Thank you Edel: I love your writing. You write here ...."And that is the true meaning of refuge. Rather than taking refuge in something outside ourselves, we take refuge in our own behavior, our own thoughts and actions". I wonder if you could point me to anything you have written on the comparison of Buddhism and the non-dual view (Advaita) traditions and thought. It seems to me there is a meeting place between Buddhism and Advaita when the inside and outside are not separate. I would love to hear your insights.
Dear Ian. It’s very hard to compare a tradition you know from the inside with a tradition you know only superficially. So I refrain from that. On the other hand, there is something genuinely human in all these traditions. Recently a journalist invited me for a dialogue with the abbess of a Trappist monastery. It with was a wonderful meeting. She prays to God. Zen does not have a God. The discussion could have ended there. But when we transcended the words, we found ourselves on common ground and there was mutual recognition. The dialogue was recorded and it became a book, but only in Dutch.
Dear Edel: Thank you for you response. I understand. Perhaps I can find a kind journalist to invite a dialogue between yourself and a respected teacher from the Advaita traditions. 🙂 Unfortunately I don't have such connections. But I am pretty sure that something very similar would happen as the mutual recognition of the genuine human elements of each tradition finds that common ground. Thank you for your kindness, clarity and widely reaching heart. Though I find great peace in the infinite awareness I sometimes call God, I don't find any resistance in myself to the beautiful truths you speak of. It simply feels like looking at the sky from a different window. Thank you Edel.
Thank you Edel: I love your writing. You write here ...."And that is the true meaning of refuge. Rather than taking refuge in something outside ourselves, we take refuge in our own behavior, our own thoughts and actions". I wonder if you could point me to anything you have written on the comparison of Buddhism and the non-dual view (Advaita) traditions and thought. It seems to me there is a meeting place between Buddhism and Advaita when the inside and outside are not separate. I would love to hear your insights.
Dear Ian. It’s very hard to compare a tradition you know from the inside with a tradition you know only superficially. So I refrain from that. On the other hand, there is something genuinely human in all these traditions. Recently a journalist invited me for a dialogue with the abbess of a Trappist monastery. It with was a wonderful meeting. She prays to God. Zen does not have a God. The discussion could have ended there. But when we transcended the words, we found ourselves on common ground and there was mutual recognition. The dialogue was recorded and it became a book, but only in Dutch.
Dear Edel: Thank you for you response. I understand. Perhaps I can find a kind journalist to invite a dialogue between yourself and a respected teacher from the Advaita traditions. 🙂 Unfortunately I don't have such connections. But I am pretty sure that something very similar would happen as the mutual recognition of the genuine human elements of each tradition finds that common ground. Thank you for your kindness, clarity and widely reaching heart. Though I find great peace in the infinite awareness I sometimes call God, I don't find any resistance in myself to the beautiful truths you speak of. It simply feels like looking at the sky from a different window. Thank you Edel.
Zo mooi "wij zijn actieve deelnemers, verantwoordelijk voor onszelf"