Writings Buddhist authenticity
Compilations covering the subject of the authenticity of Buddhist scriptures[edit]
- https://bahai-library.com/compilation_buddha_krishna_zoroaster
- https://bahai-library.com/compilation_scriptures_previous_dispensations
Summary of guidance on authenticity[edit]
- Buddha's own Writings were not preserved to any significant degree (1)
- His followers' Writings are likely inspired to some degree as they contain at least some elements of Buddha's teachings including His prophecies about Bahá'u'lláh (3, 4, 5, 9?, 11, 13)
- Bahá'ís cannot make firm conclusions about any given passage's exact authenticity (2), except as confirmed in the Bahá'í Writings (4, 5)
- This would not imply:
Quotations[edit]
The Buddha's followers do not possess the Buddha's authentic writings[edit]
"The Buddha was a Manifestation of God, like Christ, but His followers do not possess His authentic writings."
- (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi - 26 December 1941 to the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New) Zealand, quoted in compilation on Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster and Related Subjects, no. 19)
The authenticity of Buddhist scriptures are uncertain[edit]
"We cannot be sure of the authenticity of the scriptures of Buddha and Krishna, so we certainly cannot draw any conclusions about virgin birth mentioned in them. There is no reference to this subject in our teachings, so the Guardian cannot pronounce an opinion."
- (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi - 25 November 1950; quoted in compilation on Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster and Related Subjects, no. 23, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1696)
Prophecies in Buddhist books exist which are symbols and metaphors foreshadowing spiritual occurrences and which concern Bahá'u'lláh[edit]
"There are prophecies concerning this Manifestation in the Buddhistic books, but they are in symbols and metaphors, and some spiritual conditions are mentioned therein, but the leaders of religion do not understand. They think these prophecies are material things; yet those signs are foreshadowing spiritual occurrences."
- (Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Abbas", vol. 3 (Chicago: Bahá'í Publishing Society, 1916), p. 565)
Bahá'u'lláh was the Maitreye Buddha[edit]
"...to the Buddhists [Bahá'u'lláh was] the fifth Buddha....He [Bahá'u'lláh] alone is meant by the prophecy attributed to Gautama Buddha Himself, that "a Buddha named Maitreye, the Buddha of universal fellowship" should, in the fullness of time, arise and reveal "His boundless glory."
- (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, 94, 95)
Bahá'u'lláh is the Return of the Fifth Buddha, but this is all that was known to the Guardian (in 1947)[edit]
"There is no mention in the Bahá'í writings of any connection between the Near Eastern and Far Eastern Prophets. There are a very few references made to Buddha, which you have evidently seen. In "God Passes By" you will find that Bahá'u'lláh is the return of the Fifth Buddha, etc., and this is all the information the Guardian has, on this subject of Bahá'u'lláh's fulfilling Buddhistic prophecies, at present."
- (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi - 24 June 1947; quoted in compilation on Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster and Related Subjects, no. 21)
Matters not occurring in the teachings may be studied by students of history and religion[edit]
"Your question concerning Brahma and Krishna: such matters, as no reference occurs to them in the Teachings, are left for students of history and religion to resolve and clarify."
- (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi - 14 April 1941; in Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster and Related Subjects, no. 17)
(Possible reference to an encouragement to study Buddhism)[edit]
"The Bahá'í teacher of the Chinese people must first be imbued with their spirit, know their sacred literature, study their national customs and speak to them from their own standpoint, and their own terminologies."
- (Star of the West, Volume VIII-April 28, 1917, quoted in The Macau Bahá'í Community in the Early Years, p. i)
(Buddhism's noble and high-minded teachings have left an enduring influence)[edit]
"Among your peoples, the majority of whom have been influenced by noble and high-minded teachings of Buddhism, are many who possess a profound sense of spirituality, which is reflected in the practices of their daily lives and in the quality of their relationships with one another, with nature, and with their social institutions. They have a keen understanding of the need for coherence between the material and the spiritual, and are disturbed by the effects of gross materialism on their societies in recent years."
