Comments on: The Lotus and the Cross, Part II

By: MysticSaint

MysticSaint — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 17:42:32 +0000

a very interesting series of article. thanks for posting although i dont agree in few of the analysis.

By: Daedelus

Daedelus — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:53:28 +0000

I’m also interested in St. Francis of Assis’s spirituality. A month ago I read his Canticle of the Creatures poem and it just resonated with me in a way it never had before. It reminded me of the Protestant hymn I encountered as a child based on his poem, “All Creatures of Our God and King”. I wonder if St. Francis mystical experiences weren’t similar to the Buddhist experiences of “tatha” in some ways. “Brother Sun and Sister Moon”, preaching and talking to animals (baptizing a wolf!), that’s very different stuff for sure than my Protestant upbringing told me about (but not entirely foreign to my experiences). It sounds almost pantheistic in some ways.

By: Daedelus

Daedelus — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:43:11 +0000

Another experience I had was like a half-glimpse of something. For a day or two every, few days for a few weeks, I would see the world as this beautiful fuzziness, like reality was transluscent in some way and was somewhat bubbly and radiant. It might be similar to what Mahayana Buddhists would call Shunyata (Emptiness), but it didn’t occur during meditation and it wasn’t particularly deep. I’ve since recognized I have experienced similar feelings, though not as profound, before as a child quietly praying to God silently. Sometimes now days I’ll encounter feelings of holiness or profound meaning, they come and go sometimes.

The Orthodox have an idea perhaps similar to Shunyata, it is called the Energies of God. I’m not sure if they are identical but both religions talk about the universe having an unseen, energetic component. Orthodox have the Hesychasm tradition with is vaguely similar to Buddhist meditation, but it’s focused more on Jesus and God in the Jesus Prayer and Trisagion.

By: Daedelus

Daedelus — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:30:23 +0000

Very interesting point of view. I grew up Protestant but abandoned it in my early 20’s, spent many years being bitter. In my early 30’s I discovered Buddhism, started to meditate. I was always atracted more to the Tibetan and Chinese/Japanese traditions of Mahayana/Vajrayana. I’ve practiced vipassana meditation and also tonglen, along with yogic braething. I also found an unusual identification with the bodhisattva Quan Yin. Tonglen in particular I found to be a powerful practice, the first time I tried it, I started crying profusely and I hadn’t cried in years. I actually had a bit of a mystical experience from all these practices, that was very profound. I felt like my heart had been opened up to something like a profound sense of gratitude, love, or compassion. The descriptions sound similar to St. Theresa of Avila being pierced through the heart. Maybe not quite so profound as her experience, but that’s the closest analogy. A huge weight had been lifted off my chest and for and for a couple days afterwards, there was a strange sensation in my chest and my pulse permanently dropped ten points. For lack of a better term, it was like there was like a singing bowl or bell in my chest continuously ringing and vibrating.

I also felt later I should explore my Christian past because I found out there was alot of ego involved in my abandonment of my faith. I’ve asked some Christians to pray for me. I’m attracted to alot of stuff in the Orthodox and Catholic traditions I am studying, but part of me says I’m hopelessly Protestant… and Buddhist to boot! Very confusing.

So now, I am exploring both paths together, trying to figure out what they mean to me. I do think alot of people discount Christianity. It is interesting you were involved with Theravada, a path I never found that interesting, it seems very much legalistic and the Theravadans I encountered were about as bad as any Protestant Fundamentalist I’ve encountered in quoting scriptures.

By: Jonny Apocalypse

Jonny Apocalypse — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:22:33 +0000

I am a born again Christian whom has studied many forms of religions, cults, and the occult and found that PURE Biblical Christianity is the only path to TRUTH and happily ever after in eternity, but with so many different sects out there of buddhism, I would love to read more of your insights as far as comparisons and means of discussing them in a non-fire and brimstone (loving ) way.

By: Wei-Hsien Wan

Wei-Hsien Wan — Tue, 06 May 2008 05:16:04 +0000

Sr. Macrina,

I’ll have to do some research into the bodhisattva ideal, since I’m less familiar with the Mahayana school which, coincidentally, is doctrinally more diverse and “fuzzier” than Theravada. You may already know, of course, that in Theravada the ideal is not the bodhisattva but the arahant, and I still have difficulties understanding the difference between them.

Anyway, I’ll wait till next week before I write on Buddhism again so that we can resume this conversation after your retreat. Blessings as you prepare for your final profession!

W.H.

By: Macrina

Macrina — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:39:06 +0000

Thanks for writing on this. I hadn’t realised that you had a Theravada background, although I suppose that it comes across in this post. I suppose what I’m interested in – and perhaps missing in your post, at least up until now – is where the emphasis on compassion and the Boddhisattva ideal fit in. I realise of course that this (at least the latter) is a later development, but it seems a rather crucial one (for example the vow of the Boddhisattva). And I’d also be fascinated to hear more of your own personal story – but only if/when you feel ready to share it.

And that is an interesting point about impermanence-death-resurrection.

By: E. I. Sanchez

E. I. Sanchez — Mon, 05 May 2008 03:19:31 +0000

Thanks for writing this summary. This was very educational. I hope you keep on writing more about the contrast between Buddhism and Christianity.

By: Wei-Hsien Wan

Wei-Hsien Wan — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:17:25 +0000

Cindy,

Welcome, and thanks for commenting.

I use “deification” in the traditional Christian sense, which is to say, to refer to our transformation in Christ to become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1.4). “Deification” or “divinization” translates the Greek term theosis, which the Eastern Fathers used to describe this process. It is probably best summed up in St. Athanasios’ famous words: “[Christ] became man that we might be made God” (On the Incarnation, 54.3). The language of “transforming union” is borrowed from St. John of the Cross, who used these words to speak of the same reality.

Theosis is only a destination or “mountain” in the analogous sense, of course, since one never actually ceases to journey into the infinite God, becoming more and more like Him.

Shalom,
W.H.

By: cindyinsd

cindyinsd — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:21:15 +0000

Great post! Thanks. I’ve never looked into what Buddhists believe to any depth, so I appreciate your sharing your knowledge.

One thing did get my alerts to go off, though. You say in Christianity, the mountain is transforming union with God or deification. I’m not sure those two are one. What do you mean by this?

Grace and peace,

Cindy