A beautiful story, but it fails to live up to the promise of the title. What key difference is discussed? That this person chose belief in one religion over another? Any Muslim could tell the same story with same accuracy. This writer's grouping of nirvana with salvation does not give confidence in his understanding of what he labels Eastern Mysticism.
On Oct 6, 6:37 pm, xnun <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Robert <[email protected]> > > Date: May 21, 8:22 am > > Subject: Key Difference Between Christianity and Eastern Mysticism > > To: Spiritual Warfare > > I am not a theologian, but neither am I a complete novice to > comparative religions. > > I have read widely in both Eastern religions and Christianity. > I spent seven years in Korea and Japan while in the US military, > familiarizing myself with the local practices of Shaman, Shinto, > and Buddhism. I have been to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on several > 30-90-day tours of duty. So I have had more than average exposure, > and done my own first-hand investigations. > > Although I was raised Roman Catholic, I had found it to be a > bureaucracy, not focused on the Bible, but on the institutions, > traditions and customs of the church. (I was later disappointed to > find that even in Buddhist monasteries, there is bureaucratic > infighting.) > > Having a hunger for understanding spiritual truth, I began looking > elsewhere, and my journey took me through Buddhism, Bahaism, > meditation, martial arts, and various other avenues in seeking truth. > > It was not until later in life that I actually read the Bible. > Perhaps I was not ready until then. > > I took a lot of prejudices into the Bible. I had always believed what > I had been told about it, that it was myth, symbolism, historically > inaccurate, and full of contradictions. > > My discovery was quite different. First, there are a lot of passages > in the Bible that seem never to be read aloud in church, but which are > central to its understanding. > > One day I was discussing a particular passage in The Revelation with a > phenomenal Baptist preacher who got no salary from his church duties, > and who worked full time as a welder in a shipyard. He was not an > intellectual by elitist standards. But he had down-to-earth wisdom > that, imo, made him on a par with Billy Graham and the Pope, a > comparison which he would vigorously and humbly reject. > > I was trying to understand a passage in Revelation, and preacher Tom > bluntly told me, read it again, as if you had never heard of the Bible > before. Don't interpret it. Just read what it says. > > That was a watershed moment for me, and from then on, I was > continually amazed at what I found in the Bible. > > At another time, my life had unraveled to a bitter low, and my faith > had waned. I was working in my front yard on a hot day, and as I made > my way toward the back yard, I said an impromptu prayer that went > something like this. Lord, I know that you do not work miracles the > way illusionists do parlor tricks. But if I may say so Lord, if ever > there was a time when you decided to give me a sign from heaven, this > might be that time. > > Just then I rounded the corner of the house, and there on the ground > before me, helpless, was a baby dove. > > I had never seen a baby dove before, nor have I since then. I later > discovered that doves are very careful about hiding their young. And > our neighborhood has a robust population of hawks that keep the dove > population very low. > > I scooped up the dove, and since it had some physical problems, I kept > it in the house for about the next three years until it died. > > During that time, I learned so much from that little bird that I could > write a book. I also experienced other miracles from God, not the > parting of the Red Sea type of miracle, but ones which were very > personal, very intense, and for which there are no reasonable physical > explanations. > > What separates me from many of my Baptist fellow believers, is that I > believe that God has revealed His wisdom to many cultures, which is > why we find accurate prophecies among the Mayas, Apaches, Hawaiians, > other peoples isolated from the Judeo-Christian lineage. > > I admire the effort of eastern mystics to unravel the fundamentals of > life. > > But having developed a personal relationship with my Lord and Savior > Jesus the Messiah, I find that He stands alone, incomparable, unique, > and all sufficient. > > This is because while so many other religions emphasize salvation (or > nirvana, etc) in terms of individual effort, the Bible makes it clear > that salvation is the work of God alone. > > This is a huge difference in approach. > > In Christianity, we are obliged to follow Jesus, and to obey His > teachings. But this is a love obligation, not a punishment > obligation. God knows that we will fail, that our utmost effort is > woefully insufficient. > > So He walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death. He > remains at our side. He goes before us to win the victory. Even > though our sins make us completely unworthy as prodigal sons, yet he > cleanses us of those sins. > > When Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment, He answered, > love the Lord your God with all your heart. > > That's it. A loving relationship with the Lord God. When you have > that, you need never worry about Karma, about the cycle of rebirth, > about "earning" your way to nirvana. > > Jesus has gone before us to prepare a place, and we need merely take > care not to reject His love and His forgiveness. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "A Civil Religious Debate" group. 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