Hi Aaron: First off, I want to express my gratitude and appreciation for the new wondercafe. It is so much better than the old one!
The sound quality on the above video is not very good, and I am a bit hard of hearing, so I didn't understand most of it.
I do, however, realize that Buddhist compassion is less interfering. It is more of a "suffering with," a fellow feeling rather than the desire to eliminate other people's suffering at all costs, as we Christains tend to see it, and which is not always possible, and may not always be wise. Their non-interfering compassion is not indifference, though. It may have something to do with their belief in Karma, in which present suffering has been caused by past action.
The ultimate aim of Buddhism is not to alleviate suffering--which may not be possible--but to get beyond dualities, and thus beyond suffering, into realm of the infinite. This level of enlightenment--the attainment of Buddhahood or Christhood--is the same in Buddhism as it is in Christianity.
AaronMcGallegos
Posted on: 10/14/2008 09:47
Hi Arminius,
Borg mentions in this video that the root of "compassion" in the Bible is to share wounds. Not unlike the Buddhist concept you mention above. Then Borg and Thurman get into a discussion personal vs. abstract theism, and also find agreement on that. The video is originally from an interesting site called 12-Step Buddhist.
Thanks, Aaron, for giving me the point of the discussion.
In personal theism, of course, Creator and created are united, and God suffers the suffering of all creatures. This is theistic "with-suffering," and profoundly expressed in our religion by the deep suffering of the "Son of God."
In us humans, however, suffering is beyond mere pain. Our worst suffering is spiritual and psychological. The crushing awareness of our mortality means constant suffering for us, and we had to develop the awareness of our immortality to negate that suffering.
It is in personal theism, in a personal relationship with God, in the Unitive awarenss of at-one-ment with God that we negate the awarenss of our mortality most effectively and propel ourselves beyond suffering into the longed-for Nirvana or Eden. This is what theistic compassion ultimately compells us to do, and this is what both Gautama the Buddha and Jesus the Christ stood for.
And I trust that this was what the two wise men, as aspirants to Chisthood or Buddhahood, said to each other--more or less
Comments
Arminius
Posted on: 10/14/2008 01:20
Hi Aaron: First off, I want to express my gratitude and appreciation for the new wondercafe. It is so much better than the old one!
The sound quality on the above video is not very good, and I am a bit hard of hearing, so I didn't understand most of it.
I do, however, realize that Buddhist compassion is less interfering. It is more of a "suffering with," a fellow feeling rather than the desire to eliminate other people's suffering at all costs, as we Christains tend to see it, and which is not always possible, and may not always be wise. Their non-interfering compassion is not indifference, though. It may have something to do with their belief in Karma, in which present suffering has been caused by past action.
The ultimate aim of Buddhism is not to alleviate suffering--which may not be possible--but to get beyond dualities, and thus beyond suffering, into realm of the infinite. This level of enlightenment--the attainment of Buddhahood or Christhood--is the same in Buddhism as it is in Christianity.
AaronMcGallegos
Posted on: 10/14/2008 09:47
Hi Arminius,
Borg mentions in this video that the root of "compassion" in the Bible is to share wounds. Not unlike the Buddhist concept you mention above. Then Borg and Thurman get into a discussion personal vs. abstract theism, and also find agreement on that. The video is originally from an interesting site called 12-Step Buddhist.
http://the12stepbuddhist.com/
Peace,
A
Arminius
Posted on: 10/15/2008 00:04
Thanks, Aaron, for giving me the point of the discussion.
In personal theism, of course, Creator and created are united, and God suffers the suffering of all creatures. This is theistic "with-suffering," and profoundly expressed in our religion by the deep suffering of the "Son of God."
In us humans, however, suffering is beyond mere pain. Our worst suffering is spiritual and psychological. The crushing awareness of our mortality means constant suffering for us, and we had to develop the awareness of our immortality to negate that suffering.
It is in personal theism, in a personal relationship with God, in the Unitive awarenss of at-one-ment with God that we negate the awarenss of our mortality most effectively and propel ourselves beyond suffering into the longed-for Nirvana or Eden. This is what theistic compassion ultimately compells us to do, and this is what both Gautama the Buddha and Jesus the Christ stood for.
And I trust that this was what the two wise men, as aspirants to Chisthood or Buddhahood, said to each other--more or less