Jesus through Buddhist eyes

His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, speaking to a capacity audience in the
Albert Hall in 1984 united his listeners instantly withone simple
statement: "Allbeings want to be happy; they want to avoid pain and
suffering." I was impressed at how he was able to touch what we share
as human beings. He affirmed our common humanity, without in any way
dismissing the obvious differences.
When invited to look at Jesus through Buddhist eyes, I had imagined
that I would use a 'compare and contrast' approach, rather like a
school essay. I was brought up as a Christian and turned to Buddhism
in my early thirties, so of course I have ideas about both traditions:
the one I grew up in and turned aside from, and the one I adopted and
continue to practise within. But after re-reading some of the gospel
stories, I would like to meet Jesus again with fresh eyes, and to
examine the extent to which he and the Buddha were in fact offering
the same guidance, even though the traditions of Christianity and
Buddhismcan appear in the surface to be rather different.
A little about how I came to be a Buddhist nun
Having tried with sincerityto approach my Christian journey in a way
that wasmeaningful within the context of everyday life, I had reached
a point of deep weariness and despair. I was weary with the apparent
complexity of it all; despair had arisenbecause I was not able to find
any way of working with the less helpful states that would creep,
unbidden, into the mind: the worry, jealousy, grumpiness, and so on.
And even positive states could turn around and transform themselves
intopride or conceit, which were of course equally unwanted.
Eventually, I met Ajahn Sumedho, an American-born Buddhist monk,
whohad just arrived in England after training for ten years in
Thailand. His teacher was Ajahn Chah, aThai monk of the Forest
Tradition who, in spite of little formal education, won the hearts of
many thousands of people, including a significant number of
Westerners. I attended a ten-day retreat at Oakenholt Buddhist Centre,
near Oxford, and sat in agony on a mat on the floor of the draughty
meditation hall, along with about 40 other retreatants of different
shapes and sizes.In front of us was Ajahn Sumedho, who presented the
teachings and guided us in meditation, with three other monks.
This was a turning point for me. Although the whole experience was
extremely tough - both physically and emotionally - I felt
hugelyencouraged. The teachings were presented in a wonderfully
accessible style, and just seemed like ordinary common sense. It
didn't occur to me that it was 'Buddhism'. Also, they were immensely
practical and as if to prove it, we had, directly in front of us,the
professionals - people who had made a commitment to living them out,
twenty-four hours a day. I was totally fascinated by those monks: by
their robes andshaven heads, and by what I heard of their renunciant
lifestyle, with its 227 rules of training. I also saw that they were
relaxed and happy - perhaps that was the most remarkable, and indeed
slightly puzzling, thing about them.
I felt deeply drawn by theteachings, and by the Truth they were
pointing to: the acknowledgement that, yes, this life is inherently
unsatisfactory, we experience suffering or dis-ease - but there is
aWay that can lead us to the ending of this suffering. Also, although
the idea was quite shocking to me, I saw within the awakening of
interest in being part of a monastic community.
Christ in the desert, Ivan Kramskoj ©
So now, after more than twenty years as a Buddhist nun, what do I find
as I encounter Jesus in the gospel stories?
Well, I have to say that hecomes across as being much more human than
I remember. Although there is much said about him being the son of
God, somehow that doesn't seem nearly as significant to me as the fact
that he is a person - a man of great presence, enormousenergy and
compassion, and significant psychic abilities.
He also has a great gift forconveying spiritual truth in the form of
images, using the most everyday things to illustrate points he wishes
to make: bread,fields, corn, salt, children, trees. People don't
alwaysunderstand at once, but are left with an image to ponder. Also
he has a mission - to re-open the Way to eternal life; and he's quite
uncompromising in his commitment to, as he puts it, "carrying out his
Father's will".
:->

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