- (The Universal House of Justice, Ridván 153 B.E. to South and East Asia, paragraph 2)
(A gracious and loving God would not allow guiding Scriptures to disappear entirely from a people)[edit]
"We have also heard a number of the foolish of the earth assert that the genuine text of the heavenly Gospel doth not exist amongst the Christians, that it hath ascended unto heaven. How grievously they have erred! How oblivious of the fact that such a statement imputeth the gravest injustice and tyranny to a gracious and loving Providence! How could God, when once the Day-star of the beauty of Jesus had disappeared from the sight of His people, and ascended unto the fourth heaven, cause His holy Book, His most great testimony amongst His creatures, to disappear also? What would be left to that people to cling to from the setting of the day-star of Jesus until the rise of the sun of the Muhammadan Dispensation? What law could be their stay and guide? How could such people be made the victims of the avenging wrath of God, the omnipotent Avenger? How could they be afflicted with the scourge of chastisement by the heavenly King? Above all, how could the flow of the grace of the All-Bountiful be stayed? How could the ocean of His tender mercies be stilled? We take refuge with God, from that which His creatures have fancied about Him! Exalted is He above their comprehension!"
- (Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Íqán, par. 98)
Generally recognized scriptures of Buddhism may be used as readings in the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár[edit]
"We have your letter of 21 January, 1974 asking about 'authentic editions of the Buddhist and Hindu Scriptures' to be used as readings in the House of Worship.
"In a letter to an individual believer written on behalf of the beloved Guardian on 25 November, 1950 it is states, 'We cannot be sure of the authenticity of the scriptures of Buddha and Krishna..." In another letter to the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand dated 26 December, 1941 it is said, 'The Buddha was a Manifestation of God, like Christ, but his followers do not possess his authentic writings."
"When the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States asked a similar question about readings for use in the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar we said: "Your Assembly is free to use its discretion in choosing excerpts from the generally recognized scriptures of the older religions.' (13th March, 1964.)"
- (From a letter dated January 30, 1974 written by the Universal House of Justice to the National Assembly of Australia; quoted in on p. 3 of the compilation "Scriptures of Previous Dispensations")
The Books of Buddha contain the glad tidings of a Day in which the Promised One would appear to bring peace and the oneness of humanity out of spiritual darkness[edit]
"In the divine Holy Books there are unmistakable prophecies giving the glad tidings of a certain Day in which the Promised One of all the Books would appear, a radiant dispensation be established, the banner of the Most Great Peace and conciliation be hoisted and the oneness of the world of humanity proclaimed. Among the various nations and peoples of the world no enmity or hatred should remain. All hearts were to be connected one with another. These things are recorded in...the books of Buddha and the book of Confucius. In brief, all the Holy Books contain these glad tidings. They announce that after the world is surrounded by darkness, radiance shall appear. For just as the night, when it becomes excessively dark, precedes the dawn of a new day, so likewise when the darkness of religious apathy and heedlessness overtakes the world, when human souls become negligent of God, when materialistic ideas overshadow spirituality, when nations become submerged in the world of matter and forget God--at such a time as this shall the divine Sun shine forth and the radiant morn appear.
- ('Abdu'l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 220-221)
Good orientalist could refer one to commentaries on the Buddhist Scriptures[edit]
"Any good orientalist could probably refer you to commentaries on the Qur'án and on the Buddhist Scriptures."
Anyone with intimation of spiritual Reality will be touched to the heart by the words of Buddha speaking of it[edit]
"The scriptures have not changed; the moral principles they contain have lost none of their validity. No one who sincerely poses questions to Heaven, if he persists, will fail to detect an answering voice in the Psalms or in the Upanishads. Anyone with some intimation of the Reality that transcends this material one will be touched to the heart by the words in which Jesus or Buddha speaks so intimately of it."
- (Universal House of Justice, One Common Faith, par. 18)
