Baháʼí Faith and Buddhism

The teachings of the Baháʼí Faith regard Buddhism as a religion founded by a Manifestation of God, and Baháʼu'lláh as the expected Maitreya Buddha. The authenticity of the current canon of Buddhist scriptures is seen as uncertain. In recent years there has been an increase in the number of Baháʼís from Buddhist background.

Baháʼí scholarship

The differences between religious concepts in Buddhism and the Abrahamic religions has caused questions for Baháʼí scholarship. Jamshed Fozdar presents the Buddhist teaching about an unknowable reality as referring to the concept of God, for example in the following passage from the Udana (v.81) in the Khuddaka Nikaya: "There is, O monks, an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. Were there not, O monks, this Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, there would be no escape from the world of the born, originated, created, formed. Since, O monks, there is an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, therefore there is an escape from the born, originated, created, formed."

Baháʼí scholar Moojan Momen argues that there are many similarities between the ethical teachings in Theravada Buddhism and the Baháʼí Faith, and that the apparent metaphysical differences originate from culture-bound terminologies. Momen further argues that the Baháʼí teachings uphold all parts of the Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right aim or right-mindedness, right speech, right action, right living or livelihood, right effort or endeavour, right mindfulness and right contemplation.

See also

• Baháʼí Faith and Hinduism
• Baháʼí Faith and Zoroastrianism
• Religion in India
• Baháʼí Faith in Nepal
• Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion

References

• Fozdar, Jamshed K. (1995) [1973]. The God of Buddha. Ariccia (RM), Italy: Casa Editrice Baháʼí Srl. ISBN 88-7214-031-5. OL 24300363M.
• Momen, Moojan (1994). Buddhism and the Baháʼí Faith. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-384-4. (short version of this title here).
• Momen, Moojan (1988). Studies in the Bábí and Baháʼí Religions vol. 5, chapter: A Basis For Baháʼí Metaphysics. Kalimat Press. pp. 185–217. ISBN 0-933770-72-3.

Further reading

• Buck, Christopher (1980). The Mystery of the Sworded Warrior in Hindu Apocalypse: Was Kalki Visnuyas Baháʼu'lláh?.
• Buck, Christopher (2004). "The eschatology of Globalization: The multiple-messiahship of Bahā'u'llāh revisited". In Sharon, Moshe (ed.). Studies in Modern Religions, Religious Movements and the Bābī-Bahā'ī Faiths. Boston: Brill. pp. 143–178. ISBN 90-04-13904-4.
• Cole, Juan (1996). A Zen Gloss on Baha'u'llah's Commentary on "He who knoweth his self knoweth his Lord".
• Conner, Daniel. Buddhism and the Bahá'í Faith. World Order, Series 2, Volume 6: Issue 2. Winter 1971.
• Faber, Roland (2017). Baháʼu'lláh and the Luminous Mind: Baháʼí Gloss on a Buddhist Puzzle, in Lights of Irfan 18.
• Fozdar, Jamshed K. (1976). Buddha Maitrya-Amitabha Has Appeared. New Delhi, India: Baháʼí Publishing Trust. ISBN 81-85091-83-8.
• Kluge, Ian. (2006). Buddhism and the Baháʼí Writings: An Ontological Rapprochement.
• Kluge, Ian. (2013). The Baháʼí Writings and the Buddhist Doctrine of Emptiness: An Initial Survey.
• Sours, Michael (2000). "Hindu and Buddhist Scripture in Baháʼí Scripture". Without Syllable or Sound: The World's Sacred Scriptures in the Baháʼí Faith. Los Angeles, United States: Kalimat Press. ISBN 1-890688-06-1.

External links

• ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi. Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster and Related Subjects, compiled by Research Department of the Universal House of Justice.
• BIC Statement: The Common Goal of Universal Peace in Buddhism and the Baha'i Faith (1990)
• Article about Maitreya Buddha, by Christopher Buck
• Prophecy Fulfilled: Buddhist Prophecies