Rev. Danny Fisher

Today’s quote comes to us from the great Sulak Sivaraksa – Thailand’s preeminent social activist and one of the titans of the modern engaged Buddhist movement.  I previously quoted and wrote a little biography for in this post.  This is it — from his recent interview with for The Huffington Post:

Friendship has no barriers, whether gender, nationality or faiths. Friends are friends. The Christian, the Muslim, or the atheist — they are friends. Friends must not belittle each other’s beliefs. My teacher taught that, to understand the basis of Buddhism, you have to know that there are a lot of dreadful things in Buddhism, also. He taught that Buddhism is how to learn how to change greed into generosity, hatred into compassion and friendship, delusion into wisdom and understanding. He said that other religions are the same but use different terms. They teach people to be selfless, not selfish. They teach to be brave, humble and generous. Don’t think that other religions are inferior to your own. Respect other religions as your own. Buddhadasa, my teacher, taught me that we must unite people of different faiths — whether agnostic or atheist — because they are also spiritual beings.