kentonwhitman.com

A site called www.ChristianAnswers.net lays out ten interesting questions which they say they would have liked to ask the Buddha. They invite responses on their website, but when I explored the link, it appeared that I would have to include a bit more personal information than is usually asked for when you comment on a site. So I’ve decided to answer their questions here.

No matter what attitude these questions might have been written with, they remain viable and important questions. They confront issues that many Buddhists deal with. And the progression of the questions gives us an insight into how our usual, dualistic thought-patterns work.

Even if we aren’t religious, many of us have grown up in a cultural context of One Personal God, and this context can affect our thinking in profound ways. I’d recommend reading each of these questions and taking the time to ponder your own answer before you read my responses. Their questions will remain completely unedited (so don’t be confused, because they posed these questions directly to ‘Buddha’). I’ve even included their links.

ChristianAnswers.net –

1. If there is no personal God, and if one can attain nirvana only as a result of the destruction of thirst (tanha) / desire, therefore the destruction of attachment, therefore the destruction of existence–from whence, do you suppose, did personality (or even the sense of personality) ever come? Exactly what is it, and where does it go when one ceases to exist?

KentonWhitman.com –

At issue here is that dualistic thought only can grasp opposites. ‘Destruction’ of anything, in reference to Awakening, refers not to an actual destruction of the thing itself, but the ‘destruction’ of our unwavering belief in the reality of an idea. This is a basic misunderstanding when it comes to non-dualism, but it’s a misunderstanding that is perpetrated even by many teachers of non-dualism. Desire is not to be eradicated – simply seen Just As Is. The same goes for attachment and existence. In fact, to take existence as an example, it might be more truthful to say that Awakening creates existence instead of destroys it. However, saying that would do nothing to spur us along toward Awakening, since we’d just look around us and say ‘Duh! Stuff is existing right now! I mean, look at this Twinkie! It exists, right?’

Saying that the Twinkie doesn’t exist creates a different frame of mind – one that can begin a process of wondering and searching.

An even more important part of this question is the second part – asking where personality comes from. Answering this question is a bit like answering ‘where did money come from?’ It’s difficult to know when money entered the human cultural scene, but when it did, it was both in response to changes in human culture, and also a factor in further cultural change. Human beings could function without money, but our current culture could not. Whether money is a positive influence on human life or a negative is a matter of opinion (although most of us could not imagine life without it). There are many things which we’ve adopted as human beings, from basic belief systems to television watching. Personality, or ‘ego’ is just such an invention, though it was likely invented slowly, over time, and we don’t remember doing the inventing. Having an ego allows us to live in different ways than we could if we did not partake of that invention. Would our life be better with or without it? That’s up for each individual to decide.

As for the ‘personal God’ portion of this question, it’s important to realize that it has become very difficult for us to imagine anything happening ‘of its own accord’. Trees grow just fine without an apparent ‘mind’ or other guidance, and even human beings can function without any ‘will’. But this is nearly impossible for us to understand (just like it’s difficult for most of us to imagine life without money), probably because humans have long lived in a world where everything significant to their lives is built. Cars and computers and wrist-watches must be built, so it only makes sense that eyes and crayfish and clouds must also have a builder. This emerges from our common tendency to humanize everything. Unfortunately, in this case, we’ve humanized God, making him/it into something which is as limited as ourselves (the only difference lies in the scale of God’s building as opposed to ours — God builds galaxies and we build factories — but the basic idea is much the same, which is why, as our technology advances, some people feel we are ‘Playing God’). In essence, this method of thought just makes God into a big, powerful version of a human, and sets up a situation where humans can envision becoming as powerful as God (when our technology becomes powerful enough to create galaxies, for instance). Is it possible that God could create in a manner that is not limited by the necessity of a will, personality, or anything else which we equate with the human condition?

ChristianAnswers.net –

2. Without a personal God, on what basis can there ever exist any human moral standard or ethic–and therefore, in what sense do you mean for us to understand the terms noble and truth, i.e. The Four Noble Truths, or the term right in the eight-fold path of right views, resolve, speech, conduct, occupation, efforts, awareness, and meditation?

KentonWhitman.com –

The four noble truths, or any other teaching of Buddhism, are not teachings of knowledge. In other words, the ‘four noble truths’ might be better named the ‘four ignoble whatevers’. The point being that any statement made by any non-dualism-pointing ‘religion’ is merely pointing toward Awakening. Once any such religion begins to insist that it can describe ‘enlightenment’ or give a fool-proof ‘method’ for enlightenment, they’ve crossed the line into preaching dogma. Non-dualism has no dogma in that it doesn’t claim to ‘give you the answer’. It just points you in the direction of discovering the answer.

