishna, or Guru Granth Sahib.

Then together we who are committed to diverse religions choose to work toward a safer, more just world. The loyal Hindu Gandhi stated: “We should, by living the life according to our lights, share the best with one another, thus adding to the sum total of human effort to reach God.” Each religion reveals Truth; no one faith group has a monopoly of it. To expect people of other religions to share their Truth helps it to happen. In that process our measure of Christianity’s Truth grows.

I believe that the One God created and values difference. Consider the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9). Those of a dominant language and symbolic tower were intent to control all, to compete with God even. Valuing difference, God scatters their united but false power over the face of the earth. Then, the Spirit of Pentecost (Acts 2) brought scattered voices together; people understood one another. Unity returns through verbal exchange, through God’s gift of difference, with no intent for one to dominate.

Difference is to be welcomed not feared, fear known as xenophobia. Difference is good: of language, race, nation, sex and religion. Religious pluralism reflects God’s will to save all. I am not God so I try not to limit the paths or expressions of grace by which the Divine cares for people. Not needing to judge another’s path, since I am not on it, I trust God to know all religious journeys. I try not to determine or limit God’s power and Wisdom to judge people of living faiths. At Hindu temples in India, I observed without trying to intrude. Rather than judge what I failed to fully understand, I pondered: Why did they tap a bell on arriving to worship? Why did they ‘baptize’ an image with milk or honor holy men clad in ashes? Recall too that religions much older than Christianity taught what we call “the Golden Rule.” Hinduism counseled “Do not to another what is disagreeable to yourself.” While Judaism affirmed “What is hateful to you, do not to [another],” Buddhism taught “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find harmful.” Learning about other religions involves claiming what is common as seriously as what differs among us.

To engage with people of other religions requires being truly informed about them. I offer a measure of such information here. Being alert to possible types of exchange across religious borders matters. Not meant to promote Syncretism, which compromises beliefs on combining then from two religions, or Synthesis, which combines parts to make a whole, we encourage Symbiosis, where people with different views teach each other features of faith. I wonder why we fear worship alongside a neighbor or stranger whose rituals differ. Do we aspire to limit God to hearing one faith, ours only?

Let’s think about difference, sameness and diversity. “To know one religion is to know none” was stated long ago by German Max Muller who knew a great deal about world religions. A wise approach to religion will find our being “religious interreligiously.” That approach avoids arrogant or unfair, negative attitudes toward others. It encourages our saying “Explain what has meaning for you; let’s teach each other.” It combines personal conviction with genuine openness to another’s belief. It expresses or confesses what you believe in a way that invites a hearer to listen and learn. It means to be informed about others’ scriptures, rituals, stories, and worship patterns. Unity does not mean sameness; it emerges through God’s gift of honoring difference. We Mennonites do not only duplicate beliefs or actions; we retain what differs among us while learning and exchanging our variations.

Preliminary Introduction to three Asian religions

I first highlight a few ideas from Mennonite writers in my self-published book of 2015 titled Mennonites Encounter Hinduism: An Annotated Bibliography. (Abbreviations refer to General Conference, Mennonite Brethren, or Mennonite Church Mennonites.)

Hinduism

Edmund Kaufman (GC) –notes about Hinduism: It has no founder; some of what became Hindu segments came with Aryan invaders into India. (145-46)

I.P. Asheervadam (MB) states how Hinduism grew and that beliefs shifted over five thousand years. Major caste groups plus hundreds of sub-castes caused inequality among Hindus. (78)

Santos Raj (MB) states important Hindu ideas: All religions and faiths journey toward the same God. All ideas reflect partial Truth. Karma refers to a person’s recurring cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (reincarnation) depending on merit gained during a lifetime until released or liberated into oneness with Brahman. (104)

Paul Hiebert (MB) notes three Hindu paths (known as marga) that may lead to God: 1. Karma – path of duty or action (as through offerings, pilgrimage, rituals); 2. Bhakti – path of total devotion or worship; and 3. Jnana (disciplined way of wisdom or knowledge that leads toward enlightenment or inner oneness with God. (140)

Shantkumar Kunjam (MC) explains how Gandhi’s service to common people expressed his sole longing or purpose to meet or merge with God face to face. (68).

