Sukhihontu! That's the traditional Malaysian Buddhist greeting of wishing someone well for English and Baba Malay (Bahasa Melayu Baba) speakers in Malaysia.

 

Some may greet each other or others with Mandarin, Sinhala, Tamil, Cantonese, Burmese, Vietnamese, Korean, Thai or Hokkien phrases, or even a simple Namo Budhaya, or their equilavents in other cultures, languages and dialects like Taishi Delek and Amitabha or 阿弥陀佛. Still, it's always paired with the intention of wishing others well, and an Anjali sign (palms raised, right in front of the chest, at chest level). Now, we also have a Pali phrase to congratulate others and honor those worthy of honor accoridng to the Mangala Sutta (SN2.4), that is "Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu", or "Sadhu to that", as in, "That is well completed, well done and excellent". In Baba Malay it can be translated loosely as "Sadhu, baiknya, bagusnya", or 善哉 in Mandarin and Hokkien.

 

We practice Equity, Diversity and Inclusion according to the Buddha's teachings, from the Pali Canon (Tipitaka), the Mahayana Tripitaka and Vajrayana Texts, which lay the foundational beliefs of our Humanistic Buddhist practices. We are committed to practicing inclusion via loving-kindness (Metta), compassion (Karuna), sympathetic joy (Mudita) and equanimity (Upekkha).

 

Through the first two values arises the need to stop discrimination due to any differences, including but not limited to ethnic origins, castes, cultural and spiritual beliefs, sexual orientation and gender idenity expressions (SOGIE), temporary physical or mental disabilities, lifelong physical and learning disablities and chronic mental illnesses amongst other things. Through the last two values we champion for the need for safe inclusive spaces for all in equity, not just equality.

 

We are currently staffed with many staff of various backgrounds where they feel comfortable working in and where they are allowed to in accordance with local regulations. We also welcome those who can’t work locally or be full committee members to join us as sub-comms and volunteers in service. We acknowledge the work of the Baba Nyonya community from Melaka in preserving the Dhamma for the future generations of Baba Nyonyas, and the Indegenous Siamese people of the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia for preserving the Pali Canon in native languages from the early days of arrival of Dhamma. 

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'Do not follow any teaching, tradition, religion, text, teacher, or belief if it leads to harm, discrimination, injustice, fear, hatred, or suffering. Follow only what leads to non-harm, compassion, and wellbeing for all beings.', that is what the Kalama Sutta (AN 3.65 / 66 ) says, according to our Media & IT Team's innate human critical thinking skills. 

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We also embrace social progress and technology. From embracing live streaming in the early days of the pandemic, to having professional audio and visual production teams provide services as Dana, both for events and in-house as committee members, we've even pivoted to using GenAI appropriately and acknowledging it when it was used. We're also sharing with others our valuable digital Dhamma knowledge and are still learning from other organisations, too. We're not perfect. Only a Samma-sambuddha, having attained Anutarro Samma Sambodhi (Unsurpassble, Completely Perfect Enlightenment), on a one way path to the eternal bliss of Nibbanna can be perfect, having cut off all roots of hatred, greed and delusion. Our Youth Section tried to discourage the Main Committees with their then advisor to halt the development of a proprietary app in 2020 to 2021, due to high costs with low returns. Our Youth Section thus launched an AI Buddhist Exhibition on Wesak 2023 which raised enough funds to cover the losses to break even and return back to the mind, the forerunner through wise attention and critical thinking. Our Youth Section recently teamed up with local Buddhist owned AI businesses to launch an AI chatbot for Generic temple and Buddha Dhamma questions and FAQs.

 

We gave NORBU AI the prompt in the earlier paragraph, and it told us, after 3 iterations that a better phrasing would be , "We endorse only what you can see leads away from greed, hate, and delusion, and toward the welfare and happiness of all beings."

 

ChatGPT 5.1 returned to us after 11 iterations that "Our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion commitments arise from the Buddha’s guidance in the Kalama Sutta, where he instructs practitioners not to accept any belief or practice that causes harm, discrimination, fear, or suffering, regardless of tradition or authority. We therefore uphold only those principles that cultivate loving-kindness (Metta), compassion (Karuna), sympathetic joy (Mudita), and equanimity (Upekkha), and we reject all forms of prejudice as incompatible with the Dhamma."

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Google Gemini gave us a very detailed yet concise response after a single iteration:

"The sentiment expressed in the user's query is an accurate paraphrase and interpretation of the core message of the Kalama Sutta, which emphasizes personal verification and ethical consequences over blind faith. The Buddha in the Kalama Sutta did not use the exact words "discrimination, injustice, fear, hatred, or suffering" as a complete list. Still, he did provide clear criteria based on observing whether actions lead to "harm and ill" or "benefit and happiness". 

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What the Kalama Sutta Actually Says

The Buddha advised the Kalamas, who were confused by conflicting doctrines from various teachers, to not accept a teaching based on: 

• Repeated hearing or oral tradition

• Tradition or rumor

• Scripture or written texts

• Logical reasoning or inference alone

• The speaker's seeming ability or because they are "your teacher" 

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Instead, he instructed them to use their own experience and the consensus of the wise to determine the truth: 

• Abandon anything that you know for yourselves, "if followed and practised, leads to harm and ill" (which encompasses the adverse outcomes you listed like suffering, hatred, etc.).

• Embrace and practice anything that you know for yourselves, "if followed and practiced, lead to benefit and happiness" (which aligns with non-harm, compassion, and well-being). 

The sutta ultimately encourages the development of a mind free of greed, hatred, and delusion, pervaded with boundless amity and compassion for all beings, as the practical outcome of following a valid teaching. "​

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Google Gemini gave citations in URLs, including Access to Insight, Buddhanet, and other Buddhist organisations posts and websites in Malaysia and worldwide. It is our hope that with good and noble intentions, this page along with all pages that teach the Buddha Dhamma that is beautiful in the beginning, beautiful in the middle, and beautiful to the end, will someday join the honor of being a vital tool to  online propagation of Dhamma (Dhammduta).

 

with Metta (from the Metta Sutta SN 1.8)

May All Beings Be Well and Happy. (Sabbe Satte Bhavantu Sukhitatta)