There is understandable umbrage and concern among the local Buddhist public over the film titled 'Hollywood Buddha' and a related poster showing the Director and main actor of the film, Philippe Caland, sitting atop the head of the Buddha.
At the time of writing Caland has issued an apology to Lankan Buddhists over the scandalous poster and has taken the first steps to take it out of circulation. Claiming to be a follower of the Buddha, Caland is on record that he is "heartbroken for offending Buddhists".
While Buddhists are conscience-bound to accept this apology and bestow their compassion and forgiveness on the offender, there is no denying the fact that the Buddha image - a highly revered and worshipped sacred object in this country - has been slighted, although unwittingly.
What is left to be done is to ensure that the offending poster never appears again and to make certain that Buddhist sensitivities are respected at all times.
Buddhism is influencing many a heart and mind in the West but the finer feelings attending the worship of the Buddha could be experienced by only those who live and have their being in traditional Buddhist societies, such as Sri Lanka.
The West which has blazed a trail in creating an awareness of human rights and in codifying them into law, needs to respond empathetically towards cultures which profess values and religious traditions which are different from its own. If it lacks this sensitivity, it doesn't possess the moral authority to preach to the rest of the world on the rights of man.
Thus, it could be seen that in regard to cultural insensitivity, those sections of the West which make light of the religious sensitivities of others, match in callousness the diabolic Taliban regime of Afghanistan, which wantonly destroyed the historic giant Buddha statues of that country, with nary a care for the feelings of Buddhists.
It is a sign of our times that human societies are growing increasingly insensitive to each other's susceptibilities. That such tendencies are seen in the West, points to increasing moral degeneration among some sections in that part of the world.
We hope this crisis would alert the adherents of all religions to respect each others faiths and traditions. In the religious sphere, there could never be superiors and subordinates, "high" and "low" religions. Every major religion teaches humanity, reverence for life and mutual accommodation. They all speak of the oneness of humanity.
This being the case, practitioners of religions need to forgive and forget each others faults and transgressions. They also need to scrupulously follow the rule that mankind is equal.
(http://www.dailynews.lk/2004/09/15/editorial.html)
