Whenever I am in the area, I like to stop by the Subang Jaya Buddhist Association to pick up some Buddhist literature. And I have picked up quite a few gems and they have a special place in my bookcase. One of the gems is world renowned Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh's Peace Is Every Step with the subtitle - The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life. This is what the blurb says: "Nhat Hanh provides exercises to increase our awareness of our own body and mind through conscious breathing, which can bring immediate joy and peace".
While the book gives exercises on mindfulness for the individual, what impresses me are the 14 Precepts of the Order of Interbeing.Take the first precept:
"Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory or ideology. All systems of thought are guiding means; they are not the absolute truth".
I can see why this precept is placed at the very beginning. It's the nature of most religions to be idolatrous or to be bound by their religious doctrines or dogmas that is the cause of inter-religious conflicts.
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