Christ and Buddha, Christ vs. Buddha: All in a Day’s Work of a Country Parson (1)

One reason I am bent out of shape by the anti-intellectualism of much of present-day evangelicalism (that part of the Christian family I identify with, owe the greatest debt to, and am troubled by, more than any other) is that it is just not possible to be uninformed about things and expect young people to stick around. “We are increasingly living in a global village,” said Marshall McLuhan, a quotable chap if there ever was one. I am a country parson in a rural area made up of three towns with a total of maybe ten thousand inhabitants. Yet among the members of my congregation are teenagers who are as smart as a whip. They are into South Park humor and if they are science geeks, they visit Pharyngula online. I couldn’t get anything past them if I tried. Their BS sensors are highly developed. Twenty somethings and thirty somethings are not much different, until they have children, at which time their priorities change a little bit. I see some of the young and restless when they are back in town to visit, young people whose parents are dairy farmers, factory workers, teachers, engineers, and doctors. They in turn have gone on to brilliant careers in this or that, or are still in school and/or the military. I am stunned by how many of these kids who grew up in the middle of nowhere as my wife puts it end up being world-class citizens. Perhaps it works to their advantage to swim upstream. With the permission of one such young person, I’m going to post online an ongoing conversation I will label, somewhat journalistically, “Christ and Buddha, Christ vs. Buddha.” This is the first installment. You are welcome to join in.

[Dated months ago]

Hi Jacob,

I've been meaning to email you for some time, and now I've done it. Your mother passed on your e-address to me, and tells me that, aside from an infection, you are having a great time in Costa Rica.

I remember a brief conversation we had, and have been wondering what you have read in terms of comparisons between Christianity and Buddhism. I've read some things I've found interesting: perhaps you have as well. One of the best introductory treatments I know of is by John Cobb in a book that is now out of print, The Structure of Christian Existence. Cobb has written much else on the topic, but I'm not familiar with it. Just thought it might be fun to start up a conversation on the topic.

Best, 

John Hobbins (pastor at Trinity in Lomira)

 

Pastor John-

Thanks for the email! I appreciate our as yet brief dialogue very much--though lots of people seem to talk about how "all religions are actually pointing to the same thing, man," few are interested in doing the heavy theoretical lifting that that stance necessitates. I do, however, more or less subscribe to that position; it appears, especially on the surface, that the mystics (who have, if we believe, achieved the highest and closest relationship to God) from all traditions more or less report the same experiences. This can be seen in Meister Eckhart, Ramana Maharishi, Rumi, among many others, as well as Buddha and in some cases with a specific interpretation, Jesus.

The only real reading I've done on the subject is some fairly serious self-study of Thomas Merton. It is amazing to see his transformation from "Seven Story Mountain" to "Seeds of Contemplation" and "Zen and the Birds of Appetite." I think he had some true insight into the highest spiritual realms in at least two traditions (his own and South East Asian Buddhism) while maintaining (in his view) his orthodoxy as a Catholic. A quote that he goes to over and over again is St. Paul: "Now not I but Jesus lives within me," what he took to be the true spiritual awakening to emptiness, fullness, isness, being, the present moment, or suchness as it is variously called in Buddhism.

I think that’s about where I'm at with the project. I'm teaching yoga 4 to 5 times a week, these days--I started the yoga program here with one other instructor, and for a student body of only 200, I think we're doing fantastic, holding class 8 times a week, often in the double digits of students. All of this informs (if not directly scripts) my teaching during the yoga postures. Present moment awareness is everything; God is everything and at the same time no thing, but simply reflected in Creation. But when we get caught in our own minds, egos, thought patterns, defense and attacks of theoretical positions, self-identity, all of that chatter, we stop paying attention to the obviousness of God in everything, God in us (Jesus lives within me, he says), and the preciousness of each breath.

Or so it seems.

Thank you for your time, your energy, and your thoughts. I appreciate it.

Yours, 

Jacob

Comments

[G, Kyle Essary]

Interesting conversation. I think the global village is producing very wide thinkers with little depth. Pharyngula is a perfect example of this. They have a huge readership, but only a few of the commenters are experts in any field. Most are 16-21 year olds who get a shallow knowledge of a ton of topics which they think justifies their opinions on the topics. It's a rare soul anymore who can focus on one topic or idea for deep knowledge. Pseudo-celebrities Luke PZ only promote such shallow thinking, and (ignorant) broad stroke opinions.

I was so impressed recently by Ben Myers discussions of immersion in one author for a prolongued period of time. Two years of nothing but Barth? Nine months of Augustine? It's hard to imagine anyone under forty with such an ability to focus anymore.

As for the Buddhist discussion, Ive found a dryness among much Buddhist worship here. They would see this type of discussion as merely the fresh enthusiasm of a young convert interpreted as a mystical experience. They are disappointed that the end of their passionate submission to the Buddhas teachings is literally nothingness.

A little known fact is that most Buddhists in SE Asia are actually theists in practice, but the God of ultimate reality that they worship is totally impersonal and distant. In such a context (SE Asia), the idea of God approaching us incarnately is a salve to the emptiness from before.

Pluralism in America is very strange compared to pluralism in cultures that have been pluralistic for centuries. Here, you respect each other, but know there are serious differences. In America, you only think on the surface and adopt a "we're all seeking the same thing" philosophy. Sometimes this shallow thinking is couched in sophisticated terms, but more often than not it's in common language and glorified on Oprah.

[G. Kyle Essary]

Haha. I'm on my phone, but "Luke" should have been "like."

[JohnFH]

PZ is a train wreck, but I can see why people like to read him. I am so thankful that I grew up, biologically speaking, on Stephen Jay Gould at that age.

Concentration: I'm not sure the problem is with the forty and unders. Maybe it's with the forty and overs who lowered expectations, first, for themselves, and then, for their students.

I've noticed that teenagers and young people in general are capable of great concentration and enormous commitment. But the only people who ask this of them are sports coaches. In my neck of the woods, the best high school coaches make a point out of having the kids practice, literally, 365 days a year, including Christmas. They expect the kids to get excellent grades, and come down very hard on them if they don't, whereas the kids' English teachers or whatever could not care less.

When, in a public high school, I invite kids to read War and Peace let's say, there are always a few who read it cover to cover and back again licketly split.

When, in a youth group setting, the call to discipleship is presented as plainly as Jesus did, there will be takers. But you can't do that unless you have answered that call first. And that's the rub I'm afraid.

I was fortunate to have heard the call to discipleship as a teenager. I even read the book by that title, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, at age 15 or 16. A fabulous book, precisely at that age.

And I experienced that call on a weekly basis with a group of like-minded teenagers, without any adult supervision, who gathered in my neighborhood for Bible study, prayer, and praise (in that order) after a revival swept through a local United Methodist church (this was in Madison WI, the Berkeley of the Midwest). We didn't know we were not supposed to take the words of Jesus and Paul seriously. So we did.

I've kept track of many of those who attended that Bible study. Decades later, many are now pastors and lay leaders in all manner of settings.

Since the call to discipleship is not actually on offer in many Christian churches, young people are right to look elsewhere. Jacob did, and I give him credit for it.

Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

[Justin (koavf)]

John,

Nitpick: your "quotable" link links to a directory on your computer, not the Internet.

-JAK

[JohnFH]

Sorry, Justin. I'll fix that.