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Baháʼí Faith and Buddhism

{{Short description|Teachings of the Baháʼí Faith regarding Buddhism}}

{{Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion}}

{{Third-party|date=October 2021}}

The teachings of the Baháʼí Faith regard Buddhism as a religion founded by a Manifestation of God, and Baháʼu'lláh as the expected Maitreya Buddha.Momen, Moojan (1985). [https://bahai-library.com/momen_encyclopedia_buddhism Buddhism and the Bahá'í Faith]. The authenticity of the current canon of Buddhist scriptures is seen as uncertain. In recent years there has been an increase in the number of Baháʼís from Buddhist background.{{cite encyclopedia |last= Smith |first= Peter |encyclopedia= A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title= Buddhism |year= 2000 |publisher= Oneworld Publications |location= Oxford |isbn= 1-85168-184-1 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit/page/95 95–96] |url= https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit/page/95 }}

Baháʼí scholarship

The differences between religious concepts in Buddhism and the Abrahamic religions has caused questions for Baháʼí scholarship. Jamshed Fozdar presents the Buddhist teaching about an unknowable reality as referring to the concept of God, for example in the following passage from the Udana (v.81) in the Khuddaka Nikaya: "There is, O monks, an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. Were there not, O monks, this Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, there would be no escape from the world of the born, originated, created, formed. Since, O monks, there is an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, therefore there is an escape from the born, originated, created, formed."{{Harvnb|Fozdar|1995|pp=133}}

Baháʼí scholar Moojan Momen argues that there are many similarities between the ethical teachings in Theravada Buddhism and the Baháʼí Faith, and that the apparent metaphysical differences originate from culture-bound terminologies.{{Harvnb|Momen|1988|pp=185–217}}{{Harvnb|Momen|1994}} Momen further argues that the Baháʼí teachings uphold all parts of the Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right aim or right-mindedness, right speech, right action, right living or livelihood, right effort or endeavour, right mindfulness and right contemplation.{{Harvnb|Momen|1994|pp=5}}

See also

References

{{reflist}}

  • {{cite book |last = Fozdar |first = Jamshed K. |orig-year = 1973 |year = 1995 |title = The God of Buddha |publisher = Casa Editrice Baháʼí Srl |location = Ariccia (RM), Italy |isbn = 88-7214-031-5 |ol = 24300363M }}
  • {{Cite book |last = Momen |first = Moojan|author-link = Moojan Momen |year = 1994 |title = Buddhism and the Baháʼí Faith |publisher = George Ronald |place = Oxford, UK |isbn = 0-85398-384-4 }} (short version of this title [http://bahai-library.com/momen_encyclopedia_buddhism here]).
  • {{cite book | last =Momen | first = Moojan |author-link = Moojan Momen |year = 1988 | title = Studies in the Bábí and Baháʼí Religions vol. 5, chapter: A Basis For Baháʼí Metaphysics | publisher = Kalimat Press | pages = 185–217 | url = http://bahai-library.com/momen_relativism_bahai_metaphysics | isbn = 0-933770-72-3 }}

Further reading

  • Buck, Christopher (1980). [http://bahai-library.com/buck_mystery_sworded_warrior The Mystery of the Sworded Warrior in Hindu Apocalypse: Was Kalki Visnuyas Baháʼu'lláh?].
  • {{cite book|title=Studies in Modern Religions, Religious Movements and the Bābī-Bahā'ī Faiths|editor-last =Sharon | editor-first = Moshe|chapter=The eschatology of Globalization: The multiple-messiahship of Bahā'u'llāh revisited|first= Christopher | last = Buck|isbn=90-04-13904-4|pages=143–178|location=Boston | publisher = Brill|year=2004|url= http://bahai-library.com/buck_eschatology_globalization}}
  • Cole, Juan (1996). [https://bahai-library.com/cole_commentary_knoweth_himself A Zen Gloss on Baha'u'llah's Commentary on "He who knoweth his self knoweth his Lord"].
  • Conner, Daniel. [https://bahai.works/World_Order/Series2/Volume_6/Issue_2 Buddhism and the Bahá'í Faith]. World Order, Series 2, Volume 6: Issue 2. Winter 1971.
  • Faber, Roland (2017). [http://bahai-library.com/faber_bahaullah_luminous_mind Baháʼu'lláh and the Luminous Mind: Baháʼí Gloss on a Buddhist Puzzle], in Lights of Irfan 18.
  • {{cite book |last = Fozdar |first = Jamshed K. |year = 1976 |title = Buddha Maitrya-Amitabha Has Appeared |publisher = Baháʼí Publishing Trust |location = New Delhi, India |isbn = 81-85091-83-8}}
  • Kluge, Ian. (2006). [http://irfancolloquia.org/pdf/lights8_kluge.pdf Buddhism and the Baháʼí Writings: An Ontological Rapprochement].
  • Kluge, Ian. (2013). [http://bahai-library.com/kluge_buddhist_doctrine_emptiness The Baháʼí Writings and the Buddhist Doctrine of Emptiness: An Initial Survey].
  • {{Cite book | last = Sours | first = Michael | title = Without Syllable or Sound: The World's Sacred Scriptures in the Baháʼí Faith | chapter = Hindu and Buddhist Scripture in Baháʼí Scripture | publisher = Kalimat Press | location = Los Angeles, United States | isbn = 1-890688-06-1 | year = 2000 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PWcBYX64PowC }}

External links

  • ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi. [http://bahai-library.com/compilation_buddha_krishna_zoroaster Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster and Related Subjects], compiled by Research Department of the Universal House of Justice.
  • [https://www.bic.org/statements/common-goal-universal-peace-buddhism-and-bahai-faith BIC Statement: The Common Goal of Universal Peace in Buddhism and the Baha'i Faith] (1990)
  • [https://bahaiteachings.org/new-maitreya-buddha/ Article about Maitreya Buddha], by Christopher Buck
  • [http://prophecy-fulfilled.com/#buddha Prophecy Fulfilled: Buddhist Prophecies]

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