Hear more details. Hindus may know awe in expressing OM-M-M or Vac (spoken word), divine energy in steps of sacred dance, or a presiding power in the innermost heart of a Hindu temple. In such, they convey a deep sense of the holy. As we value other religions, holding as sacred what each marks in a distinct way, we learn more of Divine Mystery. In learning, we move toward more wholeness (salvation). Hearing a Hindu friend express intent to pray for me or a given circumstance, I know that goddess Durga may be called on or that a holy Amma figure may hear the details. Power beyond the routine—as with Sophia or shakti—will engage time or place between us. My friend in turn may absorb a measure of trust in the Divine as I grace a group meal. Together we each honor the sacred in the other. She knows something of my conviction that Jesus’ life best informs me of the Divine, and I trust her when learning truth from her sacred stories. We move toward unity since each knows enough about the other to trust the One, Ultimate God.

Regarding Buddhism we briefly compare religion founder Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) with Jesus. Both religions emerged out of former ones, Hinduism and Judaism. Both founders were born without a human father. (Further, Siddharth’s mother died seven days after giving birth.) Siddharth married a noble woman with whom a son Rahula was born. After seeing sights of disease, decrepitude, death, and a wandering ascetic, Siddharth heard a call: “Awake! Arise, and help the World!” Soon he left his wife and child to take on a holy man’s saffron robe.

Both Buddha and Jesus were temped, Jesus before adult baptism and Buddha before enlightenment. Known for teaching, both had a noted sermon: Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and Buddha’s Sermon in the Deer Park. Both performed nature and healing miracles, were known by multiple names, and had a strong sense of mission. Both taught: Jesus for three years, dying in his early 30s. Buddha traveled and taught (known as the “wheel of dharma”) for 40 years and died at age 80. After passing through four stages of trance, he is presumed to have attained Nirvana—release or ’heaven.’ Both left instructions, Jesus predicted the coming of a Holy Spirit to guide believers while Buddha anticipated potential Buddhahood for all.

Christians and Buddhists can enrich each other. A Christian might note how very attached to things she is and decide to change. She might examine the Fourfold Truths and ponder anew her neighbor’s suffering. A Buddhist might show devotion to Jesus in addition to Buddha, even though he engages more fully in Buddhist teaching and practice. Sri Lankan Christian Aloysius Pieris notes three levels of religion: 1. Its core experience such as the Jesus story or Buddha’s enlightenment. 2. Collective memory, or the medium used like story, liturgy, or leadership. 3. Interpretation—how followers through time explain the core event. Although religions differ, that fact need not cause conflict. As Buddha awakened into enlightenment, Jesus showed love through the cross. Neither channel is superior; either can lead to salvation (wholeness) or nirvana.

His Holiness the current Buddhist leader and Dalai Lama, was born as Tenzin Gyatso on July 6, 1935. When two, he was recognized as the 14^th in line of Dalai Lamas which title means “ocean of wisdom.” The Dalai Lama has stated that one means to work toward harmony among world religions is for people loyal to different religions to “go on pilgrimages together to visit one another’s holy places.”1 His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Good Heart A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus. Boston: Wisdom Publica.s, 1996, 40. ↑

Third, we look briefly into Sikhism. Sikhism means disciple. Guru Nanak founded the religion in the 1520s. Nine consecutive gurus led the group before the 10^th named Guru Gobind Singh. Late in the 1690s he declared the Sikh community to be known as Khalsa (pure) order, as people accountable to God. Then the Sikh scripture was elevated to the status of Guru Granth which means guru in book form. Not printed until 1865, the text, called Guru Granth Saheb, and script are believed to be sacred; Punjabi is the language of scripture. Five prime symbols for Sikh men to ever-have are unshorn hair, wooden comb, steel bracelet (kirpan) small sword, and shorts.

