Jazz, Buddhism, and process. Three great flavours that should go well together. I'll check it out, George.

By the way, the link isn't work for me. The period after .org may be the problem. Here's one that works:

http://www.jesusjazzbuddhism.org/
 

Mendalla

Christ has no part with it, what mixing? I think he would consider buddist leaders and those who follow that deny Christs unique divinity as thieves and robbers....who voice do you hear? in my opinion, this is what could be implied by "ears itching for doctrines of men" <loose reference>

<this scripture show that the  Christian truth to such concepts some of these far east concepts are false,

in other scriptures Christ warns that many will make such claims and warns to not go and see, and that many will be decieved and the kingdom of heaven is not taken by force....but his sheep know him, and those who are of the truth hear  his voice...>

¹Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

 ²But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

 ³To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

 ⁴And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

 ⁵And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

 ⁶This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.

 ⁷Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

 ⁸All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.

--

whos voice do you hear?

see John Chapter 10

Looks like a most interesting site, Panentheism.  Great way to spend a stormy day reading some of the articles and learning about other faith traditions.

And to stephenbooth2012 - you can't bludgeon people into thinking your way.

Your statement regarding Buddhist leaders is offensive.

You need to understand that it is comments like this and your intolerance that alienate you from people on WC.

Buddhism does not have the concept of a separate, supernatural God, and therefore is sometimes described as an atheistic or non-theistic religion. The spiritual dimension of Buddhism, however, could easily be explained as the God of Christian panentheism.

I think panentheism is where East and West meet. (I mean small p panentheism, not capital P Panentheism, which is not to say that East and West do not meet in our esteemed friend, Panentheism :-)

i wonder why so many opinions are pallible here, but the Christian word is so rejected? it is all "my opinion" opposed to "your opinion" as we share "our opinion"

why do people feel  some find it a sort of condemnation?,,,see John 3:19 , see Luke 6:22

gecko, please see verses that i quoted and answer my two questions if you feel cofortable doing so,......do you think was Jesus alientated?

i would prefer a private respose.

Arminius,

I am curious, why does Jesus warn us against this? if "The spiritual dimension of Buddhism, however, could easily be explained as the God of Christian panentheism"....

i have one other question for you.

if your basis on many things is from a vision that you prayed to God for in the name of Christ (besides the 'blanks" you admittadly filled in yourself) and keeping his word and warning in mind.....

how can removing Christ unique divinity from the Christian doctrine and mixing in far east concepts.....make sense to you?

this may help me understand the interest in such a thread as this.

Stephenbooth,

First of all, for the record, I was not in favour of your ban and was glad to see you given another chance. What I am saying below is not in any way an attempt to have a repeat of that, However, I do want to make a point with you about tolerance after seeing what you said above about Buddhism:

This may come as news to you, but what you are expressing is not the opinion of God but the opinion of stephenbooth2012. You are interpreting scripture every bit as much as GordW, Arm, Pan, myself, and others. The difference is that you think that your interpretation somenhow represents the true intent of the scripture. You are welcome to that opinion, but you aren't doing yourself any favours by using that attitude as a hammer against others. In particular, your slamming of Buddhists as "thieves and robbers" based on your narrow interpretation of one passage is getting dangerously close to hate speech territory.

The reality is that there is no absolute truth in religion. This is not a reality created by the modern, secular world, it is has always been reality. The modern world has just recognized it and acknowledged it. There always have been, and always will be different understandings of the nature of reality and of humanity's place in it. Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Christians, Muslims and so on need to live together and need to respect each other, regardless of the differences. Indeed, it's the differences that need to be respected and from which we can learn. When people take this attitude of mutual respect and learning from one another, Wondercafe happens. When people take a narrow, exclusivist attitude that disrespects and even demonizes others, 9/11 happens.

Think about it,

Mendalla

Im just trying to share my opinon from the Christian viewpoint, on buddism

you make a lot of statements, show me where you think my interpretation may  be off base? you say there is no truth in religeion, not me, I say scripture is Gods word, i would rather not explain it, but i am being pushed to. u guys arnt going to start blaming 9/11 on me are u?

 it seems as adouble standerd that people can express their views when it take away from my opinion and rebuttle, but i cant do the same, i am expected to answer questions on the dot, but people arnt expected to answer mine....

ive had enough of these notions, its getting silly

No, I'm not blaming 9/11 on you, but I'm suggesting that your attitude towards Buddhism (and towards Christians who disagree with your approach to scripture) reflects the kind of mindset that set the stage for it. I'm not saying that you can't state your views, but I do want to recognize when those views are disrespectful of others and are being seen as such. I've been quite tolerant of you, stephenbooth. There've been several times that I could have slammed you in the past and I refrained because I decided your voice was worth having. What I said above is given in the spirit of wisdom, not condemnation. That's why I ended with "Think about it."

As for scripture, I am saying that Scripture does not speak for itself. When you say things like Buddhist leaders are "thieves and robbers" and cite scripture to back yourself up, you are interpreting scripture. Nowhere does that passage say that, you read it into that passage. Even saying that it is "God's Word" is interpretation because there are multiple ways of understanding that phrase. You cannot put a bunch of scripture on the screen and expect us to read it the same way you do because we do not. You read and understand scripture a certain way. That is your interpretation of the scripture and is representative of you, not of God.

I'm not carrying this any further, stephen. Welcome back, but be mindful of what you say and how it might be heard by others.

Mendalla

"When you say things like Buddhist leaders are "thieves and robbers" and cite scripture to back yourself up, you are interpreting scripture. Nowhere does that passage say that, you read it into that passage. Even saying that it is "God's Word" is interpretation"

its not me who says it...(nobody is allowed to share their interpretations and opinions on a thread subject now? or just those that follow the Messiahs message  as the word of God?)...

"but I'm suggesting that your attitude towards Buddhism (and towards Christians who disagree with your approach to scripture) reflects the kind of mindset that set the stage for it"

..so YOU ARE kinda blaming 9/11 on me!!! *jokes* bye

Well coming from a non-Christian perspective, I like a lot of Buddhist thought. I especially like the very disciplined way in which buddhism tends to aproach thought.

ON the other hand, I also like a lot of Christian thought. I like the way Christianity has approached the philosophy of worship, especially as it pertains to the use of music as a non-cognitive, emotionally bound form of worship.

Jazz just sucks....

You are quite welcome to share your opinions and interpretations provided you recognize that they are such and are as valid and no more so than anyone else's. You are not "more Christian" than GordW or others that you've questioned here, just offering a different view of Christianity that is at odds with theirs.

I'm ending this conversation so we can get back to Pan's original topic.

Mendalla