Hiya Christine,
<Did Jesus even really say "I am the way, the truth, and the life?">
Sure, he could have said that, but what did he mean by it?
Did Siddhartha Gautama really say "If you see the Buddha on the road, kill him?" If he did, as history says he did, what did he mean by it?
Here are two mystics, Jesus and Gautama, saying strange things. Each one spoke of a reality that does not have its origin in the externals. It may manifest in the externals, but it comes from elsewhere.
In one culture, this reality was known as the Christ, in the other, the Buddha, and neither one refers to personality, but to something that transcends personality.
It is said that Jesus became so identified with this reality, the Christ, that he became known as Jesus the Christ, and that Gautama had the same experience, and in his culture became known as Gautama the Buddha.
The "I" that Jesus spoke of is thus the mystical "I," the Christ reality within which transcends Jesus the man.
If you see the Buddha on the road, you "kill him," that is dismiss him, for the Buddha, like the Christ, is not external. The Buddha is within. Neither one is form, but substance.
I see both teachings as lessons in how consciousness transforms the world.
See..you did it again Christine...you get me thinking, sometimes at the oddest hours too. I just got in from a trip, and as I usually do after being away I take time to browse through my e-mail and SI threads as a way of transition...
Best,
Charliss |
