The New Pneumonia
CW: Homophobia, suicide, AIDS
It is said that the reproduction of buddhist books brings good karma. I have severe doubts about the applicability of this principle to the present text. In any case, with some hesitation I have released this book. I doubt if the text would tell you much about Buddhism, but it will tell you a lot about human society.
I discovered this tract in a box of old books at my parent’s house, along with other tracts of a more usual nature. This one stood out, not because of its age, but also because of its content. Most buddhist tracts contain sutras—holy texts, explanations of sutras, or liturgical instructions. Only very rarely do they engage in social issues, like the present text.
The tract reproduces two sermons by Master Hsuan Hua (宣化大師 Xuanhua dashi, 1918-1995) , delivered in the 1990s. Here is its barest outline. A new and lethal disease is spreading though the world. This is but one symptom of the age of Dharma extinction. Suffering humanity has a way out, and that is by chanting two mantras—the Suringama Mantra, and the Great Compassion Mantra.
This is nothing unusual. There is a long buddhist tradition of chanting mantras to avert disaster, as you can see here. However, what makes this tract extraordinary is the disease master Hsuan speaks of and its cause-- Homosexuality. I quote:
This is nothing unusual. There is a long buddhist tradition of chanting mantras to avert disaster, as you can see here. However, what makes this tract extraordinary is the disease master Hsuan speaks of and its cause-- Homosexuality. I quote:
“The most frightening thing in the human world now is homosexuality. Homosexuality is a practice which opposes the life principle of the universe, which goes against the creative energies of Yin and Yang, and which violates the laws of the nation.
" This kind of behavior will cause the country to perish and the human race to become extinct. If the country perishes, then it’s no longer a country, and the human race is also cut off. Although homosexuals are so infatuated with one another, they cannot reproduce, so the seeds of the human race will be lost. [...]
[...] The Book of Change says, "One Yin and one Yang is called the Way; extreme Yin or extreme Yang is called illness. "When Yin and Yang harmonize together, this is the Way. When Yin and Yang do not harmonize, illness results. The practice of homosexuality has produced AIDS. Some say AIDS originated in Africa, but Africa is not the source of AIDS. The origin of AIDS is homosexuality. When homosexuals catch this disease, they have no medicine to treat it, and no way to cure it. The doctors all have their hands tied, with no strategy for dealing with it."
[Emphasis added]
In short, Homosexuality goes against nature, and nature has already delivered retribution in the form of AIDS. This is a disease caused by homosexuality. Not just associated, but caused. After all, the I Ching, the cornerstone of Chinese cosmology, states that an excess of Yang or Yin generates disease, and what is more excessively Yin or Yang than homosexual relations?
Not only that, master H states attempts to cure AIDS have unintentionally created a new form or pneumonia. It is many times more deadly than AIDS, and has the potential to kill a greater part of the human population. The only thing that can be done is to recite the mantras, and hope.
*** *** ***
Master Hsuan’s predictions, fortunately, seem to be overblown. Neither are his opinions universal amongst Buddhists. Indeed, one Buddhist noted the tract was probably better used as recycled paper. Still, I say this tract is useful. It does not tell you much about buddhism, but it tells you quite a lot about human society.
Note that at no point in master H’s speech does he openly suggest persecuting homosexuals would make things better. Rather, homosexuality, like AIDS and this new pneumonia, are part of the inevitable degeneration that the world is sliding towards, a degeneration foretold by the Buddhist scriptures.
" So what should the human race do when it encounters this kind of calamity? We should recite the Great Compassion Mantra with the utmost sincerity and earnestness.
This theme is echoed in another lecture, entitled "the world's fate" . After discussing the above-mentioned disasters, Master H states:
- "What kind of people can avoid death? People who are really cultivating the Way and who really believe in the Buddha. Graced by the protection of the Buddha, we can avoid these disasters. Why do we want to avoid these disasters? It is because we need to preserve the seeds of the human race. If we Buddhist do not respect ourselves, we'll end up like everyone else. We cannot survive either"
To put it mildly, this form of homophobia is worse, far, far, worse than Abrahamic forms of homophobia. Under Abrahamic forms of homophobia, the homosexual is merely a sinful person that may be redeemed if he repents his wicked ways.
