The ''Basic Points Unifying the Theravāda and the Mahāyāna '' is an important
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
ecumenical
Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...
statement created in 1967 during the First Congress of the
World Buddhist Sangha Council
The World Buddhist Sangha Council (WBSC) is an international non-government organisation ( NGO) whose objectives are to develop the exchanges of the Buddhist religious and monastic communities of the different traditions worldwide, and help to car ...
(WBSC), where its founder
Secretary-General
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...
, the late
Venerable
''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom.
Catholic
In the Catholic Churc ...
Pandita Pimbure Sorata Thera, requested the Ven.
Walpola Rahula to present a concise formula for the unification of all the different Buddhist traditions. This text was then unanimously approved by the council.
Text of the original document
Expansion of the formula
Ven. Walpola Sri Rahula in 1981
offered an alternative to the Eight-point formula above restating it as follows:
See also
*
Index of Buddhism-related articles
*
Secular Buddhism
Secular Buddhism, also called agnostic Buddhism and naturalistic Buddhism, is a modern, western movement within Buddhism that leans toward an "exclusive humanism" that rejects "superhuman agencies and supernatural processes" and religious ...
*
World Buddhist Forum
*
World Fellowship of Buddhists
The World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) is an international Buddhist organization. Initiated by Gunapala Piyasena Malalasekera, it was founded in 1950 in Colombo, Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), by representatives from 27 nations. Although Therav ...
Notes
References
* Rahula, Walpola (1974). ''The Heritage of the Bhikkhu''. NY: Grove Press; pp. 100, 137–8.
* ''The Young Buddhist'', Singapore : Buddha Yana Organization, 1982, p. 161 -163
External links
World Buddhist Sangha Council homepage*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Basic Points Unifying The Theravada And The Mahayana
Buddhist philosophy
Comparative Buddhism
20th-century Buddhism