Interbeing

Og · 07-15-2007, 06:57 AM

I just started going through the book "Living Buddha, Living Christ" by Thich Nhat Hanh.

Nhat Hanh says the following on the topic of what he calls "Interbeing."

Quote:

In the Psalms, it says, "Be still and know that I am God." "Be Still" means to become peaceful and concentrated. The Buddhist term is samatha (stopping, calming, concentrating). "Know" means to acquire wisdom, insight or understanding. The Buddhist term is vipasyana (insight, or looking deeply). "Looking deeply" means observing something or someone with so much concentration that the distinction between observer and observed disappears. The result is insight into the true nature of the object. The result is insight into the true nature of the object. When we look into the heart of a flower, we see clouds, sunshine, minerals, time, the earth, and everything else in the cosmos in it. Without clouds, there could be no rain, and there would be no flower. Without time, the flower could not bloom. In fact, the flower is made entirely of non-flower elements; it has no independent, individual existence. It "inter-is" with everything else in the universe. Interbeing is a new term, but I believe it will be in the dictionary soon because it is such an important word. When we see the nature of interbeing, barriers between ourselves and others are dissolved and peace, love, and understanding are possible. Whenever there is understanding, compassion is born.

Just as a flower is made only of non-flower elements, Buddhism is made only of non-Buddhist elements, including Christian ones, and Christianity is made of non-Christian elements, including Buddhist ones. We have different roots, traditions and ways of seeing, but we share the common qualities of love, understanding, and acceptance. For our dialog to be open, we need to open our hearts, set aside our prejudices, listen deeply, and represent truthfully what we know and understand. To do this, we need a certain amount of faith. In Buddhism, faith means confidence in our and others' abilities to wake up to our deepest capacity of loving and understanding. In Christianity, faith means trust in God, the One who represents love, understanding, dignity, and truth. When we are still, looking deeply, and touching the source of our wisdom, we touch the living Buddha and the living Christ in ourselves and in each person we meet.

In this small book, I shall try to share some of my experiences of insights into two of the world's beautiful flowers, Buddhism and Christianity, so that we as a society can begin to dissolve our wrong perceptions, transcend our wrong views, and see one another in fresh, new ways. If we can enter the twenty-first century with this spirit of mutual understanding and acceptance, our children and their children will surely benefit.

To me, this is a wonderful expression of the ideas I try to convey to one another. The essence of "Tat Tvam Asi" in my signature and the communication of self as myth/illusion is EXACTLY what this author is expressing about the flower in the above passage.

Everyone is an expression of the entire realm of nature. Their minds and the way they adapt are formed by their environment just as the raw meat of their body is produced much as the above flower is produced. And every component that works to produce you and who you are is formed in an identical way, as an expression of all of the forces of the universe of which it, itself, is one.

This is the way the universe works. Its how all engineering and physics math is conceptualized. It's exactly the approach that science takes to understanding the universe. It's exactly in touch with what we observe.

The power of this realization is beyond measurement. It shows that the notion of an individual is an illusion. If there is a god that interacts with the cosmos, the we are identical with it just as we are with all other aspects of the cosmos.. There is no separation or sinful nature.. Those are just ideas in your head. All is as it should be. All is part of one process.

harleylove · 07-15-2007, 10:00 PM

I can't believe I missed this post. It's poetic, beautiful and so true. Now I understand what you were saying by self being a myth. Is this the true teachings of Buddhism or the author's feelings?

Og · 07-16-2007, 06:18 AM

This is the true teaching of buddhism. In the avatamsaka sutra (flower wreath sutra) which is the largest and most fundamental buddhist sutra, the buddha puts forward the notion of "Indra's net" or "The Jeweled net of indra"

The idea (is metaphorical and not literal) is that there is some infinite net of perfectly polished jewels in all directions. Each jewel is polished such that it reflects every other jewel in the net. Reflected in each jewel is every other jewel. If one jewel moves, all other jewels reflect this motion. Each jewel is a reflection of the entire universe.

