The Issue Of Exclusivism And Parochialism In Buddhist perspective

Abstract

Inclusivism and broad-mindedness are basic principles of the Buddhist teachings. Nevertheless, one can witness nationality, ethnicity and culturalism often supersede Buddhist identity among many adherents of Buddhism. Many Buddhists are over-attached to own nationality or cultural values that give rise to exclusivism and parochialism. This is more observable among Asian Buddhists. As one of the phenomena we often find in the West is Asian Buddhists have their centres for their own nationality or ethnic group. In these centres, cultural aspects predominate than the practice of the Dhamma. Hence, these centres often isolate themselves from the local community and people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Another aspect of parochialism is the reluctance to engage in dialogue with either world major religious traditions or among different Buddhist sects. For instance, bilateral discussion between followers of Theravāda Buddhists and Mahāyāna is not very rare. This leads to many misunderstanding among the followers of the two traditions. The reluctance arises from the inability to see things from a wider viewpoint. This results in a lack of mutual co-operation between the two Buddhist traditions. Another aspect of parochialism is blindly following teachers and accepting everything a particular teacher says to be true and absolute. And building a community within the followers of that particular teacher and being isolated from others. The question is, does the exclusivism and parochialism of Buddhist community lead to sustainable Buddhist societies in the 21st century or lead to unsustainability? If it is the latter, what are the obstacles and what could be the solution? This paper discusses the issue of exclusivism and parochialism and some underlying causes which lead to exclusivism and parochialism.