MYANMAR
By Kyaw Lat
The Irrawaddy-June 25
As someone who has reached the third phase of life, “the age of seeking Dhamma,” according to Buddhist custom, I have realized that the world’s other major religions must also have some positive contributions to make to humanity. Based on this idea, I have been studying these other major religions in recent years. On modern media platforms such as YouTube, as well as in recent publications, I have come across several debates and discussions on religion, centering on what it has contributed to human society in positive as well as negative ways. I find many such debates in the Western media are open and frank, contrary to our way — a result of our nation’s British upbringing — that “one should not discuss religion.” Many such debates, as well as academic studies, also address the issues of religious extremism and religious fundamentalism, which have become a serious global security threat, especially to the Western world, over the past 20 years or so, along with other issues that European countries are currently facing as the result of migration crises.
Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/guest-column/buddhas-teaching-problems-rakhine-state.html
First published in: The Irrawaddy
