AN AMERICAN BUDDHIST MANIFESTO

I TAKE refuge with the Buddha, I take refuge with the Dharma, I take refuge with the Sangha.

I DEFEND the absolute, eternal and incorruptible validity of every Word actually spoken by the Buddha

I ESCHEW the five corrupting influences of Asian Buddhism – theocracy, shamanism, confucianism, taoism, and ancestor worship.

I BOLDLY DECLARE my ability to understand the meaning of the Buddha, and to practice according to the instructions given by the Buddha, to Enlightenment in this very life, with or without the guidance of Asian lineages.

I ASSERT the sufficiency and necessity of the core values and norms of my birth culture as the only appropriate cultural basis for me to practice the Teaching of the Buddha.

I PROCLAIM the sacredness of my beautiful mother-tongue English, and I call for the use of English as both the language of instruction and the liturgical language of every Buddhist temple on American soil.

I CALL for the dissolution of all the linguistic, cultural, and administrative barriers by which Buddhists sects have been kept separate from each other in Asia, and for their union on one administrative basis in America.

I ANNOUNCE the end of the Dharma-Ending Age, which end was brought about by the spiritual push given to all sentient beings by Avatar Meher Baba, who was Maitreya Buddha.

I VOW to save all beings, however numberless; I vow to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion, however constantly arising, I vow to practice all Dharma-gates, however countless, I vow to embody the Buddha-Way, however unsurpassable.

By my vow, from this very moment, on this very seat, and in this very form, for however many years, however many decades, however many lives, and however many transformation bodies it may take to be achieved:

GATE, GATE, PARAGATE, PARASAMGATE, BODHI, SVAHA!

Viveshwar Bodhisattva, 25 Jun 11.

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