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aquascoot
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NorthOfNorth wrote on Apr 23 rd, 2014 at 6:49am: aquascoot wrote on Apr 22 nd, 2014 at 6:41pm: Soren wrote on Apr 22 nd, 2014 at 6:12pm: NorthOfNorth wrote on Apr 21 st, 2014 at 9:57pm: Soren wrote on Apr 21 st, 2014 at 9:17pm: "the spirit of Homer, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle... The Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu, even the mythical Shiva and Ganesha et al... Not contemporaries, granted... Much older.
Their spirit is not in the world. And Jesus wouldn't be in the world today if his story was only a myth.
Arachne, Achilles, Odysseus are only myths and so they are not present in the world like Christ is.
Christ is in the world because human beings are experiencing him as being in the world - in a way they are nor experiencing Achilles or Odysseus to be in the world. Or Confucius or Lao-Tzu or Plato.
I don't know what it's like to experience the Buddha or Shiva. I suspect it's nothing like Christ.
Sacrifice is ungainsayable.
Given that, upon the lives and work of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle traditionally stands the western world as it came to be, its hard to say they are not alive in the sense that their shadow is not always upon us. Given you claim you are not a Christian, your experience of Christ in the world should be no better informed than of Buddha or Shiva. I don't think the spirit of ancient Greek philosophers is present in the world. Nor is the spirit of the Buddha or Shiva - they have no universal impact. Buddhism has always struck me as an "underground" movement. It seems to seep in through the cracks. I think if it hasn't had a universal impact, theres a very good chance it will as the triumphalism of the science worshipping aethesit zealots will inevitably fall flat on its face, and Buddhism is the only "religion' which seems fit to meld with science and transcend it. There is little in Buddhism that people could argue with . I am talking about the 4 noble truths and the eightfold path, not the reincarnation mumbo jumbo which I consider hindu heresy that seeped into buddism Buddhism does have a way of seeping through the cracks, as you put it... One of its strengths is that it has evolved without the need for a doctrine of annihilating hegemony over all other religions. Many Christian clerics have openly admitted to their adherence to at least some Buddhist practice without the sense that they have compromised their Christian faith. Although it may be true to say that it has evolved in the west to be in some ways at odds with its eastern roots. In the west it largely forms the basis of a modern sense of spirituality, particularly with its conjoining to existentialism, which in its turn has spawned almost an 'anything goes' mindset. This would make it unrecognisable to traditional eastern practitioners. Its austere disciplines are largely discarded in the west in favour of a more relaxed style of practice... Not dissimilar, I would suggest, to what happened to Messianic Judaism, largely under Paul, with its transmogrification into Christianity. Theres a very interesting church (and very popular I might add) in Brisbane run by a catholic priest (Father Dan , I think) He had Buddhist statues and the rainbow serpent in the church and was ex-communicated by George pell. he has moved his parish to a large warehouse and the services are well attended and there is a very keen sense of community. 2 things I think this is the future I think pell was foolish to discard a group who have strong community spirit and do a lot of good community work. I still think jesus came in contact with some of the Buddhist teachings probably brought back from india by alexander the great in 300 BC. Thoughts??
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