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President’s MessageBy Rev. Koyo KuboseThere has been a broadening of interfaith activities during thepast 10-15 years. Such interfaith activity intensified even moreafter September 11, 2001. I have been involved in local interfaithactivities in various ways. I’d like to share some of my experiencesand observations. First of all, interfaith dialogue is good because people of differentreligions learn about each other. In the process, they can also clarifytheir own religiosity. Dialogue means to be willing to learn, change,and grow through listening to others. Dialogue is not just expound-ing on one’s own religion. Modern communication has made the world a small place. Noreligion exists in a vacuum; no religion is insulated or isolated withinits own society or culture. Especially in a religiously diverse coun-try like America, we need to understand our neighbors. Respecting,even valuing, differences is crucial in living together harmoniously. When talking to non-Buddhists, I try to explain that Buddhism isthe Way of Oneness: the non-dualistic reality of life beyond con-ceptual labels. I feel that the teaching/reality of non-dualism is thecore of Buddhism and is the defining characteristic that distin-guishes Buddhism from other religions. Non-dualism is a majorcontribution that Buddhism can make to the world. Understandingnon-dualism can broaden and enrich all religious traditions. Whentalking to people of other faiths, I emphasize that Buddhism alwaysgives, never takes away. Through Buddhism, one can become abetter Christian, Muslim, Jew, or even atheist. Deepening one’s spirituality through interfaith dialogue involvesgoing beyond dualistic labels such as friend-enemy, true-false, sa-cred-secular. In my talks, I give examples of the dialectic processunderlying non-dualism. Dialectics is the insight that results fromthe resolution of contradictory opposites. The reality of life is thatit is a dynamic flow. Reality is a changing process and not some-thing static and unchanging. Reality is a verb, not a noun. Wehumans often use nouns to label different aspects or expressionsof the dynamic flow of constantly changing reality. The act of label-ing or naming is a powerful way to deal with reality but namingbecomes a problem when a name becomes more “real” than thereality it refers to. For example, in the reality of life, there is no actual good or bad.Everything just is. It is we humans who according to our owncriteria label this as good and that as bad. In nature, life and deathare aspects of one flowing process. We are the ones who dualisti-cally divide reality into two, saying life is good and death is bad. Ofcourse it is only natural for we humans to value life and want toavoid death. However, with regard to what we call life and death,the problem is not death per se, but how to live. In Buddhism, weemphasize that with right understanding of truth, reality as it is, wecan live and die naturally, peacefully. In other religions, the con-cept of God is central. When talking to Christians, I express the view, which I learnedthrough interfaith dialogue, that sin is alienation from God. Originalsin is when naturalness (in the Garden of Eden) was lost becausehumans started the dualistic naming of this is “me” and that is“God.” This subject-object split is the basis of alienation. The pur-pose of religion is to restore the awareness of the oneness. In theChristian context it is to see that God is everything, not that God isthe one flowing process. To Christians I often say, “God is a verb,not a noun.” Even for one to say, “I love God,” shows the subject-object split,the separation. To really love God means that one empties oneselfof the idea or concept of God— the objectified God. In this “emp-tiness,” believer and God are one. This is sunyata or the Absolutethe Buddhist teachings of Impermanence/constant change (dy-namic flow) and Interdependency/non-self (no nouns as separatefrom each other) come from. The non-dualistic reality of oneness, the naturalness beyond sub-ject-object duality can be seen in such Biblical phrases as “becomelike children,” “consider the lilies of the field…,” and “The Kingdomof Heaven is within you.” Oneness is also expressed by Christianand the eye with which God sees me, is the same eye.” Spirituality is a matter of living a life of oneness. The emphasis isnot on what one believes in. The question, “Do you believe inGod?” reflects a dualistic subject-object split. Buddhism is not areligion that emphasizes a dogmatic belief kind of approach. Bud-dhism cannot be categorized as to whether there is a belief in Godor not; i.e. theistic or atheistic. Buddhism is not agnostic eitherbecause the “maybe” or “I don’t know” view is still based on thedualism of God-no God. In other words, Buddhism neither affirmsnor denies the existence of God. The dualism of existence-no exist-ence itself is negated. In like manner, belief in life after death, “yes or no?” does notapply in Buddhism. The Buddha rejected both the eternalism (yes)and the nihilism (no) opposites. It is misleading to say simplisti-cally that in Buddhism there is no belief in God or in an after life.There is a different way to look at these two basic questions ortopics. Buddhism emphasizes the non-dualistic Way of Oneness. Ihope my brief remarks have been helpful in giving an idea of how Ipresent Buddhism in an interfaith context. Of course I tell somejokes too. Laughter is a good expression of oneness that minimizesthe Christian-non Christian duality. I try to show that as fellowhuman beings, we share a common humanity. In my talks, I also mention that one should not get caught andvictimized by the concept of oneness either. In both the teaching ofnon-dualism and in the reality of life, one should not feel he hasarrived at a final answer or goal. Spirituality does not involve ameans-end duality. That is, one does not study, meditate, or dovarious practices (means) in order to attain enlightenment (an endgoal). Instead, the teaching is expressed non-dualistically as“means=end.” Again, we are talking about identity in one dynamicend” or “attainment-no attainment.” It is through interfaith dialogue that I learn how to express theDharma as related to other religions. Listeners are stimulated tolook deeper into their own spirituality. Through discussion, every-one is enriched. The world needs interfaith dialogue. It has beensaid that unless the world religions learn to get along, there willnever be world peace.

Universal Teachings For Everyday Living Page 2

in everything. Spirituality is to experience the identity, the reality of

Emptiness that is the essence of Buddhist philosophy. This is where

mystics like Meister Eckhart, who said, “The eye with which I see God

flow of living and not a conceptual split into two nouns like “means-