Job Discussion Forums

[redeyes]

Thanks John -- that's a relief to know what's allowable and what isn't. Regarding religious texts, it looks like books which openly get involved in discussion,challenge and debate of Abrahamic faiths, or depict images from those religions are taboo -- but other relgious texts, especially those totally distinct from those Abrhamic faiths and not God/Creation centred in any way at all, are considered ok. Is that a fair assessment?

Thanks for your comment.

[Cleopatra]

[redeyes]

Thanks Cleo for your considered reply - you said, Define "very obviously sacred scripture". I guess I was just trying to clearly differentiate between new agey type of crystals and incence feel good DIY therapy Buddhist books -- and genuine Scriptural/Pali canonical texts. My books are the latter, and I wondered if that would make a difference. Judging from yours and John's replies, probably not.

Thanks for your thoughts. Appreciated.

[Mia Xanthi]

IMHO, if they were to catch you with something, and IF they were to understand exactly what you were carrying, the customs officials would be much more appalled and angered by the Hindu or Buddhist texts. Muslims are taught to show some respect for other "religions of the book" (Judaism and Christianity), but there is only contempt, hatred and fear of religions outside of these.

However, it's probably a moot point because they will most likely not even give the texts a second look.

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

[johnslat]

Dear NCTBA,

"You burn in Hell when you go away."

Ha! Instead, when I went away, here I am, freezing my buns off in Santa Fe,
NM (28F.)
Regards,
John

[redeyes]

Thanks for your advice all of you, Mia, John, Cleo.

Mia wrote -- " Muslims are taught to show some respect for other "religions of the book" (Judaism and Christianity), but there is only contempt, hatred and fear of religions outside of these."

Agreed absolutely Mia -- What is the word in Arabic for the most contemptible sin of polytheism, "Shirk?". However, it seems -- from what most of you are saying -- as if Buddhist books would usually just pass under the radar as just another dry academic/philosophical text, and not much else.

To be honest though, very early Buddhist texts -- whilst they wouldn't be of much interest at all to most Muslims I'd imagine -- wouldn't really have a lot in them to offend Muslims either. Indeed, later Mahayana schools of Buddhism certainly deal with concepts of deities, Gods, "angels", the after life etc in great detail, but very early Theravada Buddhism has very, very little mention of such things at all, and arguably has more in common with Stoic/Sceptic/Cynic schools of Greek philosophy than what most of us would consider as "religion" -- and that is why Hindu contemporaries of the Buddha considered him to be a heretic -- he rejected the vast majority of the Hindu practices connected to idols, images, sacrifices,divinely ordained castes, auspicious ritual, severe austerities etc as being pointless, lacking in morality, of no benefit or as foolish. Admittedly he retained some aspects of Hinduism -- but none of the polytheistic aspects at all.

[007]

Well, "Shirk" in Islam may take different forms; one of them is "Shirk by association" (associations with God, spirits, human, etc).

I do not think Buddhism is considered as a religion in the proper sense of the word!
I think it is more a kind of a teaching/philosophy concept in search for an escape from the 'soul-gap' within oneself!

[Sheikh N Bake]

As I mentioned earlier, and apparently people think I'm making this up, my Malaysian-Chinese wife put "Buddhist" on the visa application to KSA and joined me in Jeddah in 1993 without a problem.

[Mia Xanthi]

BTW, I am not trying to hijack the thread or anything, but this came up in class today: do you have to be a Muslim to be a Saudi citizen? Are there any non-Muslim Saudi citizens? Does anyone know for sure?

[redeyes]

Thanks for your contribution to the topic 007 -- It sounds like you may be interested in Buddhism as a life philosophy. Am I right? If so, clearly you feel it doesn't obtrusively contradict or intefere with your Islamic beliefs.

I knew an Imam in London who told me he really felt a strong kinship with Buddhism -- he told me that when he visited Buddhist monks -- the experience urged him to be a better Muslim. I found that interesting.

Also, can you tell us more about the concept of "shirk?"

Thanks.

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

[johnslat]

Dear 007,
It would seem that some agree with you:

The Dalai Lama: "I recently gave a series of teachings in the United States and one of these teachings was about patience and tolerance. At the end there was a ceremony for taking the Bodhisattva Vows. A Christian priest who was in the audience wanted to take these vows. I asked him if he had the right to, and he replied that yes, of course, he could take these vows and still remain a Christian."


The book that arose from this expedition, The Jew in the Lotus: A Poet's Rediscovery of Jewish Identity in Buddhist India,1 is the poet's candid reflections on his own Jewishness and on the attraction that Buddhism holds for a significant number of Jews. He calls these Jewish Buddhists "JUBUs."

http://hhdl.dharmakara.net/hhdlquotes2.html#candb

"A who's who of JUBUs include "a great-granddaughter of Henrietta Szold, the founder of Hadassah, [who] was a Buddhist nun,�an Israeli paratrooper who was a bhikshu, a monk,"2 and David Rome, the former head of the Jewish publishing firm Schocken Books. Rome sold the company in 1987�but not before spending four years at the helm of Schocken as a practicing Buddhist.3 Perhaps the most well-known "JUBU" is poet Allen Ginsberg."

http://jewsforjesus.org/publications/bookreviews/mrb05-02/thatsfunny/publications/issues/10_4/jewishbuddhists

"A good Buddhist can be Catholic, or Jewish or may be a proselyte from Islam or any other religion."

http://www.intentblog.com/archives/2008/08/christianbornje.html

Personally, I see Buddhism as more of a "philosophy" or "moral/ethical code" than a religion, but while a "good Buddhist can be Catholic, or Jewish or may be a proselyte from Islam . . .", it would seem the opposite may not be the case. That is, a good Muslim, Jew, or Christian (i.e. those who adhere to the strict dogma of their respective religions) could not, I'd say, really be a Buddhist.

Regards,
John

[007]

[Mia Xanthi]