tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969281918175291060.post4349870292808719420..comments2023-10-30T01:29:52.015-07:00Comments on Homeless Tom: The collision of the finite and the infinite. Or, What Jesus was trying to tell us.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969281918175291060.post-39283551009876188932009-06-25T02:29:39.914-07:002009-06-25T02:29:39.914-07:00Tom:
My post:
here, (the Nichiren folks have per...Tom:<br /><br />My post:<br /><br /><a href="http://mumonno.blogspot.com/2009/05/lotus-sutra-chapter-4.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>, (the Nichiren folks have perhaps a more user-friendly <a href="http://lotus.nichirenshu.org/lotus/sutra/english/watson/lsw_chap04.htm" rel="nofollow">translation</a>.)Mumon Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01116967568502451788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969281918175291060.post-27655351058845286602009-06-24T10:16:20.441-07:002009-06-24T10:16:20.441-07:00Thanks, Pablo. Indeed, Christianity as seen by th...Thanks, Pablo. Indeed, Christianity as seen by the Gnostics or from some liberal definitions are what's really interesting, I think.<br /><br />Conservative Christianity is much the screwy Pharisee position of our time: Rigid to the point of operating in direct contrast to the spirit of Jesus's message.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969281918175291060.post-36209017345106912662009-06-24T10:13:20.008-07:002009-06-24T10:13:20.008-07:00Mumon,
Thanks, as always, for your kind comments....Mumon,<br /><br />Thanks, as always, for your kind comments.<br /><br />I think that whether Jesus was influenced by Buddhism or not, directly or indirectly, is interesting, if more research might lead to more knowledge about it. In any case, I think the insights of Buddhism are "out there" and would be found by an enlightened person if his gnosis isn't colored by the pre-existing dogma that a person is attached to. [I figure 'Buddhism' is uncolored enlightenment.]<br /><br />Joseph Campbell found a lot of similarities between religions, especially so as things get weighty from the more-profound insights relating to mysticism.<br /><br />I'll want to check out your Lotus series, and especially as it relates to the so-called Prodigal Son. The prodigal son thing gets a lot of attention in Homeless World, since, obviously, the community is the very definition of being "the rabble" the Pharisees disparaged.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969281918175291060.post-27295227637799316372009-06-24T09:39:31.711-07:002009-06-24T09:39:31.711-07:00Nice post. I've been raised as a Christian and...Nice post. I've been raised as a Christian and and never thought that way of what Jesus taught. <br /><br />I was born in a Christian cage, and was raised in it. Later I came out and began exploring other beliefs (and many times start to follow them). Now I try not to follow any man nor religion. Like what this article said, I try to judge by myself. <br /><br />It is refreshing to look at Christianity from this point of view, without the fundamentalist presuppositions. Jesus' teachings surely have more value than what Christians believe.<br /><br />Pablo Antuna<br /><a href="http://buddhism-eyes.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">Buddhism Through Buddhist Eyes</a>Pablohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11389808587848128327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969281918175291060.post-1698709320508795562009-06-24T05:34:22.351-07:002009-06-24T05:34:22.351-07:00Oh, and the "reason" as to why these sim...Oh, and the "reason" as to why these similarities exist is simple:<br /><br />The Roman empire was far more culturally porous than it later became, and Buddhism was likely not unknown there, but when the book burnings began Buddhist literature was likely in the piles of burning scrolls.Mumon Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01116967568502451788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969281918175291060.post-89924350040769115142009-06-24T05:32:41.814-07:002009-06-24T05:32:41.814-07:00"In an astounding conceptual coup, he applies...<i>"In an astounding conceptual coup, he applies the fundamental principle of law – reciprocity – to the law itself. In this way he attempts to break the vicious circle of sin and condemnation and guilt, once and for all."</i><br /><br /><br><br /><br />This is a true insight - both because it's <i>true</i> what you wrote here, <i>and</i> it's an insight...<br /><br><br />And having just blogged on the 20-somethingthith chapter of the Lotus Sutra, it brings to mind yet again the odd connection of this sutra and Christianity.<br /><br><br />I don't believe the hoo-hah that Jesus visited India or what-not; and it's possible that "Jesus" as a historical figure may not have existed, and certainly not as in the gospels. But the intriguing thing to me is that the Lotus Sutra contains "pieces" of what later evidently found their way into the gospels. One obvious bit is the Lotus Sutra contains its own Prodigal Son myth. In the Lotus Sutra, unlike in the gospels, the son works his way back in to his father's good graces without knowing it's his father into whose graces he's working, and profits far more than if he hadn't been prodigal in the first place.<br /><br><br />The other area which I now see is the self-referentiality of the sutra itself. <br /><br><br /><br />Interesting. Never thought of that. Probably sends chills up fundamentalists' spines.Mumon Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01116967568502451788noreply@blogger.com