On Wed, 22 Sep 2004 19:30:27 -0400, "AC" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > From: Basil D. Lalli They are important parts of major religions > (Judaism, Christianity, > Islam, Hinduism). >> > > There is no mystical Christianity that I have ever heard of, especially > not in any reputable Church. You can find marginal sects in any religion. > The study of enlightenment is definitely not something that Christians > are ever taught.
I agree. However, perhaps your expectations should be re-set regarding Buddhism because the situation is not all that different for the majority of those who call themselves Buddhists. In most parts of Asia, Buddhism is largely a social construct, a vehicle for carrying out old animistic rituals and serving the needs of the lay people. Enlightenment doesn't come into the picture much (certainly not for laypeople) - it is no more than 100 years ago that meditation was quite rare even among monks in Thailand. Most Buddhists do not practise Buddhism, they just adhere to it, as do most Christians I imagine. It is unfortunate and certainly not in accord with what the Buddha taught, but then again, I am not too sure if conventional Christianity is all that in accord with what Jesus taught either. As already said, I make the distinction between Buddhism, as a practise, and Buddhism as a conventional institution. It appears that you judge the former on the standards of the latter, when really there is often little corelation. To use an extreme example to illustrate the point, it could be likened to saying that the Crusades embody Jesus' teachings of loving thy neighbour. It is only in the west, for various reasons, that we see Buddhism on a larger scale being trabsplanted as an actual religion cenereted around the concept of enlightenment in this lifetime. And even then, these constitute a minority I believe, compared to the asians who have migrated and carried their conventional Buddhism with them. No doubt, as Buddhism takes hold and we begin to see generations who have grown up as Buddhists, we will see the same indifference towards the concept of enlightenment in the west. It seems to be human nature that only a minority will take much interest in it. > Salvation comes directly from accepting Jesus as your > personal Saviour. Why then would a Christian need enlightenment too? This was an invention of the Nicean council. It is not the teachings of Christ. You would be surprised at how one-sided and thoroughly edited and distorted the teachings of Christ that have come down to us through conventional Christianity is. Sadly, the religious and political monopoly of the roman church has effected that. > You stated that the Muslim religion has some large sect that is dedicated > to meditation and enlightenment? Do you know the name and address of that > Muslim sect? You could do the world a great service by e-mailing that > information to the Muslims. Sufism is not a too marginalised part of islam. I am sure Japan could have used a call from a Zen Buddhist temple when they had delusions of grandeur in WWII, and Hitler I am sure could have used a call from his local priest. I am not sure how realistic it is to expect any religion to save the people from their own folly. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/S27xlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Livelihood Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZenForum/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
