Jesus and Buddha: The Common Ground

Tulips in bloom in my garden

Today I was invited to join the Woking Friends for a workshop on the topic of Jesus and Buddha: The Common Ground.  It was facilitated by Geoff and Bev Hunt, a married couple who live the topic.  Geoff is, amongst other things, a Professor of Philosophy and a Buddhist Chaplain.  Bev is a non-stipendiary Anglican Minister.

The workshop was divided into 5 sessions:

1. Love for Enemies
2. Materialism (wordliness)
3. Judging/Criticizing Others
4. Worry
5. Love

For each session, Geoff had chosen some relevant teachings of the Buddha and Bev had chosen relevant Gospel passages.  Below I've provided links to the online Bible Gateway if you want to read the Gospel passage, and quoted the Buddha teachings in full (as I don't know of a single unified online source of the Buddha's teachings).

1.  Love for Enemies

Gospel readings:  Luke 6: 27-36 

Dhammapada Bks 1, 10, 17 

Buddha said ...

3.  "He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me." Those who harbour such thoughts do not still their hatred.

4.  "He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me."  Those who do not harbour such thoughts still their hatred.

5.  Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world.  By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased.  This is a law eternal.

129.  All tremble at violence; all fear death.  Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.

133.  Speak not harshly to anyone, for those thus spoken to might retort.  Indeed, angry speech hurts, and retaliation may overtake you.

134.  If, like a broken gong, you silence yourself, you have approached Nibbana, for vindictiveness is no longer in you.

221.  One should give up anger, renounce pride, and overcome all fetters.  Suffering never befalls him who clings not to mind and body and is detached.

223.  Overcome the angry by non-anger; overcome the wicked by goodness; overcome the miser by generosity; overcome the liar by truth.

224.  Speak the truth; yield not to anger; when asked, give even if you only have a little.  By these three means can one reach the presence of the gods.

After Geoff and Bev had read the passages aloud, they invited those present to discuss them.  I found myself drawn to the Buddhist teachings as they were new to me.  Once I'd explored the novelty, I focused on the last sentence:  By these three means can one reach the presence of the gods.  Aloud I commented that there seemed to be an unwritten assumption that that would be one's goal.  From there my thoughts went to the foundational lesson of  'A Course in Miracles':  What is unreal does not exist, what is real cannot be threatened.  Therein lies the peace of God.   I shared with the group the idea that 'reaching the presence of the gods' was perhaps another way of speaking of the peace that 'transcends all understanding'  (Philippians 4:7)

2)  Materialism  (worldliness)

Gospel reading: Luke 12: 15 - 21 

Khuddakapatha 8.9

The Buddha says ...

'Let the wise man do righteousness:  a treasure that others cannot share, which no thief can steal; a treasure which does not pass away'.

Udanavarga 1.20-21

'Truly, it is the law of humanity that though one accumulates hundreds of thousands of worldly goods, one still succumbs to the spell of death.  All hoardings will be dispersed, whatever rises will be cast down, all encounters must end in separation, life must finally end in death'.

In this session it was the Gospel reading that caught my attention, the parable of the rich man who built bigger barns to store his surplus grain, to whom God said, "You fool!  This very night your life will be demanded from you..."  Jesus closes the parable with the warning to his listeners:  "This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God."  Recently I bought a new fridge-freezer.  There was nothing wrong with the old one, it worked perfectly well, but I told myself I needed a bigger one to store up the extra food I planned to cook so that I could have a stock of ready meals against the times when I might not choose to cook a meal from scratch.  No sooner had the new fridge-freezer taken its place in the kitchen than the washing machine died!

3)  Judging/Criticizing Others

Gospel reading: Luke 6: 37 - 42 

Udanavarga 27:1

The Buddha said...

The faults of others are easier to see than one's own; the faults of others are easily seen, for they are sifted like chaff, but one's own faults are hard to see.  This is like the cheat who hides his dice and shows the dice of his opponent, calling attention to the other's shortcomings, continually thinking of accusing him.

Dh vv 50, 51

The Buddha said ...

'Do not remark on the faults of others, but see what you yourself have left undone.  Then overlook the faults of others'.

