| If I understand him, and I'm not saying I do, Adi Da makes the distinction I hoped to make. 2Mar$ description of Christianity being about giving up the world, and detachment from desire and ego actually fit Adi Da much better than it does Judeo-Christianity. While Christianity's goal is that we become "one with God", it does not do so at the cost of individuality or distinctions between God and God's creation. That is a difference worth noting, perhaps the difference worth noting. Christian's might "lose themselves in God" as opposed to being self-absorbed or self-centered, but they remain nonetheless themselves. So does everyone else. That is why "love your neighbor as yourself" sums up one's obligation in living with others, and speaks to the heart of God's interests. This present reality and existence are taken seriously as important to God, so to speak. While perhaps transitory, they are not illusory. And the relationships between people represent the highest practical application of their understanding of God as relational. Whatever problems one has with Judaism, one must agree that their contribution was the idea of a God who included people in an agreement on how to relate to God and others. If the idea of a covenant relationship with God is not unique to them, they, along with Christianity, certainly contribute the longest running example of a people related to God attempting to put into practice the application and relevance of that belief. That is the kind of relationship, and relational beginning of their understanding of God, that determines their concept of the nature of God. They cannot affirm that God established a relationship with concrete people in concrete history, then deny the importance of material reality, real people, and real events. Perhaps Adi Da and Muhammed agree that Judeo-Christianity is superceded by their more mature ideas, though they differ from each other in how it is so. But I think it is right that those are clearly distinguishing characteristics. (Well, I am leaving so do I post this and clean up the mess later, or wait and edit and re-consider? I'll post it, with reservations and apologies for incoherence.) |
