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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.

“Does religion make people stronger, or does it weaken them? Does it encourage what is good or what is evil in them? Are they made better and more wise—or less so—by religion?” These are the questions we need to ask of all religions, including of course Buddhism.
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.
Each religion can be made a force for good or for evil by the people who practice it.
It goes without saying that any religion that justifies terrorism or war has undermined the spiritual basis for its own existence. I firmly believe that the mission of religion in the twenty-first century must be to contribute concretely to the peaceful coexistence of humankind. Religious faith can help foster a truly global consciousness and restore the bonds between human hearts.
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.
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.
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.

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