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The Row Boat"Had we but world enough, and time..." *
Interfaith Compromises9/18/2005 17:33:24Today I went to a "Buddhist-Christian" retreat at the Providence Zen Center, featuring a Buddhist monk from the center and a Catholic Trappist monk from St. Joseph's Abbey. Mainly, it was a nice day of sitting and staring at the floor, eating bland but nourishing food, and walking around in circles trying not to try to discover and perfect the truth of human existence. I was glad for all these things. But as a moment of genuine exchange, it felt much like many interfaith events I have been to in which no great discoveries are really made. Instead of everybody feeling at home, nobody feels at home, for an environment is created to suit all that actually doesn't feel right for anybody. I believe first of all, perhaps foolishly, that there is one divinity and principle of human meaning in the universe, one which we all seek one way or another, and that there are many paths to that, whatever it is. Even that is just one way of wording what I mean. In fact, it could just as well be said quite oppositely, I imagine. But also I believe that there are differences between religions and, despite what many dialougers tend to emphasize, those differences are important to people and deserve to be recognized. Sometimes these differences feel impossible to overcome, and very likely they have to be. But if all is one, there must be a wisdom beyond our for which all these things are reconciled. The great miracles come this way, in things too great to be understood. What ended up happening was a mainly Buddhist retreat that happened to have a guy who happened to be a Christian monk. But mainly he sought to offer narrow readings of the Christian tradition that confirm the need for Buddhist-like meditation. No sense was made available of a Christianity that seeks other values and practices, nor the fruits of the monk's own Cistercian tradition, nor even of the kind of prayer that Jesus taught. Christians were left to feel unfairly ashamed of their own faith. In interfaith encounters, the tension is always one between an emphasis on similarity or divergence. Both must be recognized and embraced. But never should a tradition be presented in such a way that puts aside its core principles, even in order to demonstrate common ground. Their linguistic and representative meaning is crucial. We should come to these discussions proud of what we represent, the way we are proud of our home: not to say it is better than anybody else's but why it is life for us. The crucial teacher, though, is always friendship beyond the mere content of religion. That is something wonderful about human nature, which it does automatically. Two representatives can discuss the logics of their dogmas until the end of the earth, but very likely they will never seek peace until they've taken a ride on a row boat together, or offered each other cigarettes, or had some good adventures, person-to-person. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
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