As far as morals or ethics, anyone who is truly ‘Awakened’ (and there is a contradiction if I’ve ever spoken one) would show you, in speech and action, that all desire for conflict disappears. As dualists (whether we adhere to Christianity, science, atheism, or any other belief system), we generate conflict wherever we go. Dualism, which breaks the world up into opposites, is a perfect conflict generator. Using the dualistic thought-process, we create divorces, wars, arguments, stress, and frustration. When we’re creating a world like that, we need a system of ethics to try to confine that conflict within tolerable boundaries. But if we weren’t generating conflict ourselves, we would have no need of ethics, for we would already be acting in ways that spread harmony and peace.

Asking this question about ethics is akin to an alcoholic asking how to get rid of the shakes when they are coming off a bout of drunkenness. To the alcoholic, the easiest (or only) solution seems to be to drink more alcohol. It’s a circular problem. But drinking more isn’t going to fix the problem. Only ceasing to drink will do that. As conflict generators, we think the only way to deal with conflict is to create more conflict (thus our courts, lawsuits, and wars). But if we got rid of the root of the conflict, there would be no issue in the first place.

There is ample evidence that Jesus himself understood ethics in a way that is foreign to our modern-day beliefs. As a recent bumper sticker I saw put it – When Jesus said “Love your enemies”, I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean for us to kill them.

Here is a website which explores Jesus’ words on this subject — Love Your Enemies.

This contrasts sharply with the Bibleman children’s books and videos — which seem to be promoting conflict and the ‘battle’ between good and evil. This is a graphic example of our how our religion (one of the most basic foundation-blocks for creating a world-view) can endorse (and even suggest as inevitable) a state of conflict in the world.

The point here is that the same religion (Christianity) can act as a force for peace, or as a force for continued violence and conflict. The question becomes one each of us must ask — does our personal belief system or way of living create peace or conflict?

ChristianAnswers.net –

3. If your teaching, which came on the scene in the sixth century B.C., alone represents truth and liberation–what provision was there for the millions who lived previous to the advent of your enlightenment and teaching? Why do you suppose that you, of all humankind, were the one to come on this insight when you did?

KentonWhitman.com –

Enlightenment isn’t a unique thing that the Buddha ‘invented’ or ‘came upon’. It is available to all of us all the time, if we can see through all the models we’ve built around the world. It is likely that many thousands of people were enlightened long before the Buddha arrived on the scene. The Buddha was unique in that he, through whatever social influences added up to the right mixture at the time, made enlightenment ‘visible’ and created a new and accessible pathway toward Realization. The Buddha’s way isn’t the only path toward enlightenment – enlightenment can hit you suddenly as you’re walking down the street – but his methods are perhaps the clearest and most direct pointers that have yet been formulated.

ChristianAnswers.net –

4. If, as you are reported to have said, nirvana is “beyond…good and evil”, then, in the ultimate sense, there is really no difference between Hitler and Mother Theresa, or between helping an old lady across the street and running her down–correct?

KentonWhitman.com –

The interesting thing here is that when we are trapped in dualistic thought, we actually have to ponder questions like this. And many of us go through life trying to figure out the ‘right’ thing to do, and many people knowingly do ‘wrong’ things and either hide their actions or attempt to justify their misdeeds. This is a natural consequence of seeing ourselves in conflict with the world. However, if we have no conflict within ourselves, we need have no concepts of ‘good or evil’, since it will feel natural and joyous to help an old lady across the street. In other words, the natural actions of an Awakened person will ‘translate’, to the dualistic mind, as ‘good’. There is simply no desire to harm others, exploit situations for your personal gain, or otherwise harm ourselves, the world, or other people — unless we’re operating under a dualistic thought-pattern.

ChristianAnswers.net –

5. Thich Nhat Hanh, bodhisattva (holy man) and author of Living Buddha, Living Christ © 1995 by Riverhead Books, attempts to homogenize Buddhism and Christianity. Though you never knew of Jesus Christ, it would seem that you too might suggest that one could conceivably be a “Christian Buddhist”. Yet how could that ever be possible given Christianity’s categorical differences with Buddhism on matters like the nature of sin, reincarnation, and salvation–to name just a few. Jesus claimed to be the Truth. The Christian Scripture says that “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

KentonWhitman.com –

This is difficult to answer because there is no clear idea of what ‘Christianity’ is. Some people call themselves Christian and strap on a machine gun in the name of God. I’ve also had Christian friends who felt they were following Christ’s words, and refused to go to established church services because they felt the church represented ‘Churchianity’, and not ‘Christianity’. Christianity has broken itself into so many sects, each one proclaiming that it is ‘right’. If we look at some of Christ’s words as recorded in the Gnostic Gospels, we get quite a different view of Christ’s teachings. Indeed, it is very interesting that it is only in the Gospel of John that Christ claims divine nature.