Distinct details further introduce this religion. The Sikh place of worship is called the Gurdwara. All who attend remove their shoes and cover their heads with a triangular cloth piece. Members on entering the worship space bow to their knees to the Guru, the text. After Sunday worship and daily through the week a meal called langar is shared. Families or by a planned scheme, members will have prepared the meal. They then serve it to all seated in long rows on the floor. Amrit (holy nectar) is accepted at a member’s time of baptism; no particular age determines that rite. Sikhs believe in One Supreme, Eternal, Creator God. Important principles to live by include tolerance, morality, honest living, service, and surrender to God. Sikhs, Jews, Muslims and Christians do not form images of God

Personal photos were shown to those attending workshops on a power point to further introduce these three religions.

“Holy chaos” that engulfs the most sacred Hindu city of Banaras by the Ganges River

Watching an image maker at his craft before entering sacred space in temples

“OM or Aum” the mantra of sound vital to Hinduism

Tree located in Bodh Gaya (India) like under which Buddha received enlightenment

Caves at Ajunta contain centuries of Buddhist images and history

Buddhist prayer wheels (with messages inside) circling a temple’s exterior in Nepal

Buddhist worship places in the US include multiple visuals

Most holy Sikh Golden Temple at Amritsar, Punjab in India

Sikh Guru Granth Sahib (scripture); text serves as their living Guru

Sikhs eating meal (langar) following Sunday morning worship at Gurdwara

Interfaith Worship features:

Candles and circles are universal religious symbols; they suggest equity, unity and solidarity. Silence, a universal spiritual practice, also suggests unity without sameness. Spirit, present in most religions, conveys Divine mystery transcending creeds and language. Some features of worship can be practiced with host people: to remove shoes, cover head, receive prasad (small bite of food). Multi-faith gatherings in which members of each faith in turn offer prayer, a reading, or devotional song express gift-giving. Distinct features of a religion like music or liturgy are retained without negation of any segment. The universal spiritual practice of silence suggests unity, not sameness. To observe others’ patterns of worship without judgment, especially if another’s meaning or intent with rituals is not known, allows a guest to engage silently with God as personally known. The Ultimate God receives and assesses what each person offers.

Hindus worship more often as individuals rather than a group, whether in a temple or at a home altar. We honor the sacred in each other as we each trust the One, Ultimate God. To greet another with “Nameste” (hands pressed together in front of one’s chest or face) expresses “I honor God within you.” When my Hindu friend credited her Source of Wisdom, Amma, for enabling her to find a missing cousin, I valued her religious integrity and gained new insight into Divine breadth.

While Muslims do not image God in any form, Hindus speak of many gods known in diverse forms but actually mean the same Ultimate One. Retired Harvard professor Diana Eck sees objects, names, and images as the lens for meeting the Ultimate. She studied religions in India for seven years, learning that oneness and manyness are not opposites. While some western folk get “lost” seeing the array of god or goddess forms, Eck sees in that diversity Wisdom. “If something is important, it is important enough to be repeated, seen from many angles.”2 Diana L. Eck. Encountering God A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras. Boston: Beacon Pr., 1993, 60. ↑ In India, life is plural: “Diversity unites rather than divides.” The unity of India “is not unity or sameness, but interrelatedness and diversity.”3 Diana L. Eck. Darsan Seeing the Divine Image in India. Chambersburg, PA: Amina Books, Second Revised and Enlarged Ed., 1985, 25. ↑ For a Hindu consciousness reveals a person’s ability to hold two viewpoints at once—Seeing many god forms, there is One. “Truth is One; the wise call it by many names.” (Rig Veda)

Buddhists believe that suffering occurs from being attached to things. They express reverence for three main features or Jewels: Teacher/Buddha, teaching/Dharma, and community/Sangha. Buddhism, a nontheistic religion, “single-pointedly entrusts one’s spiritual well-being to those three objects of refuge.”4 His Holiness the Dalai Lama, 74. ↑ Buddha warned that those who fail to produce compassion (karuna) lack wisdom (prajna).

