Posted on 01/22/2006 6:26:02 PM PST by Coleus
Not really.
This is what I was referring to earlier. There is a popular appeal of Eastern religion in America today. I believe a great many of those so attracted have an incorrect understanding of Christ and Christian practice and prayer. Christian contemplation in the Catholic tradition could easily be the bridge to help them come back home.
the Christian monk is neither a gnostic nor an agnostic. The Buddhist monk seems to be one or the other, or both.
was a very good synopsis of the differences I saw in the two meditative approaches. Thanks.
In post 147 you said"...and this is why Zen gets confused as a religion..." Then here you say, " These are vastly different religions". ( Perhaps you will tell me that you mean Buddhism not Zen, endlessly extending the vagaries surrounding all the Eastern beliefs which are as mutable as the earlier claims about "all" being illusion.)
I think you are trying to reconcile too many things that are mutually contradictory. Christianity is founded on the belief that there is One Way, One Truth. That by definition means that there are wrong "religious" teachings and that they must be rejected as false.
Long Island Mattakeesett I think the name is...I think it's called St. Ignatius. Beautiful old mansion full of Buddhists.
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Exactly. In my opinion, "Zen master" and "Catholic Priest" are incompatible.
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Lochlainnach
Since Jan 20, 2006
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Welcome to Free Republic, history major.
I was briefly a Buddhist before I became a Christian.
I have admitted that I am a sinner and in need of the Savior Jesus.
You think like me...therefore you are wise. :-)
Bumped and bookmarked. Good discussion... one day I'll read it all...
Yeah, this is where the problem is coming in. Discussion is zig zagging between Zen and Buddhism. I was talking about Buddhism with the different religions comment, but there's a good possibility I had a slip, of sorts.
I'm not trying to reconcile Christianity and Buddhism asessentially the same relgions. It is quite obvious they are not. The events I'm trying to connect are more thematic than "literal," meaning that there's a certain amount of reading between the lines...which obviously I'm the only one seeing.
I'l have to look back, but I think my initial point was that Zen can be compatible with Christianity, to a certain extent ( as in the Zen master Jesuit, because Zen doesn't have a God or diety structure--and somehow, probably extending from something I wrote, we got to talking about Buddha as well.
Yeah, I don't remember Jesus liking the sword, plagues too much.
Is the pope still Catholic? >>
Yes, and this priest isn't. Wait until the Pope finds out.>>>>
Oh, and you think the Pope is going to do something about this? Like he's done ANYTHING about any of the other problem priests all over the world?
It used to be that a prospective seminarian with homosexual tendencies was prohibited from admission. Now, all he has to do is promise he's been chaste for 3 years. After ordination, the new rules don't apply anymore. Real tough, huh?
What if the true Zen masters desire no recognition or fame, and therefore hide themselves away from everyone, and stop eating. Perhaps all the true Zen masters have starved themselves to death. The ones that survive, then, are fakes.
Like he's done ANYTHING about any of the other problem priests all over the world? >>
he's done a lot more than one will ever know. things are shaping up, have patience.
A lot more than one will ever know?
Let's see: if one will never know most of what he's done, then the EFFECTS (the consequences of action) must be mostly unknowable. Otherwise, we would be able to know what he's done. So, if "one will [never] know" the effects, is it possible that those who believe that "a lot more" is being done are merely dreaming it?
If it IS merely a dream, for example, that is, not objectively real but imaginary, in the minds of benevolent dreamers, it has a reality, as it were, but not one in the order of practical consequences. It has a subjective reality, but not an objective reality.
Therefore, since the effects would not be in the objective order but merely in the subjective order of things, for me to "have patience" because "things are shaping up," I would have to be waiting for my own subjective reality to change and catch up with the "shaping up" that is happening in the minds of some other, benevolent dreamers; like, perhaps, you.
I'm sorry to disappoint you, Coleus, but I have no intention of sitting back and dreaming, and allowing my mind to artificially construct a fantasy of utopian substance. I have no desire to engage in such "nowhere" musings.
In case you didn't know, "utopia" means "nowhere."
On a personal note, your sentences would evoke more credibility if you were to choose the UPPER CASE for the first letter of same.
Maybe the whole fr is just a dream, are we really here, is the fr really here? Boo!
Please forgive my confusion, but I fail to see how my postings "blemish the name of a saint." I know quite a few saints whose words were far more blunt and courageous than mine are.
Perhaps you could be more clear in your ramblings: if, that is, you want to be understood by anybody.
Regarding the capitalization advice, I was only trying to be helpful. But it's great to know I "made [your] day!" Did you make mine? Hmm...
The other responses to your question missed the point. But whether you were looking for the point is another question.
Are you asking what the object of using Buddhist prayer beads compared to the object of using the Catholic rosary is?
Because, while the two look similar, they are easily seen to look different. A child can tell which are rosaries and which are Buddhist beads. Although a child might have a more difficult time telling Buddha beads apart from Mardi Gras beads, for example.
And there is a case in point: what is the objective of using Mardi Gras beads? Or, more tellingly, is the object of using Buddhist beads closer to the object of using Mardi Gras beads or to the object of using rosary beads? IOW, the physical beads and the superficial action of their use (keeping track of spoken words) is not as important as the intended purpose of their use.
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