BUDDHISM AND THE MAINSTREAM RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT IN UGANDA

Jacob Waiswa
Situation Health Analyst
Dishma-Inc.
P.O. Box 8885,
Kampala-Uganda
Tel. +256392614655/+256752542504
dishma.imhs@gmail.com
www.situationhealthanalysis.blogspot.com

Psychological trauma denotes a person vulnerability and inability to cope with stress and even to the seemingly slightest challenges of life as a result of acutely stressful past event (or events) –which leads to dysfunctional mental and physical being and, ultimately, to inappropriate mental and physical activities in his or her interaction with the external environment.

Buddhism is an ancient practice of achieving and preserving wisdom –which in turn facilitates eradication of suffering, misery and disease in all beings –to total liberation and happiness. Pan-Africanism entails looking back to one’s origin (Africa) with pride, confidence and high esteem –inspired by its rich heritage –to achieve success in all spheres of life.

On the other hand, religion precisely organizes people towards attainment of spiritual expectations as pathways to achievement of life goals. Therefore, there must be a kind of relationship with the Divine –bound by a covenant (or set of rules) in order to realize one’s goal in life.

It is necessary and natural to decide which development path to pursue as several options arise in order to preserve life. And regardless of individuals’ Independence and contentment, they ultimately decide which philosophy or religious inclination will best work for them. Today, we are often confronted with pressure to choose one or more desirables among the many –with difficulty in a given time and space.

The quality of decisions made will determine the nature of results according to different influences and intensities on life of an individual or community –both in short-run and long-run. Therefore, it calls for critical thinking and analysis in order to make the right decisions.

During the Buddhist practice of insight meditation, three participants (3) quit the program and four (4) completed it. Outcomes vary among participants –depending on the quality of each individual’s response to instructions and understanding of the message about Bodhidharma.

Affected participants received advice to continue doing it at home at least twice a day or in a group (once a week) –and announcements of new opportunities around the world are made to perfect their meditation practice elsewhere. The outcomes were as follows:

Observed masterly of the mind and actions –through taming ego and instinct, and there was stronger reality sense –which created stress and anxiety free conditions within an individual and his or her environment.

There was slowness to react and effectively ‘arrested’ the tendency to crave, and negative reactions; created a sense of oneness with nature and with society, mental alertness and eased efforts to let go, calmness and relaxed states –helping to avert migraine tendencies, and greatly put off anger towards others.

Unfriendly behaviors sharply and easily recognized as they came to the fore (conscious from the unconscious) and ably substituted it with positive dharma lessons on positive living –with right attitude towards nature. That is kindness to all beings and appreciation of nature.

Supported by continued practice of the technique, rightful thinking always determined rightful action in day-to-day life. Participants became peaceful amidst challenges of social interactions –and full of love and humor –be it with family, or at work, or with anyone –including enemies. Also at work, concentrating and productivity were high.

Although spirited devotees turned ritualistic, Buddhism was either non-religious or religion by choice. It was a way of life –with amazingly positive outcomes to life-systems leading a practitioner to happiness as final destination.

Unlike other religions, Buddhism was experiential. It had enshrined practical values –yet universal (recognizing diversity) that guided one to empirically undergo sustainable healing to attain total state of wellness –rather than if it was merely a matter of believing. It was applicable to day-to-day-life bids to yield harmony for oneself and others.

Moreover, it was one way of empowering oneself in particular and psychologically traumatized people in general with the tool of objective decision-making –rather than if one rode on love-hate interactions, imaginations and emotions. Now, though, its reception in Africa is still poor.

Mainstream African religious people gave many testimonies about healing and success. Indeed believers in Islam, as was the atmosphere in the mosque, showed great feeling of acceptance from God –which strengthened that relationship and continued adherence to the teaching of Prophet Mohamed.