Most Buddhists daily recite or pray. They might circle a stupa that presumes to hold a sacred relic, roll prayer wheels (recorded prayers within) while repeatedly circling a temple, or duly honor a monk who performs ritual acts on their behalf. They might utilize a seven-fold structure in prayer: salutation (to welcome the Buddha), offering and worship, confession and repentance, rejoicing in good done by others, request specific teaching, express value for bodhisattvas (those who help others to gain enlightenment), and dedicate merit done.

The most noted Buddhist leader is His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama. Another well-known Buddhist who has written a number of books is named Thich Nhat Hanh. When he, a Vietnamese monk, was barred from returning home due to his peace activism, he founded Plum Village in France, a center for the practice of mindfulness. Mindfulness reflects deep consciousness of the self in the present moment—a gateway to enlightenment. Teaching suggests that to be is to inter-be (meaning that we are responsible for others).

The Sikh’s Golden Temple is located at Amritsar, in the state of Punjab in India. Many people arrive daily to the array of buildings, where in addition to long human lines waiting to enter the Golden Temple, the text is being read, people enter water for healing, religious history is told. On arriving for worship in a gurdwara, people remove shoes, cover their heads, bow (down to knees) before the scripture (Guru Granth Sahib), and give offering before sitting on the floor, women and men on separate sides of the hall. Scripture reading and explaining is central to worship; musicians with tabla and harmonium assist; after closing prayer (Ardas), all enter a room to sit in long lines on mats on the floor to be served newly prepared rice, curry and chai (called langar).

The Divine – Theology—the study of God—is like writing poetry suggests British writer Karen Armstrong. It attempts to express what cannot fully be expressed. While many Christians call what transcends us God, others use names like Allah, or Brahman. Buddhists yearn for profound emptiness—not being attached to anything—to give life meaning and avoid suffering. As Christianity speaks of the Trinity God, Jesus, and Spirit, each with multiple names like Wisdom or Sophia for Spirit, Hinduism honors a Trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva of diverse forms and names. A term that I’ve created for Spirit, for active being within diverse, religious ways, is Shekshakshen. This movement or sound conveys the energy or force or Wisdom that exudes the cosmos. Shek stems from Jewish Shekinah, shak from shakti in Hindu thought, and shen from Tao insight into Divine compassion or “being at rest.” Mystery is central to thought about deity; it ever-engages all living faiths. Christians glean more of Mystery through dialogue with the Words of people loyal to other religions. Hindus have the ability to hold two viewpoints at once—Seeing many god forms, there is One, for example. Buddhists speak of a “far shore—a reality that we cannot grasp but may awaken to.”

Scripture

Hindu – “Truth is One; the wise call it by many names” is stated in the ancient Rig Veda text. The Rig Veda is one of the world’s oldest, intact religious texts; it includes over a thousand hymns. Ric means verse; Veda means knowledge. One of four Hindu books of revealed (sruti) knowledge (revelation) came directly from the gods through Rishis (great sages). Smriti is remembered scripture passed on between generations. One sacred Vedic mantra is the Gayatri; chanted at dawn or evening, a person feels released from sin. Noted rituals may be linked with the mantra “Om, Om, Om. Let us meditate on the glorious splendor of the divine light (Life-giver). May he illuminate our meditation (mind). Shanti (peace) Shanti, Shanti.” RV III.62.10 Hindu scriptures are vast including the Brahmanas (commentaries), Upanishads (mystic stories), texts for schools of philosophy, Puranas (mythology), and the two well-known epics Ramayana & Mahabharata. The Gita story, meant for all, appears in the latter. In it, Krishna (descent from God Shiva) enables young Arjuna to understand duty through bhakti or devotion.

