Buddha-Sasana-
“The arousing of faith in the faithless”“The increase of the faithful”
Where
there are Noble Ones, trust will be inspired, for they display
first-handthe peace and happiness, wisdom and compassion that result
from completeimmersion in the Buddhist life. The Noble Ones are close at
hand, they teach,they inspire with their deportment, their good works
and their knowledge.They inspire self-reflection concerning one’s own
life, and tend to meltsamsaric tendencies. They are adepts, consulted as
authorities to which folkBuddhists will defer when Dharmic questions
arise. They thereby constrainpopular speculative views of Dharma with a
firm anchor in the practice andunderstanding of the Noble Ones.
Although
most people do not have first-hand access to scientists, the volumeand
continuous production of results gives science much of its reputation
andinfluence in the world, most particularly in the production of
technology,including the wonderful gadgets that now fill our homes, cars
and pockets,along with popular published outreach in the media.
Scientists are popularlyregarded as the experts to whom others defer,
thereby countering popularspeculative views of science with the solid
anchor of scientific research,inhibiting the former from devolving into
pure fantasy.
“The establishment of the true Dhamma”
Buddhism
has been noted as the first world religion. It has proved remarkablein
its resilience, especially considering that no other religion has been
able topenetrate foreign cultures without military conquest as naturally
as Buddhism.This has been possible because the integrity of the
authentic Dharma ispreserved in an excellent community that enjoys
insularity, is strong in itspractice, is sustained by the laity and is
actively involved in its own training.Something as refined as Buddhism
might otherwise easily degrade intosuperstition, pop psychology or
religious intolerance, even in its native culture,but the anchor of the
Sangha is difficult to budge. This theme will bedeveloped further in
Chapters Six and Seven.
The integrity of scientific results is similarly preserved in an excellent
community
that enjoys insularity, engages strong collaborative research, iswell
supported and is actively involved in its own education. Something
asrefined as Science might otherwise easily degrade into the
superstition, magicor wild speculation from which it arose in the first
place, but it doesn’t, eventhough the oddest notions about the domain of
science are rampant outside ofthe firmly planted scientific community.
Ven. Dhammavuddho 30 - The true Dhamma