There was a lot of freedom for Christian counterparts; their sinful nature only called for mercy and prayer –rather than humiliation from others or a sense of it within themselves. For Moslems, sin was terrible and feared, but that did not apply when it became a religious ‘right’ to organize assaults against Christians, fellow Muslims (moderates), nor did non-confrontational (or peace-loving) ones advocate the and, subsequently, psychological trauma.

During conversion rituals for new entrants, both demonstrated sharply divisive and verbally aggressive messages that are potential seeds for future wars. For example –whereas Muslims stressed that God was not a father of Jesus –arguing that he did not have biological attributes to do so, and they rubbished the resurrection story, Christians were quick to assume superior rights over inheritance of worldly riches and preserved their stance that Jesus rose from the dead –and was more powerful than Mohamed preserve.

Christian actions and their belief system helped to create calmness within an individual and tremendously caused relief from stress, anxieties and depression –through messages of love, and assurance of healing and eternity.

As they sang music that carried the burdens of life, the process of attaining relief too began to full results. As an outcome, followers found a kind of health center in attending church services –especially those active in singing and dancing. That increased connectedness to their God.

Unfortunately, that connection loosened by mid-week to necessitate re-fueling the next Sunday or Saturday. In addition, it was business to run churches for Christians and owners became filthily rich at the expense of unsuspecting followers. Besides they too castigated unchristian communities as unworthy –spiritually. That too created conditions for future conflict.

Main African religions opened healing doors for psychologically traumatized Africans –much as they did not provide exit route for misery and suffering through individual empowerment with the masterly and diversity principle. Instead, such came back to haunt believers before the week’s end –and all looked for was the pastor’s residence for a miracle healing.

Pan-Africanism prevailed based on strong respect attached to African tradition healing approaches –even with the much infiltration of foreign religious cultures. However, amidst all that, Africans made enemies of them-selves –through mindless destruction of nature and marginalization of fellow Africans because of greed and differences based on ideology, tribe and religion.

Religiosity failed to tame evil in spite of the liberation message engraved in their faiths. Instead, centuries of misery continues to rule them. There was much emphasis on believing (or faith) to justify religious belonging rather than actions –the path to healing.

Such inconsistencies between beliefs held and actions that occurred –denied Africans and people of African decent comprehensive and sustainable healing. Moreover, much western influences negatively affected Africa way of life in terms of speech, clothing and music. African church leaders and their followers “became more catholic than pope himself” by adopting western lifestyle.

Any decision made in regards to what faith and understanding one belonged to was based on whether or not led to attainment of complete states of psychological and physical healing (and security), wellness, peace, harmony and happiness for oneself and all other beings.

Those included; the need for entertainment, to bury the negative past and to be healed, influences of family and friend, association with “big” personality figures in the church (role-models) –in the aspects of eloquence and ability to perform miracles as well as strong media advertisements and customer care techniques.

Deceptions potentially denied psychologically traumatized Africans the opportunity to make informed decisions (from direct experience of mastering and understanding of nature) in the times of misery as a right path to effective and sustainable healing –as followers only worked to generate church leaders’ material wealth.

Meditation was not just about the label “Buddhist thing” but a very helpful –yet effective practice to achieve complete state of wellbeing –regardless of the religious affiliation, race and tribe or origin. Above all, the beneficiary developed a sense of collectivity with all elements of life and nature –which in a sustainable manner was catalyst to healing. In other words, healing was real and complete –if the individual did not have negative conflicts in the mind or defeating perceptions about life (or body).

In conclusion, there are different healing practices reviewed with evidenced benefits –which included; 15 minutes group silence, contemplating, self imagery, positive reinforcement, and positive self-talk and masterly –accompanied by a drill or physical exercise, seeking the magic touch of a “witch doctor” or traditional healer –and prayerfulness for Christians and Muslims.

Particularly Christians, their approach dictated more believing than reflections from actions –solely because God was a merciful –who would forgive them –and used scriptures to justify violence against fellow men, to degrade the environment nature and nurse their own egos –which only led to disrepute for the religious organizations they belonged.