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BSPG News and Meeting (No. 197)
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Edited by Stony Brook Buddhism Study and Practice Group

Meeting
Thursday, 10/10/2002, 7pm to 8:30pm
Room 311, Student Activities Center
Please be on time!

Words from the Suttas/Sutras
"Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world:
 A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;
 A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
 A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream."
                               -- The Dismond Sutra

Quote of the Week
"All religions are like different cars all moving in the same direction. People who don't see it have no light in their hearts." -- Ajahn Chah

Book Review: The Battle for God by Karen Armstrong
By G.J.

That tragic morning, when the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center collapsed, the question of religious fundamentalism and terrorism became the hottest and most persistent news topic. I remember that for months, hardly a day passed by without having encountered numerous reports in the news media regarding these issues. Yet, something was missing in most of these news reports. Most portrayed an over-simplified picture of these very complex historical events and focused overwhelmingly on building a case against the perceived enemy. As we tried to come to terms with the turmoil and aftershocks of this seemingly inconceivable act of destruction, the over-simplified picture provided a sense of certainty that many would hold on to like a life-buoy in a stormy sea. Beyond the sound-bites of the mass media were to emerge a whole array of books which attempted to provide a deeper understanding of what happened. But the gem among this genre had been written long before the tragic events occurred. In fact, more than one and a half years before September 11, 2001, Karen Armstrong, a renowned British religious scholar had already published a book which the New York Times Book Review hailed as "One of the most penetrating, readable, and prescient accounts to date of the rise of the fundamentalist movements in Judasim, Christianity, and Islam." Indeed, Karen Armstrong succeeded brilliantly in providing a revealing, and compassionate narration that places these events in the historical context of human struggle against the inexorable current of change.

The Battle for God revolves around two themes. The first is the theses of mythos and logos, the two ways that human beings acquire knowledge and understand the world in which they live. Mythos is metaphysical, it is a mystical and mythological mode that relates the unknown and the supernatural to events which could not be understood rationally or by reason alone. It is that which endows an ultimate meaning to the question of existence. Logos is logical and rational. It is the engine of scientific inquiry and the basis of practical progress.

The second theme is social change and upheaval, and how human beings respond and react to them. Armstrong uses a whole series of historical events to demonstrate how the rapid current of change brought about dislocations in the abilities of people to adapt to these changes. As a result of perceived or real oppressions, alienation, a sense of hopelessness, and fear of annihilation, many turned towards a literal interpretation of the mythos. She argues that attempts to implement such a literal reading of the mythos, which are the hallmarks of fundamentalist movements, often led to disastrous outcomes. When mythos infringes on what could and should only be handled by logos, irrationality and extremity became the norm. Such an interpretation was the source of militant fundamentalism, especially when a large segment of a traditional society perceives that the survival of their core belief is at stake. Not only did Armstrong succeed in giving us the historical-cultural contexts of these movements, she also succeeded in placing the readers in the perspectives of the fundamentalists.

As practicing Buddhists, what insights can we gain from this book? How can we use the information in our practices aside from the apparent historical understanding? First of all, it provides a wonderful and much needed reading of other religions, especially Islam. It points out the lofty values in other religions which people may tend to brush aside when fundamentalist movements dominate the media space. By giving us an objective account of how others struggled to come to terms with existential issues, we can better appreciate the oneness of human nature. This book thus gives our aspirations to universal compassion a more solid footing and foundation.

It is also an important resource for those who are engaging in cross-cultural and inter-religious interactions, dialogues, and understanding. Oftentimes, we interpret other faiths and complex historical events in a simplistic and somewhat naive manner. Such a simplistic interpretation will not engender true understanding and reconciliation.

Moreover, it provides a framework for us to examine our own beliefs on the one hand, and how we face and react to changes in our lives and environments on the other. Do we have the tendency to behave as the fundamentalists do when facing existential crisis in our lives? How do we perceive our own religious practice? What is its purpose? What is the relationship of intuition and reason in our practice? How do we approach modernity and adapt to the current of change without losing touch with the very values that inform our practice? Do we become overly cynical towards progresses and modernization? How do we attain that elusive balance which will enable us to live fully as a human being? How do we maintain equanimity and a positive outlook in the face of disaster and difficulties? Ultimately, what is enlightenment?

It is interesting to quote Master Sheng-yen that enlightenment is not merely a conceptual knowledge, it is not simply an experience, and it is not mystical; rather, it is the attitude of selflessness or no-self. This is something that we may consider when examining these questions that may arise in reading the book.

To end, it's only fitting to quote from the very last paragraph of the book: "If fundamentalists must evolve a more compassionate assessment of their enemies in order to be true to their religious traditions, secularists must also be more faithful to the benevolence, tolerance, and respect for humanity which characterizes modern culture at its best, and address themselves more emphatically to the fears, anxieties, and needs which so many of their fundamentalist neighbors experience but which no society can safely ignore."

Happy reading.

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