However, to master, homosexuality is more than just a sin; it is a public heath hazard, There is a causal link between homosexuality and disease, based on seemingly 'irrevocable laws of nature'. Under this cosmology, The homosexual, far from being merely a sinful person, is a harbour of disease; gay love is itself a threat to the cosmic order, a threat whose effects would-- so they say-- break over our heads at any moment.
Indeed, one could characterise Master Hsuan’s homophobia as atheistic, rooted in cosmological and, for lack of a better word pragmatic reasons.
Any persons wishing to further the cause of gay rights in Asia, should hence be wary of these things. As much as western gay activists would like to point out the western hand in Asian homophobia, they neglect the fact that there are forms of homophobia which are wholly independent of Judaeo-Christian doctrine, and grounded in indigenous cosmologies.
***
I grew up in Singapore. I may provide hence provide readers with some knowledge of subsequent events.
All in all, this tract seems to have died a quiet death. To my knowledge, there is only one other edition of the tract (judging from the cover here), and it has not been reprinted in the past decade.
Under Section 377A of the Penal code, Homosexual sex is illegal in Singapore. As far as I can tell, Buddhist organisations are not amongst the groups that support section 377A. Indeed, one buddhist organisation called for its repeal. In turn, the argument from disease does not seem to be as current in the public discourse as it was before. The most commonly given reason for retaining the section is not because of public health risks, but because of the protection it affords to Family Values. Nonetheless, this argument form disgust still retains significant public
traction.
Update 1 (28 July). For an excellent example of a level-headed treatment of homosexuality in Buddhism, see http://budblooms.org/2020/05/21/buddhism-and-lgbt-issues/
***
Master Hsuan seems to take the Surangama sutra, and its mantra as his specialty. He lays much stock by the sutra's powers and importance. To quote a Question-and-answer session he did on the sutra, available here. http://app.dulun1918.com/m/article/1326 <archive> we find his:
" 问：楞严咒之效用如何？
Q: What are the effects of reciting the Surangamma mantra?
Q: What are the effects of reciting the Surangamma mantra?
上人：开智慧。所谓要想佛法兴，先学楞严经；要跟阎王斗，先持楞严咒。
Returning to the pamplhet in discussion, this sermon is also nteresting , for it shows the sometimes strained relationship between academic buddhism, (commonly called "Buddhology" 佛學, foxue) and buddhism practiced as a religion (佛教, fojiao)
Master Hsuan spends much of this essay criticising professors who allege the sutra was a forgery. In Master Hsuan's mind, the reason for their skepticism is clear.
Most scholars say the Shurangama Sutra is false and claim that it was not spoken by the Buddha. They say they have various pieces of evidence and documents to support their claim This is all because they fear the Shurangama Sutra and have no way to deal with the principles in the Shurangama Sutra. What they fear most in the Shurangama Sutra are the Four Clear Instructions on Purity. [...]
In the Shurangama Sutra, the Four Clear Instructions on Purity 一 which explain killing, stealing, lust, and lying 一 are absolutely accurate and definite. That’s why those scholars and professors fear the Four Clear Instructions on Purity. They only want to listen to muddled instructions, and they are terribly afraid of the Clear Instructions. If they admitted that the Shurangama Sutra is true, they would have no ground to stand upon They would not be able to defend their smoking, drinking, and womanizing. for everyone would know them for what they are.
[emphasis added]This remains a theme throughout his lectures. Retuning to the question-and answer text above, He repeats his criticism of the detractors on the mantra:
问：为什么一般的佛学者居然说楞严经是假的？
Q: Why is it that most scholars of Buddhism say that the Surangamma mantra is fake?
上人：因为它说得太真了，说人的毛病太彻底，令妖魔鬼怪无所遁形，原形毕露，故他不得不说楞严经是假的。如果说它是真的，第一他做不到；四种清净明诲，他不能守；二十五圆通，他不能修。
Master Hsuan: This is because the mantra is Too true. Those who say it have their problems exposed to the smallest iota [by the mantra] —there is nowhere for the demons to hide. It reveals their true shapes. Thus they have to say that the Mantra is false. If [they] say the mantra is true, first, they are incapable of saying it; They cannot uphold the Four Clear Teachings, nor can they uphold the 25 perfections.
From this we can see religious buddhism, and the "academic buddhism" of universities are occasionally separate. On the other hand, more harmonious combinations are possible. For example, the Sanskrit reconstruction of the great Compassion mantra-- if i recall correctly done by Lokesh Chandra-- is now quite regularly chanted by buddhists.
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