Sunday, May 16, 2010

meanwhile, on the Christian front. ...

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Lately, probably because a lot of what appears on internet Zen bulletin boards strikes me as same-stuff-different day, I have taken to snooping on Christian bulletin boards on the BBC. I live in a Christian country, so it doesn't hurt to have some familiarity with the predominant religious environment.

But lordy ... what a lot of tail-twisted angst and fervor. The Bible seems to be a major reference point, but all I can think of when I read this or that which cites the Bible as the arbiter of one discussion or another is the tale of Vedanta's Sri Ramakrishna, who once invited a disciple to take some holy text, place it in a room with barred windows, lock the door on the way out ... and then come back in a couple of days and see if anything had changed.

To anyone entranced by authority and authenticity, such a suggestion is anathema...too horrific to take seriously. It's not much different in some Buddhist realms, though it does strike me as less shrill ... probably because Buddhism brought me up.

Funny how you simply cannot dismiss the love of authority and authenticity...the willingness to rely on someone or something else. The best anyone can do is to work with it, embrace it, and point out a thing or two along the way...not that that always has much effect. Messing with "God" is messing with trouble, though I can find similar examples among those who are mercilessly hog-tied by the Tripitaka or the Vinaya.

It's just a human trait, I think, the reliance on others or the Other. Not worth criticizing.

But definitely worth investigating ...

And outgrowing.
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1 comment:

  1. Posts from an orthodox position, orthodox meaning 'right way' which you seem to have figured out, always strike me as pedantic and childish. You do a fine job of balancing the two.

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