The human being is at the center of Buddhism. With its focus on the importance of the heart and the preciousness of life, Buddhism exists to enable all people to cultivate their innate Buddhahood and manifest it within their lives.
Buddhism lies close at hand, in the here and now. It is found in daily life, is innate in human existence and in society. To present Buddhism as belonging to some far-off realm, removed from life and reality is deceptive.
Buddhism does not exist apart from society but manifests itself in society. The wisdom of Buddhism must be applied dynamically in society. It is suicidal for a religion to remain cloistered in a world of religion, closed off from the rest of the world.
Religion is always in danger of growing apart from the people when its leaders forget to reflect carefully on their own behavior and come to look upon themselves as figures of authority.
Faith in Buddhism is not blind faith that rejects reason. It is in fact a rational function, a process of the cultivation of wisdom that begins with a spirit of reverent searching. The impulse of true reason is to continuously and eternally transcend the confines of the present self. It aims to reach beyond its grasp, always higher, always transcending itself. The source of energy and foundation for that constant search is faith in something larger than oneself. Faith purifies reason, strengthens it, and elevates it.
What is called for now is a new union of faith and reason encompassing all aspects of the human being and society, including the perspective achieved by modern science. This is the great challenge that modern civilization faces, to restore the wholeness of human society, which has been rent asunder by reason without belief and irrational fanaticism.
Wisdom is the enlightened insight that enables us to improve our own lives as well as the lives of others. Knowledge that causes suffering for others could never be considered wisdom. The distortions of society today derive from a confusion of wisdom, which is holistic, and knowledge, which is fragmentary; and an inability to distinguish genuine faith from blind credulity.
By nature, people are strong, wise, cheerful and warm. Religious faith is the power that develops these qualities. The purpose of faith is to make people wise.
Religion in the twenty-first century must provide people with the wisdom to be independent, to think and decide wisely for themselves how to live their lives.