I wear a ring on my finger from the lord of the rings movies (the ring of barahir) prop shop. It's got two snakes (one devouring and one supporting a garden of flowers) and they wrap around a single green jewel.

To me, this ring is not about elves and such stuff. To me, the ring represents the jewel in the net that is me. The two snakes represent the categories of thought that are illusion (i.e. choice of left/right, good/evil, fear desire, being/nonbeing). It's basically a symbol of the garden of eden and indra's net all in one.

It's remarkable to me that hindu/buddhist philosophy has such a fundamental grasp of the world. Their intellectual interpretation of the same fundamental forms of christianity is what really draws me to it. I don't go along with all of the ideas/teachings of buddhism in it's more ascetic forms of rejecting the world and reincarnation and such, but there is much of it that I think is pure truth.

harleylove · 07-16-2007, 07:33 AM

When I first joined this forum, Laura Clay recommended I check out Buddhism. I tried but some of the stuff I was reading seemed to strict in thought which turned me off. I didn't realize that it was so beautiful and poetic. When I try to research it online it seems to come back to the same things(four noble truths and noble eightfold path) and kind of gave me the feeling I wouldn't "qualify". If that makes any sense. Last night after reading, I realized that it is much deeper than that. A philosophy based on happiness.

The jeweled net of Indra is also beautiful, and a very good explanation of the Universe. Is all of Buddhism this poetic?

Og · 07-16-2007, 10:16 AM

I recommend getting the book "Myths of Light: Eastern metaphors of the Eternal" by Joseph Campbell

He presents it in a beautiful way and in terms that western minds can get their heads around.

From my experience, buddhism is all this poetic. But my experience with buddhism is very western. It's all inclusive.

I think you'll be interested to see the parallels between the birth/teachings of christ and the birth/teachings of the original buddha (500 years BC). They are identical in nearly every aspect.

Campbell calls buddhism and christianity equivalent mythological symbols.

For what it's worth, I think everyone in the world should be a buddhist.

harleylove · 07-16-2007, 01:28 PM

Yeah, it would definitely be a much better place. I tried researching Buddhism but there are so many types. Personally, I find that a bit confusing.

Thanks for the book suggestion it sounds good, I'm going to take you up on it. I happen to be on vacation so it's the perfect time and the Christianity part has me interested. I have nothing against Christianity except the whole heaven hell/fear part, it would be interesting to see how it relates to Buddhism.

Thanks!

Og · 07-16-2007, 03:06 PM

There are so many types of buddhism because there are so many types of people. That's the distinction. None are in conflict with one another. You don't need to join with a specific type. Buddhism of one or whatever. It all depends on where you're coming from. The point of buddhism is that it is not about obtaining enlightenment. It is a vehicle for the process.

Anthony deMello died the same year as joseph campbell and was a jesuit (catholic) priest in india. His work is some of the best amalgamation of buddhist thought in terms of christian imagery that I've seen. He basically interprets christianity in buddhist terms but never says so.

His stuff has been very powerful for me. See "Awareness" and "The Way to Love"

Og · 07-16-2007, 05:42 PM

I'll add that the current pope (before he was the pope) issued a statement from the vatican that the writings of demello constituted a chance of grave harm if you were to read them. They have since retracted their statement and said that deMello's teachings should be used to spread the word to atheists instead and are not designed for the faithful.

So you know he got something right

harleylove · 07-16-2007, 06:48 PM

That gave me a chuckle

about the pope.

Between DeMello and Campbell, whose work would you recommend more? Also noticed that DeMello has 2 books with the title Awakening, is there one specific one you are talking about?

Og · 07-16-2007, 07:36 PM

The title is "Awareness: The perils and opportunities of reality"

That's what my grandmother gave me while I was at college

I would recommend the "Myths of light" book by campbell though to start with. It does a wonderful tour of eastern spirituality.