The Buddhist Concept of Hospitality: A Value That 'connects' People

Abstract

This article has a normative aim, that is, to sketch few theories and cultural practices of the Theravāda Buddhist tradition under the cross-cultural category, “hospitality”, for the benefit of the global citizen. A global citizen is a type of person who, living in modern cities and towns, finds his or her identity with the “global community”, that is, “humanity”, while acknowledging the diversity of the society, accepting that the individuals, groups and communities with different interests, languages, convictions and lifestyles, that is, with different cultural identities, can co-exist and interact with mutual respect and tolerance, as human beings. For recommending the practice of hospitality by the global citizen, this article briefly discusses both the Buddhist social teachings on hospitality as found in the Pāli Canonical texts and their Commentaries, the representative texts of the Theravāda Buddhist tradition, and the hospitality practice in the Sri Lankan Theravāda Buddhist culture drawing from the author‟s personal experience as a citizen of Sri Lanka.