I Seek Refuge

Monday, September 16, 2013:

When we say, “I take refuge in the Buddha,” we should also understand that “The Buddha takes refuge in me,” because without the second part the first part is not complete. The Buddha need us for awakening, understanding, and love to be real and not just concepts. They must be real things that have real effects on life. Whenever I say, “I take refuge in the Buddha,” I hear “Buddha takes refuge in me.”

Thich Nhat Hanh;

Being Peace

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We have the same concept in the West in what we call The Christ. The Christ has two aspects in the Gospel of Saint John; man and God. As man, Christ is the logos, the word, made flesh. The word made flesh is divine love. The Christian faith takes divine love into the heart through the persona of a carpenter named Joshua Ben Joseph via the spoken word of God. Or, if you will, the messiah expressed via the son of man. I could get complicated on this matter but the simplicity of it comes when I start from within. As beautiful as churches, temples, dogmas, and fellowships can be... the source of beauty and power comes from within when I recognize and accept the Buddha/Christ that abides there in the temple of my body. The radiance of the divine in me extends outward in a dynamic that is shared. The power of Christianity is that at its root is the belief that there is nothing we can do about our alienation from the divine on our own. Salvation, or union, is not earned by giving all we have to the poor; by chanting; by fasting; by praying; by meditating; by the smoke of incense: by the ringing of bells or clanging of cymbals. They are all empty without compassion. I get there by surrendering and accepting. When I connect with the Heart of Compassion, from within and without, everything becomes simple and clear.

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