On Chasm Theology vs. One Essence
If a person believes that the universe as we know it is created by a separate God…. that the essence of the universe and everything in it is separate from the essence which created it, that is not Buddhism. That is “Chasm Theology”. Chasm Theology is about humans being created from a different substance than the creator (the pot and the potter) and that humans have fallen, and need a redeemer to bring them back into Gods “fold”. Buddhism, on the other hand, is the realization that there is no separation… that there is only one essence…. that what we call spirit is of the same essence as matter, and what we call matter is the same essence as what we call spirit….. so if everyone and everything is part of this Essence, then any type of Christianity which is based on redemption is superfluous. I have seen recently, some of the Christian faiths trying to redefine themselves as “non-Chasm” faiths, but it seems that in the process, their reason for existence disappears. In my mind, there is only one type of Christianity which has any “usefulness” in relation to Buddhism, and that is if Jesus is seen as a teacher like Buddha, helping us to wake up to the fact that… from the beginning, there was no separation, no need for a redeemer… just a need for us “dreaming” drops of water to realize that we are part of the ocean…… That being said, as long as a person looks at Buddhism or any religion as something outside himself, the practice and the results will all be very superficial. To me, perhaps to paraphrase Johnny Cash, we need “our own personal Jesus”…. beyond secular or religious forms…. where the seeker and the sought ARE ONE…… it is both a starting point, and reaching the “other shore”…. each moment, being attentive, and building upon, the realization and experiencing of our oneness and our twoness… living it is the only way to realize and experience it.
When we stop specifically looking for differences, and begin to do what we should be doing…. which is constantly and diligently putting our 100% into what IS… when we refrain from using the “Chasm Mind” and start using our “Exploring Mind”, we see the IS. Then all the myriad of translations and interpretations aren’t a problem any more…. If we are a part of the cosmos, then we ourselves can EXPERIENCE life as is! Why do we need to read what someone else said about it, except to clear away our own small mind interpretations so we can clearly see what IS…… If I am a leaf on the tree, why do I need to read what other leaves have said about what it means to be a leaf….. and if the other leaves are saying “There is a way to stay in your position on the tree forever…. and never have to become yellow… or that somehow after falling to the ground, that leaf will not become part of the soil which gives nutrients to the tree.. which then forms the next leaf…. it becomes obvious that either there is something wrong with the translation or interpretation…. I want to know what IS, not what some religion says about what IS….. except for when it helps me open the closed doors which I created through my life.
Christianity created a Jesus which is the ONLY SON….. and we have to go to him to be saved….. NO! We are all sons and daughters….. we have our own DIRECT LINE……. because we are just drops of ocean water splashed on a rock… we feel separate while we are up on the rock… but then one day, at the end of our life’s duration, the ocean rises and receives us back.,…. and we realize that from the beginning, we are molecules of ocean water, in an ocean of water molecules….
Gassho
Reality is Dharma 