Bill, I just love your post !! Although we could show some points
of similitud beetwen Christians and Budhists, a Christian hardly
would say "I'm Jesus" or "I'm God". We Christiands may say, I think,
that we tend to be in yhe precense of God as humble (is this the
rigth word?) sond of God. If a Budhist looks for nothing in
meditation, I would look for the Absolute, the presence of God, but
saying that I'm God...
Saludos, Guillermo.
--- In [email protected], "Bill Smart" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> >On Wednesday, December 14, 2005 1:51 PM Al posted:
> >From: "Ian" <> Is there a difference between saying "I am Buddha"
and "I am
> >God" ?
> >Dear Ian,
> >Thank you for putting into words a concept that was nagging at me.
As a
> >person who grew up as a Christian, every time I hear "I am Buddha"
or
> >something like that, I am reminded of the many incredibly shallow
if not
> >evil persons who I remember claiming to be one with Jesus.
[...balance
> snipped...]
>
> Ian and Al,
> [The following post is my non-authoritative opinion only! Caveat
Emptor!]
>
> First point:
> 'God' refers to a separate, external deity. You can establish a
> relationship with God, but cannot become God. [Jesus is of course
one of
> the three facets of God in Christianity; along with God the Father
and the
> Holy Spirit. I think it would be a great topic to discuss the
Christian
> Trinity vis-à-vis Buddhism to discover analogies, or not - but not
in this
> posting.]
>
> 'Buddha' refers to an integral, internal state of awareness. You
can awaken
> this state of awareness and allow it to subsume your self. You can
become
> Buddha. (Actually you already ARE Buddha - but not in this
posting.)
>
> Second Point:
> Sometimes my postings 'talk about zen'. Sometimes my postings
are 'zen
> talk'. Saying 'You create your own reality.' is 'talk about zen',
(or maybe
> about something else). Saying 'Mind is Buddha.' is 'zen talk'.
>
> Third Point:
> Saying 'I am Buddha' is zen talk directed specifically to the
> comment/question Al posed to me, which was: >>You are your own
god. Nothing
> above you, everything is below you?<<
> My response was first a positive one: 'I am Buddha', meaning I am
aware
> that Buddha is my before-thought mind; and continued to address Al's
> question about 'above' and 'below', to point out their dualistic,
non-zen
> nature: 'Above and Below - where are they?' The object was to have
Al (or
> any reader) to become aware of the dualism in this question, to
think about
> where 'above/below' comes from, to realize it comes from his
dualistic,
> after-thought mind, and to JUST STOP IT!, ...and become Buddha too,
( - but
> not in this posting.)
>
> >Does every religion has the same archetypes? Fanatics, skeptics,
> true-believers, etc.??
>
> Of course. Haven't you ever heard of Tookie Williams? (Oh, I
forgot,
> Tookie is discussed in another thread, but - not in this posting.)
>
> Gassho...Bill!
>
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