What
Buddhists Believe
Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Thera
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Changing
of Religious Label Before Death
Merely to believe that there is
someone to wash away our sins without suppressing our evil state of
mind, is not in accordance with the Teachings of the Buddha.
Very often we
come across cases of people who change their religion at the last moment
when they are about to die. By embracing another religion, some people are
under the mistaken belief that they can 'wash away their sins' and gain an
easy passage to heaven. They also hope to ensure themselves a simple and
better burial. For people who have been living a whole life-time with a
particular religion, to suddenly embrace a religion which is totally new
and unfamiliar and to expect an immediate salvation through their new
faith is indeed very far-fetched. This is only a dream. Some people are
even known to have been converted into another faith when they are in a
state of unconsciousness and in come cases, even posthumously. Those who
are over zealous and crazy about converting others into their faith, have
misled uneducated people into believing that theirs is the one and only
faith with an easy method or short-cut to heaven. If people are led to
believe that there is someone sitting somewhere up there who can wash away
all the sins committed during a life-time, then this belief will only
encourage others to commit evil.
According to the Teachings
of the Buddha there is no such belief that there is someone who can wash
away sins. It is only when people sincerely realize that what they are
doing are wrong and after having realized this, try to mend their ways and
do good that they can suppress or counter the bad reactions that would
accrue to them for the evil they had committed.
It has become a
common sight in many hospitals to see purveyors of some religions hovering
around the patients promising them 'life after death'. This is exploiting
the basic ignorance and psychological fear of the patients. If they really
want to help, then they must be able to work the 'miracles' they so
proudly claim lies in their holy books. If they can work miracles, we will
not need hospitals. Buddhists must never become victims to these people.
They must learn the basic teachings of their noble religion which tells
them that all suffering is the basic lot of mankind. The only way to end
suffering is by purifying the mind. The individual creates his own
suffering and it is he alone who can end it. One cannot hope to eradicate
the consequences of one's evil actions simply by changing one's religious
label at the door-step of death.
A dying man's
destiny in his next life depends on the last thoughts which appear to him
according to the good and bad kamma he had accumulated during his
current lifetime, irrespective of what type of religious label he prefers
to do himself at the last moment.
-ooOoo-
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Source: Buddhist
Study and Practice Group, http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Clubs/buddhism/
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Layout: Chan Duc - Nguyen Thao
Update : 01-11-2002