'Like beautiful flowers that have colour but no scent are the eloquent but empty sayings of the man who does not act according to his words'.

This session generated a lot of discussion.  I put forward the suggestion that when we look into the world, it is like looking into a mirror that allows ourselves to adjust our image - if we see something we don't like 'out there', it offers the opportunity to observe an attitude of our own heart and adjust accordingly.  As we talked about those who judge, criticize and condemn others harshly, I offered the phrase that it's like beating up the reflection you see in the mirror.  

One participant told an amusing tale - she works as an office cleaner, going in at the end of the day when everyone has gone home.  She polishes the desks.  One day one of the staff members had spent some considerable time sharpening pencils over his computer, leaving the fragments for her to deal with.  She declined to do so (struggling inwardly at the same time), certain it was the wrong thing to do, and smiling to herself at the thought of him having to clear it up himself when he next came in.  I imagined my own reaction in such a situation, and amused myself with the idea I would have wanted to leave a comment for him:  

Keep practicing and you may make it to the Tate Modern!

4)  Worry 

Gospel reading:  Matthew 6: 25 - 34

Majjhima nikaya 27

The Buddha teaches ...

'On returning from his almsround, after his meal he sits down, folding his legs crosswise, setting his body erect, and establishing mindfulness before him.  Abandoning longing for the world, he dwells with a mind free from longing ... Abandoning worry and remorse, he dwells free from agitation with a mind inwardly peaceful..

Dh 90-93

The Buddha teaches ...

90.  The fever of craving does not exist for him who has completed the journey, who is sorrowless and wholly set free, and has broken all ties.

91.  The mindful ones exert themselves.  They are not attached to any home; like swans that abandon the lake, they leave home after home behind.

92.  Those who do not accumulate and are wise regarding food, whose object is Emptying, the Unconditioned Freedom - their track cannot be traced, like that of birds in the air.

Bev and Geoff gave us a chance to talk amongst ourselves in small groups.  I was with two other women and we talked about the difference between the freedom a Monk might have from considerations that a Mother has to deal with. 

5) Love

Gospel reading:  Matthew 22: 36 - 38

Sutta Nipata 149-50

The Buddha says ...

'Just as a mother would protect her only child at the risk of her own life, even so, cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings.

Let your thoughts of boundless love pervade the whole world: above, below and across without any obstruction, without any hatred, without any enmity.

We closed with a few moments of silence.  I found it a thoroughly engaging, interesting, energising workshop and very much enjoyed the company in which I found myself.  Many thanks to Geoff, Bev, and to Woking Friends for hosting the afternoon.

If life hands you an odd sock, make a sock puppet

On Saturday at around 3 am I was admitted as a 'Voluntary Patient to the ARC2 Ward at the Noel Lavin Unit in Guildford, there being no spare beds at the Wingfield Ward, the local Mental Health Inpatient facility where I've spent some time in the past.  I've put 'Voluntary Patient' in inverted commas because I wasn't offered another option.  Over the past few weeks I've been working out my notice at my current employment and preparing for a new venture into self-employment.  I've been coping well with the pressures, but a few lingering self-doubts led to me taking a couple of decisions which Vicky and David interpreted as relapse indicators: I'd phoned my daughter after midnight Thursday night - something I've never done before as she is generally in bed before midnight - and I'd walked barefoot to my son's house (a couple of miles) and woken him at 6 am Friday morning.  He wasn't amused.  They expressed their concern by taking me to the local Accident & Emergency hospital for a psych assessment.  I went willingly as I understood their need to 'do something' about their concerns, and I was confident that a psych assessment would find me perfectly sane.  We spent 11 hours sitting in waiting rooms Friday, then they were tasked to deliver me to the ARC2 ward where I was given a bed in a room with another patient peacefully snoring the night away.

Whilst I was there, we had some glorious summery weather - here's a view from the ARC2 Lounge taken on Wednesday 23rd, looking towards Guildford Cathedral as the sun sets.

Same view the next morning after the thick mist has begun to clear to the extent you can see the buildings nearby but not the Cathedral.

I attended a couple of the therapy groups, including one on Mindfulness.  On the wall of the Therapy Lounge was this piece of artwork/wisdom on coping with feelings.