"Who do you say I am?"
"What does Buddhism teach about abortion?"
"Buddhism teaches that we should not harm any living thing"
"But what about the woman's choice in the matter?"
"We should try to make decisions that do not harm life."
"What about in the case of rape?"
"It is a very difficult situation but there is need to be mindfully aware of the impact of choices of action. It may perhaps be better to bear the suffering than to compound it by further harmful action."
The seeker was not happy with the answer. From his facial expressions and body language he had obviously expected a response more in line with his own previously formed opinions.
I learned a lot from observing this discussion.
To me it illustrates that we have become a "shopping mall" culture. We have virtually limitless choices of everything from anti-perspirant to ice cream flavor. Why can’t we take the same attitude about truth?
I’ve been a passionate truth-seeker most of my life. But in this past year I’ve finally begun to see that spiritual truth is a lot more than just finding a set of beliefs that aesthetically appeal to me. The impact of this discovery has been life-changing because, as much as it pains me to admit it, no matter how much I want people to see things my way, I must give to others the same grace of free choice that God gives all of us.
When Jesus asked His disciples Who they thought He was He revealed a wonderful insight into the mind and heart of God.
As a God of boundless compassion, He is not begrudging of His mercy and compels no one, but rather He waits with tremendous patience for:
- Each person to come to their own well-informed understanding about God and truth, and,
- Each person to act fully upon that understanding.
The Gospel accounts are full of encounters between "seekers" and "doubters" and Jesus. Many times they would challenge Jesus with a difficult theological question, and He would respond to their question with another question that either exposed a rather sinister hidden agenda or revealed a pre-disposed opinion about the nature of truth or Jesus’ identity.
As a devoted spiritual seeker I’ve read many books that have tried to blend various religious paths together into a kind of homogenous view of reality, with the goal of ecumenism. Two very good examples are "Living Buddha, Living Christ" by Thich Nhat Hanh, and "The Good Heart" by The Dalai Lama. These books do a very good job of showing what Buddhism and Christianity have in common. However, as someone who has tried to blend the practice of Buddhism and Christianity, I have found, (forgive the rather simplistic analagy), that ultimately it’s like wanting to know the time and having two clocks. If they both agree, then one of them is redundant. If they disagree then I either have to choose one or doubt both.
I believe that Truth is absolute - but over time our understanding of it can change. For example, if I read a newspaper from 20 years ago it might tell me that Ronald Reagan is the President of the United States. This would be true at that moment, but not true in the full context of time. I think this is the case with religions that predated Christ, (Like Hinduism, Judaism and Buddhism, etc.), they spoke of truth as they experienced and understood it - but as the Bible says, in the fulness of time, the True light that enlightens everyone appeared, and the truth that was revealed in the past was fulfilled and expanded. In Eastern Orthodox understanding, the truths of the past are not considered redundant, instead they are considered as being fulfilled.
So, ultimately there are aspects of truth in all religions. And what I’ve learned this year is that I should, in love, rejoice in the truth (1 Cor. 13:6), in whatever form it is found.
"Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things." - Philippians 4:8
This past year I’ve seen that it is not a case of whether Christianity is right and other religions are wrong - it is more the case that Christ is the fulfillment of the truth that other religions and philosophies point to in varying ways and degrees.
I’ve chosen to believe that Jesus is God and I ought to be about looking for His presence everywhere and in everything rather than limiting Him to just my understanding.
3 comments:
Thanks for putting this so well!
well said.s
I like your clock analogy, old friend. As the Indiana Jones film script puts it: "You chose wisely." I agree that Christ is not the redundant One. I've often wondered if Christ doesn't do a choosing of His own as well. He doesn't seem to want to be gotten rid of, you know what I mean? He has never given up on me, even though I've sometimes given up on Him and others who follow Him. Your blog is a work of art. I am trying to keep up with it, admiring all the while how you come up with your amazing entries.
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