Once again, I am grateful to Thay for what he has done. This time: uncovering Christianity in his book “Living Buddha, Living Christ.”
I have been aware of this book for a long time, and I’ve been avoiding it. I wasn’t ready to hear Thay speak well of a Christianity I know so well, and have found wanting. After all, I was “raised Catholic”, followed the rules, immersed myself in theology studies for four years, lived a monastic life for a dozen years, led thousands of people in Christian practices.
For me, Christianity was not enough; didn’t quite cut it; I wanted more. It took a talk I heard in December to convince me that I should listen to Thay.
Here I am, listening to a Buddhist monk help me to uncover Christianity.
This is all about the first three sections of “Living Buddha, Living Christ”.
- Foreword and Introduction are important because they offer such a contrast.
- Brother David, though well-intentioned, seems to speak from behind a wall of separation, someone not quite ready to sit down at the picnic table and share in Thay’s fruit salad.
- Elaine Pagels, on the other hand, gets behind the bric-brac of Christianity, beyond the rules, the orthodoxy, the vestments, the institutions and exposes the richness of foundational Christianity.
- All this based on the chance discovery of hidden texts in the 1940’s and her eventual reading them when they became available several decades later in the early 70’s.
- Elaine Pagels’ books prepared me for what Thay had to say about early Christianity.
- Her reference to Thay’s “spiritual intuition” is very aligned with her own description of the richness and diversity in the early Christian community as expressed in the pre-gospel texts.
- Elsewhere, she writes about the likely trade connections with India that probably brought Buddhist ideas into the middle-eastern world of early Christians.
Chapter 1, Be Still and Know
- This chapter would not get church imprimatur: “let it be printed”
- Might even be banned in recent Christianity I know.
- There is no monopoly on the Truth.
- Nourished by richness of many traditions
- Let go of views.
- Meditation, mindfulness, is the source of energy and good works.
- Some Christians embody the spirit of understanding and compassion of Jesus. – they allow Thay and us to plunge the depths of christianity.
- Church has recognized people like this in the past; but put them behind a screen, a veneer of orthodoxy.
- Thay is carefully specific: “those who authentically represent a tradition.”
- True in the context provided by Elaine Pagels. Her Christianity.
Some things are especially important:
- Importance of experience: live deeply our own tradition; practice deep looking and deep listening.
- Importance: Richness is not in uniformity but in diversity; Wednesday discussion of how we meditate.
- Importance of being willing to be transformed by traditions of others; not just look for overlapping, familiar aspects.
- Importance: Interbeing, there are no barriers between us.
Chapter 2, Mindfulness and the Holy Spirit (Ghost)
- Thay weaves many themes through this chapter, especially intertwining the notions of mindfulness and Holy Spirit, both a source of enegy.
- Holy Spirit = ‘energy sent by God.’
- Spirit = spiritus = spirare: breathe, or better wind.
- Energy of the Universe.
- What we experience in mindfulness; no need to personify.
- Many avenues for experiencing the energy of the Holy Spirit.
- Central role of experience.
Thay highlights rich traits of Christianity that have only been, in my experience, outside the main stream, there in trace amounts.,
- Thay goes below the infrastructure, below the edifice, to foundational elements hidden by centuries of practice and tradition.
- He is a Buddist archeologist who relies on his “spiritual intuition” to uncover rich elements I have wanted very much to be there.