Buddhist – The Pali canon contains the Tripitaka (meaning three baskets) of the path to enlightenment. The first basket contains discipline for monks and nuns; the second, called the Dhammapada, records Buddha’s life and sayings; and the third, known as Dharma (Truth), is taught and interpreted. Truth taught by scripture for Buddhism and Hinduism is both beginningless and eternal. Buddha’s Four Noble Truths hold firm: there is suffering (duhkka); suffering is caused by desire; the cessation of desire results in the cessation of suffering (nirvana); an eightfold path leads to the cessation of desire. Another version of that formula for practice states that suffering exists, suffering has an origin; suffering ceases, and a path leads to that cessation.5 Ibid., 168 ↑ That Path involves right Views, Aspirations, Speech, Conduct, Livelihood, Effort, Mindfulness, and Meditation. Nirvana – the release or end of rebirths – occurs through fusion of pure action or virtue and wisdom. Buddha traveled forty years teaching the Dharma or oneness of all. That process, known as “turning the wheel of dharma,” came to be a main symbol for Buddhism.

Sikh – Guru Granth Sahib (Adi Granth) – understood as the presence of eternal Guru, presides over gurdwara worship. God revealed the Word to be enshrined in the Holy Book through the 10 Gurus. Sikh founder Guru Nanak began to collect the canon hymns. It was first compiled by the 5^th Guru Arjan 1603 (providing the community with identity). The10^th Guru Gobind Singh closed the canon. Thereafter, the scripture is the Guru, whether located at a gurdwara or home. Ever-honored as with a nightly resting place and canopy overhead, worshippers (man, woman, or youth) ever-move a fan (chauri) over it during worship. A priest (kathakar) selects at random, from the top left-hand page, a text to recite and interpret, thought to be the Guru’s vak (Word) for that particular day’s worship or situation.

Discussion

• Admittedly, details about Christianity are presumed to be known among you; they are not being reviewed as much here. For each of you to explain such details would, no doubt, reveal a great deal of difference. So also, people loyal to Hindu, Buddhist, or Sikh religions would present variations from my effort.
• What might be your questions or comments from the presentation?
• I also have questions or issues to suggest for the time remaining like:

Why are fewer Protestant evangelicals involved in interreligious dialogue?

They fear “watering down” religious convictions in the process of being tolerant.

They believe that since they have the “Truth” they have little desire to listen to/learn from others

With evangelicalism they are comfortable with proclamation but ill at ease with listening.

They fear syncretism as inappropriate blending of religious traditions.

They fear interacting with those loyal to other religions—lest they become contaminated.

What Goals for Interfaith Dialogue do you recommend? (conference attended by dyn in Michigan)

• To eliminate prejudice that creates tension between members of different religions.
• To advance understanding of religions and ideologies through study, dialogue, and sharing.
• To foster appreciation for the richness of diverse religions and ideologies.
• To identify what is common and different among religions to enhance growth.
• To promote friendship and trust among people of diverse religions.

Comparison of dialogue and debate: (Educators for Social Responsibility, Boston, 1993)

Dialogue is collaborative; debate is oppositional.
In dialogue, finding common ground is the goal. In debate, winning is the goal.
In dialogue one listens to the other side(s) in order to understand, find meaning or agreement. In debate one listens to the other side in order to find flaws and counter its arguments.
Dialogue enlarges or changes a point of view; debate affirms a participant’s own point of view.
Dialogue causes introspection on one’s own position. Debate causes critique of the other position.
In dialogue, one searches for basic agreements. In debate, one searches for glaring differences.

Key Principles of Interfaith Exchange

Claim interfaith heritage.
Confess Christian view of often relating with God as particular, not universal.
Avoid being imperialistic, expecting only others to need my ‘brand’ of faith.
Learn from others and avoid negating their commitment or religious integrity.
Tell others in clear, non-arrogant language or consistent action how your faith holds meaning.
Credit contexts where multiple religions co-exist aware that neighbors believe, pray, know God.
Value dialogue breadth.
Explain scripture in ways that welcome, confessing Jesus’ way, truth and life of suffering love.
Value Jesus’ message that always pointed to God, not himself. “The only way to be Christ-centered is to be God-centered, but in a religiously plural world to be Christ-centred is not the only way to be God-centred.” – S. J. Samartha