thinkBuddha.org: The Tartan Buddha

The Tartan Buddha
Sunday November 20, 2005

The Dalai Lama should, as I write this, have already left Edinburgh, where he has spent two days engaged, as ever, in tireless debate and discussion. During his visit, the Dalai Lama praised devolution in Scotland as a model for Tibetan autonomy and spoke on ethics at a public debate chaired by Sheila McLean, professor of Law and Ethics in Medicine at Glasgow University. The discussion turned inevitably to the ethics of the so-called war on terror, and although I do not have a full account of the Dalai Lama’s position, the gist of it was that he said whatever we do to others – whether dropping bombs from the air or planting them on public transport – we ultimately do to ourselves. There’s more on the BBC website.

According to the Independent newspaper, Buddhism is the fastest-growing religion in Scotland; and no doubt the Dalai Lama’s second visit within two years will boost this still further. However, despite this growth it appears that no Scottish Buddhists were available to comment on the matter, so the newspaper had to go to Birmingham instead, the worldly home of thinkBuddha.org, where Buddhists have more time on their hands. In Birmingham they interviewed Dr Phramaha Laow Panyasiri of the Buddhavirhara Temple. Dr. Panyasiri claimed that –

If you look at the history of religion in Britain you see that people became very disillusioned by wars between other religions. But there are no wars in Buddhism and it is looking for peace and how to grow more peace between people… Buddhism works in people’s daily lives – it is reasonable and practical which is why it appeals so much in the West, especially Britain.

Not all manifestations of Buddhism are necessarily reasonable and practical, but the point still stands. What lies at the heart of Buddhism is not the nebulous mist of belief, but rather the everyday business of practice. And when it comes to being reasonable and practical, dare I suggest that the Scots probably have the edge on the English (even Brummies*). Edinburgh, after all, was the home of the Scottish Enlightenment , which brought a robust common-sense approach to the sciences of humankind.

Where all this Buddhism is going is anybody’s guess. The rise of Buddhism in Scotland may be merely passing fad. But then again, it may be something more. Many have commented on the similarities between the vision of personal identity in David Hume – perhaps the greatest thinker of the Scottish Enlightenement – and that of Buddhism (see the article here). And so as, far to the north, beyond Hadrian’s wall and over the border, Hume’s heirs seem to be beginning to turn their attention to Buddhism, I find myself asking whether this might perhaps be the foreshadowing of a second Scottish enlightenment.

* For the benefit on visitors from afar, “Brummies” are the good people of Birmingham. See here.