Shrine of Differences and Similarities
In the Klong Toey slums of Bangkok en route to a preschool graduation
Excerpted from my book, THE GOSPEL OF FATHER JOE>: Revolutions and Revelations in the Slums of Bangkok
Christ never said there wouldn’t be suffering, but all of life is not suffering, as formal Buddhism teaches, Father Joe explained. “We have this tendency in us to goof off, and we have a tendency in us to do really dumb things—in some of us, that tendency gets really strong. But life is not about suffering. Jesus came along and said, I will give you a way of thinking and a way of acting and a set of ethics, and if you live this way, yes, shit is going to happen, but you will basically be happy. If you live this way, act this way, treat people
this way, it will all be OK.”
Five centuries before Christ, the Buddha taught that nirvana — blissful emancipation from the carnal desires and attachments that lock humankind to perpetual suffering and rebirth —is found only through a learned, diligent mind and a compassionate heart. It’s the same basic lesson that ran through Christ’s teachings, and Muhammad, who showed up about five centuries after Christ, said many of the same things. Renounce material gain and selfish comfort in favor of selfless action.
All three — the Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad, in that order and historical symmetry —warned of the cravings that blind and bind humankind to ignorance, greed, lust, jealousy, anger, apathy, fear, hatred, and so on. It’s the poison pumping through the veins of narcissism. Or as the pastors of my youth might call it, Satan’s side of the street. The Buddha didn’t discuss goodness and evil in the scare-the-devil-out-of-you way of a Southern Baptist, but he spoke of the Truth, or Dharma, as a spiritual awakening ushering us into eternal peace.
It seemed to me that our differences were semantic. At the very least, this nirvana stuff must be close kin to the paradise promised by the Christian resurrection.
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If interested, you may download Chapter 1 on publisher's website HERE
For more information on Father Joe's work and chairty visit the Mercy Centre website or its USA tax-deductible equivalent here
Shrine of Differences and Similarities
In the Klong Toey slums of Bangkok en route to a preschool graduation
Excerpted from my book, THE GOSPEL OF FATHER JOE>: Revolutions and Revelations in the Slums of Bangkok
Christ never said there wouldn’t be suffering, but all of life is not suffering, as formal Buddhism teaches, Father Joe explained. “We have this tendency in us to goof off, and we have a tendency in us to do really dumb things—in some of us, that tendency gets really strong. But life is not about suffering. Jesus came along and said, I will give you a way of thinking and a way of acting and a set of ethics, and if you live this way, yes, shit is going to happen, but you will basically be happy. If you live this way, act this way, treat people
this way, it will all be OK.”
Five centuries before Christ, the Buddha taught that nirvana — blissful emancipation from the carnal desires and attachments that lock humankind to perpetual suffering and rebirth —is found only through a learned, diligent mind and a compassionate heart. It’s the same basic lesson that ran through Christ’s teachings, and Muhammad, who showed up about five centuries after Christ, said many of the same things. Renounce material gain and selfish comfort in favor of selfless action.
All three — the Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad, in that order and historical symmetry —warned of the cravings that blind and bind humankind to ignorance, greed, lust, jealousy, anger, apathy, fear, hatred, and so on. It’s the poison pumping through the veins of narcissism. Or as the pastors of my youth might call it, Satan’s side of the street. The Buddha didn’t discuss goodness and evil in the scare-the-devil-out-of-you way of a Southern Baptist, but he spoke of the Truth, or Dharma, as a spiritual awakening ushering us into eternal peace.
It seemed to me that our differences were semantic. At the very least, this nirvana stuff must be close kin to the paradise promised by the Christian resurrection.
---
If interested, you may download Chapter 1 on publisher's website HERE
For more information on Father Joe's work and chairty visit the Mercy Centre website or its USA tax-deductible equivalent here