菲利浦•艾摩杜威所寫的「美國之首度生化菌恐怖攻擊行動」一文（時代雜誌2001年十月號）其中開頭即說，「……一九八四年秋，拉及尼希（Rajneesh）的教徒，一個追求美、愛以及性開放的佛教宗派，用鮭魚醬調製了一種「醬料」，灑在奧立崗州達拉斯城謝家披薩店的沙拉吧的生菜及水果上……，這是美國境內首度的大規模生化菌恐怖攻擊行動。」雖然拉及尼希及那些跟隨他的信徒，的確做了這件事，然而稱他們為「佛教徒」卻是誤導大眾的錯誤訊息。
佛教的基本教義是戒律及慈悲，愛惜一切生命，這是佛教創教兩千五百多年以來，無以數計的信徒們所共同遵守的準則，無論是泰國、中國、西藏或美國的佛教，都是如此。佛教徒講求身體力行，而非口頭宣教，佛法的修持，首先就須發願受持五戒：不殺生、不偷盜、不邪淫、不妄誥，以及不受用任何菸酒等毒品。
艾摩•杜威先生評論一篇名為「細菌：秘密生化武器及美國的秘密戰爭」時，指責該文之三位作者「未加審判，便一再重複讓人憂慮的軼聞。」用「追求美、愛以及性開放」這種字眼來形容佛教，就如同他評論中所抨擊的作者的那種不負責任，具刺激性的手法一樣草率。
佛教勉勵修行者要溫和，愛惜生命，有德行；真正的佛教徒，以智慧及慈悲做為生活中行事的圭臬。佛教對於道德的要求，不是模糊不清的，也不是可以隨意「自己制定」的，更不是自由解放主義。「佛教」和「放蕩」不是同義詞。拉及尼希和他的信徒，在奧立崗州犯下如此荒唐的不法行為，而艾摩杜威先生仍以「佛教徒」稱呼他們，非但扭曲事實，也有損艾摩杜威先生及貴雜誌的聲譽。
拉及尼希教徒的暴行，就是「拉及尼希教徒的暴行」，不是佛教徒的。從網路上所蒐集的資訊，顯示出已過世的拉及尼希所編撰出來的信仰，反覆無常，沒有固定形式的教條，隨意混合其信仰的內容。他斷章取義，自不同宗教中摘取隻字片語，符合他那種貪得無厭，只求眼前歡的主張，將其拼湊成他的教義。將拉及尼希教派這種集合了放毒、囤積武器、逃稅的非法團體，草率地冠上「佛教徒」頭銜，不僅侮辱了佛教，也侮辱了一份好雜誌。
我們付出了慘痛的代價，才令非回教世界明白，「回教」並不包含恐怖主義。由於上個月恐怖份子的攻擊行動，讓全世界的人，惡補了一門「正確解讀《可蘭經》的課程；我們學著去瞭解和尊重，和我們在同一星球上，有著十億以上信徒的另一個宗教，我們才體會到這對和平是多麼大的一種祝福，或許我們也應該對佛教作深一步認識。
加州帕克萊，柏克萊寺住持
比丘恆實
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Chinese translation by Daili Lu
Philip Elmer-Dewitt's "America's First Bioterrorism Attack" (Time Magazine, October 8, 2001) opens with: "In the fall of 1984, members of the Rajneeshee, a Buddhist cult devoted to beauty, love and guiltless sex, brewed a 'salsa' of salmonella and sprinkled it on fruits and veggies in the salad bar at Shakey's Pizza in The Dalles, Oregon. It was the first large-scale bioterrorism attack on American soil." Though true the charlatan Rajneesh and his misguided followers did in fact do this, it is untrue and misleading to call them "Buddhist."
The fundamental teachings of Buddhism, shared by millions of believers through its 2500 year history, be they Thai, Chinese, Tibetan or American, begin with an ethical commitment to kindness and to cherishing all life. For a Buddhist, what one does counts more than what one professes. Buddhist practice begins with vows to abstain from killing, theft, sexual misconduct, false speech and intoxicants of any kind.
Mr. Elmer-Dewitt's review of Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War faults its three authors for "repeating uncritically the most alarmist anecdotes." Characterizing the Buddhist religion as "devoted to beauty, love and guiltless sex" reads like gratuitous sensationalism of the very sort he criticizes in his review.
Buddhism encourages practitioners towards gentle, life-affirming, virtuous behavior. Wisdom and compassion are the sine qua non of a genuine Buddhist lifestyle. Buddhist teachings on morality are not fuzzy, do-it-yourself, or libertarian. Buddhism is not a synonym for license. Recklessly pasting the name Buddhist on behavior as outrageously lawless as that of Rajneesh and his followers during their stay in Oregon strains credulity and does Mr. Elmer-Dewitt and your fine magazine a disservice.
The excesses of Rajneesh's followers are simply that: excesses of Rajneesh's followers--not Buddhism. A quick internet search reveals the late Rajneesh's eclectic beliefs as concocted by whim, changeable and amorphous. He cut and pasted together pieces of many religions as they served his hedonistic and acquisitive desires. Careless labeling of Rajneesh's poisoners, weapons-stockpilers, and tax-evaders as "Buddhists" is both an insult to Buddhism and to good journalism.
It took a calamity to educate the non-Muslim world that the religion of Islam does not encompass terrorism. After the terrorist attacks last month the world has had a crash course in correct reading of the Holy Koran, and what a blessing for peace it has been to learn to appreciate and to respect the religious faith of one billion neighbors on our planet. Perhaps we need to learn more about Buddhism as well.
Rev. Heng Sure, Director
Berkeley Buddhist Monastery, Berkeley, California |
