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Jan Alexander
Steve, to address your recent post to me...
Theology is the study of religion. "It examines the human experience of faith, and how different people and cultures express it. Theologians examine the many different religions of the world and their impact on society. ... Studying theology means taking on challenging questions about the meaning of religion."
I posted this a while back on the other site
I read the book, Living Buddha, Living Christ, by Thich Nhat Hanh , a Noble Peace Prize recipient. . I tend to read about a lot of religions and I try to pick up things in each that give me inspiration. In this book he compares both the life of Buddha and Christ and discusses the similarities as well as the differences... one quote of his :
" The attitude /notion that Christianity provides the only way of salvation and all other religious traditions are of no use, excludes dialogue and fosters religious intolerance and discrimination. It does not help." .
He speaks from his own experience, " In the time the French who colonized Vietnam allied themselves with Christian missionary efforts to the crisis of 1963 when President Diem passed a law prohibiting his people from celebrating the Buddhist national holiday, many Vietnamese have understandably associated Christianity with foreign attempts to establish political and cultural domination."
The first paragraph says.. [ "Twenty years ago at a conference I attended of theologians and professors of religion, an Indian Christian told the assemby, “ We are going to hear about the beauties of several traditions, but that doesn’t mean we are going to make a fruit salad”. When it was my turn to speak , I said , “Fruit salad can be delicious! I have shared the Eucharist with Father Daniel Berrigan, and our worshop became possible because of the sufferings we Vietnamese and Americans shared over many years.” Some of the Buddhists present were shocked to hear that I had participated in the Eucharist,, and many Christians seemed horrified. To me, religious life is life. I don’t see any reason to spend one’s whole life tasting just one kind of fruit. We human beings can be nourished by the best values of many traditions"].
"[Professor Hans Kung has said, “Untill there is peace between religions, there can be no peace in the world. People kill and are killed because they cling too tightly to their own beliefs and ideologies. When we believe that ours is the only faith that contains the truth , violence and suffering will surely result.” The second precept of the Order of Interbeing, founded by the Zen Buddhist tradition during the war in Vietnam , is about letting go views: Do not think the knowledge you presently possess is changeless, absolute truth. Avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. Learn and practice nonattachment from views in order to be open to receive others’ viewpoints.” To me, this is the most essential practice of peace. ]"
“Our capacity to make peace with another person and with the world depends very much on our capacity to make peace with ourselves… In the Psalms, it says, “Be still and know the I am God”. “know” means to acquire wisdom , insight , or understanding.”
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unless I fall off Devil's tower first. . If so, I will be Ms. Casper the friendly ghost..
