By Melissa Fernando
KUALA LUMPUR — Echoing Pope Francis’ call for Catholics to enter into a “dialogue of fraternity,” the Archdiocesan Ministry of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs (AMEIA) in collaboration with Catholics @ Home Podcast have been producing a weekly series of conversations on Understanding World Religions.
The second series, hosted by Fr Xavier Andrew, centred around an enlightening conversation on Buddhism that went live on Tuesday, August 31.
The dialogue for the evening was moderated by Fr Christopher Soosaipillai, former head of AMEIA, who is currently the Ecclesiastical Assistant of Catechetics in the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur and the parish priest of the Church of the Good Shepherd Church, Setapak.
President Sirisena Perera and Vice President Don Premaseri of the Buddhist Maha Vihara, Brickfields, were the presenters.
Premaseri began by sharing the life story of Siddhartha Gautama, the son of a chieftain who abandoned his luxurious life in search of enlightenment and went on to become Buddha.
Fr Christopher remarked on the similarity between Buddha and the life of St Francis of Assisi, who also gave up his wealth and took a vow of poverty.
From tracing histories and contexts for certain words, to specifying principles, ceremonies, and institutions, the conversation flowed gracefully between the priests and both the guest speakers.
Both Perera and Premaseri, who once experienced a two-week journey practicing as novice monks at the Maha Vihara temple, explained the various definitions and precepts concerning Buddhism that lay people practise on a daily basis.
They spoke about the value of meditation taught in the Buddhist tradition, as well as some of the clear boundaries and ideologies which are still being applied.
Perera, who briefly explained the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, said that it is ‘our response to that which surrounds us that often defines the degree of our suffering.’
The conversation on principles and practises certainly increased the awareness and perception of the participants about each other’s beliefs and practices.
The interest and curiosity from Fr Xavier and Fr Christopher were apparent from their carefully crafted questions and how they were engaged in the conversation.
There were also questions from audience members who were watching the live podcast, which further delved the dialogue into other interesting Buddhist practices.
From festivals and traditions to the various ‘schools of understanding’, from food restrictions to dress code when at the temple and even about the ‘blessed threads’ tied on their wrists, the dialogue that went on for more than an hour and focused mainly on principles and daily practices.
The world today is very much in need of interreligious dialogue to develop new bonds of social solidarity, and of interfaith dialogue, which can be a bridge to increase awareness into the depths of one’s religion.
Through the weekly series, AMEIA has provided a space which sparks profound conversations, using the tools, practices and communities of our own religion and looking around us for those who exist beyond our known borders of faith.
Now more than ever, with the speed of communication and ease of travelling (which hopefully, we will soon get to enjoy again, safely), we must work together to create a better world for future generations.
