May 30
Charles BivonaBuddha Lives
Some have argued that the teachings of Christ are a Middle-Eastern-ized Buddhist psychology. The evidence is fascinating, but since that flies in the face of the divinity, these discussions never get very far. Christians balk.
Jesus was the Son of God! He spoke the revealed word of God! That is a fact!
It’s a shame that these conversations can’t seem to get started. When laid side by side, the words of Siddhartha the Buddha and Jesus the Christ are almost identical, and Jesus was—at the very least–a genius on the level of Einstein. That’s indisputable.
So, in my estimation, Jesus was a master philosopher—a working class, master philosopher, by the way. This blue color Da Vinci managed to strip down Buddhism for export. He rarefied it to it’s essence.
Be loving and compassionate towards all beings.
If every individual commits to that, we will create heaven.
But first, you have to get over your self.
Jesus used this simple message, this logic, to save the Western World from its own violent nature. He died on the cross—he got over his own sense of individual importance—as a demonstration of the true nature of his violent culture. It was a genius stroke of gesture politics. The message is alarming, even to an enslaved biblical era mentality.
This enslaved man of poverty preached a message of love–just basic love–and the wealthy and powerful crucified him for it.
The Roman Empire—the world—was never the same after that enlightenment. The story spread like wild fire, and it was a story with a moral: One peaceful man gets crucified. Six billion peaceful people end all human war. Be fruitful. Multiply.
A peaceful community is required. Buddha called this the Sangha–the spiritual community he created to deal with his violent culture. A place to live in the world, but not of the world. It is one of the three “refuges” of the Buddhist mind — the support of other kindred thinkers.
In the Buddhist community, it is often said that Jesus was an enlightened being who saw the evil of an empire, and could not stomach it. He resolved to sacrifice his life to make a point. He decided to be the political face of the countless, the faceless, the slaughtered. He made the world take a hard look at itself, and the masses shuddered in disgust. That disgusted mass realization was enough. The world started changing.
Privately, as a Buddhist, I feel deeply for the crucified Christ. The crucifixion is one of my most enduring — and unsettling — personal symbols. It is a symbol of an individual sacrifice to a great ideal, for the betterment of all; and it is a reminder of a Herculean effort—an attempt to slightly pacify a race of barbarians. It only took the five hundred year old teachings of a warrior prince, turned homeless monk, re-envisioned by a working-class citizen of a tyrannical world government. The fact that Jesus went on to martyr himself, after achieving such an implausible intellectual leap, is purely humbling for me. Jesus, as a human being, astounds me.
[And he may have really been the Son of God. What do I know?]
(I doubt it, though…)
{…then again…}
:::nah:::
♥om♥
Possibly Related Posts:
May 23
Charles BivonaBuddha Lives
from the Tao of Sang-Yoon Lee, pg. 1
I CELEBRATE myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.
My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil,
this air,
Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and
their parents the same,
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,
Hoping to cease not till death.
Creeds and schools in abeyance,
Retiring back a while sufficed at what they are, but never
forgotten,
I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard,
Nature without check with original energy.
Possibly Related Posts:
May 21
Charles BivonaBuddha Lives
No! I’m trying to wrestle with it personally. I just lost someone close to me. I was raised Catholic. So, I am airing some questions I have.
I don’t mean to attack you, or your faith in God or Jesus. I’m sorry if it comes across that way.
I truly believe that Christianity is a rewarding spiritual practice for many. I meet people all the time who speak of “the Christian thing to do.” I love the people who just do what they feel is right, without the need to label the beliefs behind the action. But that’s my private taste.
I do get angry at a lot of Christians, though. I get angry when they attack and shame and belittle other people in the name of their Lord. I get angry for my homosexual friends who have been told that their very nature is an abomination in the eyes of the lord. I get angry when people diagnose my lack of faith as some form of mental illness. I get angry when they insist that I must bow down to a supernatural king, after my countrymen fought a revolution to remove kings from the American consciousness.
See, I feel an obligation to defend people on the margins of normalcy. That’s my neighborhood, too. And my mother taught me to always stand up for myself and my neighbors. Thanks, mom.
So, these God posts are not my attempt to change anyone. They are an attempt to change myself, since I’ve decided that many aspects of Christianity are no longer welcome in my consciousness.
I intend to spend a significant portion of my spiritual practice, rooting out the teachings of Christ that were forced upon me as a child. I will examine them, carefully–one by one–with the full force of my skeptically analytical mind. I will absorb into my Buddhist practice what works for me. What doesn’t, I will discard.
So, please, I mean this sincerely, do not take this personally. This is between me and “God”–with a little help from the Buddha, Walt Whitman, Friedrich Nietzsche, and many more. But not Ayn Rand. Never Ayn Rand.
Anyway, I publish these thoughts online because I’m a writer, a poet, an intellectual, and a scholar. Sharing my ideas and feelings is in my bliss. I follow my bliss. It’s my way.
If it bothers you, don’t read my work. I totally understand. No hard feelings at all. But maybe you should ask yourself some important questions before you sign off.
- Why does it offend you when someone openly disbelieves in your God?
- What do I have to do with your beliefs?
- Why can’t you leave me — and everyone else, for that matter — out of it?
I don’t understand.
Well, it’s because we want to share the truth with you! We want to share the message and the salvation of Jesus Christ!
Sigh. With love and respect, one more time, for the people way in the back of the room: I have now listened to the various message — and highly entertaining messengers — of Jesus Christ for over thirty years. And while I deeply deeply appreciate the offers of guidance, I’ve considered it a lot, Jesus, and I’m gonna have to say: no, thank you.
Sorry, I’m with Sid.
“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”
Possibly Related Posts:
Older Entries
RSS
