OT: Buddha & Christ

Zen and the Birds of Appetite by Thomas Merton and D. T. Suzuki is of a similar vein.

Marvelous. Here's part of a review:

Merton quotes D.T. Suzuki: "Zen always aims at grasping the central fact of life, which can never be brought to the dissecting table of the intellect"; and "Zen must be seized with bare hands, with no gloves on." No wonder Merton's reverence for Zen, for these are his own ideas of Christian monasticism. With his illuminating mind in full stride, and his interventions keen as crystal, if he went no deeper than to make an apparent synthesis, it would be enough. But Merton strives for farther fields, finds and feeds them, and not surprisingly leaves them flourishing. He leaps wholly into a personal embodiment of Zen and its spiritual complexities, and ends restoring his own monastic experience. The essay 'Zen in Japanese Art' pays loving homage to the classic spirit of Daisetz Suzuki's seminal 'Zen and Japanese Culture', but lives and breathes on its own. In its simple three and a half pages, Merton weaves the aesthetic ideas of Zen philosopher Kitaro Nishida, makes the case that Zen and Zen art are the exact opposite of Sartre's 'pessimistic nihilism,' and in a single amazing paragraph toward the end, beautifully finds in the formal "tea ceremony" a respect and harmony consistent with the simplicity of twelfth-century Cistercian architecture at Fontenay or Le Thoronet. But no idle intellectual excursions invade here; again and again Merton draws everything back to the Christ sought in the apophatic tradition with a faithfulness that exhudes an almost excruciating surfeit of spiritual understanding. Finding St Gregory's "No one gets so much of God as the man who is thoroughly dead" 'lying next' to Bunan Zenji's "While alive, be dead, thoroughly dead-- All is good then, whatever you may do", Merton turns a light on centuries of Christian ascetic experience with one true, bold stroke. Birds of Appetite is strewn with page after page not of ideas only, but wisdom. He responds to D.T. Suzuki's exquisite essay 'Innocence and Knowledge' (included in the book) with 'The Recovery of Paradise', arguing that the Desert Fathers sought the emptiness and innocence of Adam and Eve in Eden, invoking along the way John of the Cross, and making one of Dostoevsky's "saints," the Staretz Zosima, serve as antagonist throughout the essay. Merton notes "there is a dimension where the bottom drops out of the world of factuality and of the ordinary," an observation no doubt honed in the solitude of the hermitage, up the mountain above Gethsemane Abbey. He adds, "it might be good to open our eyes and see."

I found it balanced; neither pro nor con, but open examination.
 
The road to enlightenment is littered with thoughts and words. They come from the exploding brains of intellectuals as they seek without what they can only find within.
 
Yes, the parallels are quite clear, a lot to think about. But it seems to be a difference if you see the "path of humanity" as one of the ways to enter the higher level or if you see it as a result of true belief in Jesus Christ. - The Christian position seems somewhat intolerant as it says it is nice but does not count for eternity to be a "good" human beeing - unless this behaviour is a "fruit" of belief. I think this makes a large difference as it could mean "Yes you may be a good man, loving father and husband, you rescued hundreds of lives and never hurt anyone - but as you do not believe in Jesus you will go to hell."
It seems hard, even unjust, but it draws a clear line - but actually I believe in it. However a truth does not need to be attractive. More attractive for most is the other part - the one about forgiveness.
Andreas


edtited because of bad spelling...
 
Across the millennia in many lands populated by different communities, great teachers have been sent to deliver the truth which have been labelled as teachings.

Buddha and Jesus were two of these great teachers. Doubtless great teachers will continue to be sent and walk among us, until such time we have all learn and absorb the knowledge which will lead us down the road to enlightenment and salvation.
 
Thought I posted something about 1:30 AM. In fact I know I typed it. I really did! Evidenty it didn't take.

Any way Said something about having a long day Monday, so busy I missed a copy of the Dhammapadma, but now was more rested. Sure, I was alright - 'cept I somehow evidently didn't actually post it. Was sure I did. Oh well, see below:

Living Buddha, Living Christ Thich Nhat Hanh.

The Good Heart A buddhist perspective on the tecaching of Jesus, His Holiness the Dali Lama.

Let's see if it takes this time. Some days you can understand things, others just end up being a lost cause ( mostly ).
 
I have seen a real schism between some teaching Christ is purported to have said- and that seems undeniably true- and other statements said to have been made by him, as well as much of the rest of the Bible.

I did a search on one thing Jesus is quoted as saying, which has always struck me as true: the kingdom of God is within you.

I am surprised, humbled, and delighted to find a very interesting piece from Leo Tolstoy that seems to mirror and expand on the ideas I have had for some time: http://www.kingdomnow.org/w-inyou03.html.
 
Whatever religion you follow, IF you follow any...more murders have been done in the name of somebody's god than for any other reason.

Now that's irony.




I'm done.
 
Originally posted by Rusty
Thought I posted something about 1:30 AM. In fact I know I typed it. I really did! Evidenty it didn't take.
Click to expand...
That's happened to me twice in the last week.
I was beginning to think I was having delusions of .....well...... something.
 
Seems awfully limiting
to say that the 'Unlimited', 'Unknowable',
'Source', 'Creator', 'God'
only speaks, sings, dances with
one voice of clarity.


Throughout all time the Creator has guided humanity
through a series of Divine Teachers/Manifestations;
Who revived and trained all the souls.

"Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth
is a direct evidence of the revelation within it
of the attributes and names of God ..."
"Upon the inmost reality of each and every created thing
He hath shed the light of one of His names, and made it
a recipient of the glory of one of His attributes."
"To a supreme degree is this true of man,
who, among all created things, ... are potentially revealed
all the attributes and names of God to a degree
that no other created being hath excelled or surpassed...."
"And of all men, the most accomplished, the most distinguished,
and the most excellent are the Manifestations of the Sun of Truth."
"...all the Prophets of God, His well-favored, His holy, and chosen Messengers,
are, without exception, the bearers of His names, and the embodiments of His attributes.
They only differ in the intensity of their revelation,
and the comparative potency of their light..."
--Baha'u'llah

The Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh
In which Baha'u'llah reviews the fundamental spiritual truths
that lie at the heart of all the revealed religions.
Written in short poetic verses.
 
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