Believers of each brand of Christianity, of course, will feel that they have personal insight into the ‘correct’ interpretation of Christ’s words. For myself, I can read the Gospels and read into Christ’s words a teaching which points toward non-dualism.

What was Christ really trying to teach us? A lot of people have a lot of different answers.

At its purest, Buddhism dispenses with belief, though it can come back to hold beliefs in a different sort of way (that would be another article entirely). So it would be possible to be a Buddhist/Christian if one was following Christ’s words (depending on your interpretation of what Christ meant). Could someone be a Buddhist and also follow the standard teachings of a particular sect of Christianity? Probably not, if the Buddhist had to adopt the particular beliefs of a certain Christian sect.

ChristianAnswers.net –

6. How do you feel about the many variations of your teaching that have evolved down through the years? Please comment on Theravada (38%), Mahayana (56%), Tantrism or Vajranaya, Tibetan (6%; Dalai Lama), and Zen Buddhism?

KentonWhitman.com –

Buddhism, too, has grown to have many sects. The beauty of these different sects is that they can offer people of different dispositions a number of options for reaching Awakening. But even Zen, often considered the ‘purest’ method, can ‘stink’ of ritual, dogma, and belief. Any sect can fall prey to this, and all do, to some extent. It’s easy in any religion to get distracted from the core teaching, and to get fascinated by ritual and decorum. Buddhism is just as guilty of this as any other religion, even to the point of granting titles or other symbols of ‘enlightenment’.

If an individual has the clarity to use a Buddhist sect’s teachings to point themselves toward Awakening, any of these sects can help them out. If they blindly follow a teacher and begin to adopt new beliefs, they are simply creating a more refined and clever sense of dualistic thought.

ChristianAnswers.net –

7. Chuck Stanford says: “Like cloudy water, our minds are basically pure and clear, but sometimes they become cloudy from the storms of discursive thoughts. Just like water, if we let our minds sit undisturbed the mud and muck will eventually settle to the bottom. Once this happens we can begin to get in touch with our basic goodness. It is through this basic goodness that the Buddha discovered that we can lead sane lives.” But, Mr. Gautama, what if you are wrong about our being basically good? The Bible says that we’re conceived in sin. What if there is a personal God to whom we will all one day answer? What if your enlightenment (awakening) was really only a dream?

KentonWhitman.com –

Let’s ask the reverse. What if we are wrong about people being basically sinful? We’ve been living by this philosophy for a long time, and if you look at history, it’s just one war after another. Would assuming that people are basically good be such an awful thing to try?

All in all, there is really no way to prove this outwardly. Have Buddhists killed and waged violence? Certainly. Were they Awakened? I could say certainly not, but this is only something that can be experienced for yourself. To honestly look at your life, to break down your illusions so that you are left with nothing but Now – if this is done, you’ll find for yourself what is meant by ‘perfect peace’ or ‘universal love’.

The point is that our usual methods have a proven track record of failing to bring peace. If we know this has failed for thousands of years on end, why do we persist on making the same mistakes over and over?

ChristianAnswers.net –

8. In the film Beyond Rangoon Laura’s guide says that the (Buddhist) Burmese expect suffering, not happiness. When happiness comes, it is to be enjoyed as a gift, but with the awareness that it will soon certainly pass. If the ultimate Buddhist hope is to just leave the present wheel of birth and rebirth and enter into the ineffable bliss of Nirvana, where is the motivation to do good, and to actively oppose injustice, in this present life?

KentonWhitman.com –

Birth and rebirth have nothing to do with physically dying and coming back as a new entity. They have to do with being ‘unborn’ into the Now. Once this is done, you will no longer be a conflict-generator. Not only will you not have inner injustice (frustration, self-hatred, stress), but you will not add to the conflict around you, whether in personal relationships or in world relationships. Awakened, there is no desire to add to the suffering of the world. And it seems only natural (indeed, joyous) to act in ways that are interpreted as ‘good’ by those around you.

ChristianAnswers.net –

9. How do we reconcile the Dalai Lama’s observation that “Every human being has the potential to create happiness”, with your own teaching that suffering is caused by desire? If one sets out to resist desire, why would one ever then entertain the desire for happiness, and thus work to create it?

KentonWhitman.com –

Again, this is a great example of how the dualistic mind works. ‘No desire’ must mean not having any desire, right? This comes from a basic misunderstanding of ‘Pointing Teachings’ vs. ‘Knowledge Teachings’. Knowledge teachings attempt to give us a new thing we should learn, and when we adopt the new knowledge, we can start to build up new ideas about the world. Pointing teachings point us toward something that is totally obvious once we see it, and that is not adequately described by words (like a color).

The Dalai Lama is likely using Pointing Teaching methods, using words like ‘happiness’ or ‘desire’ not to teach us something about those ideas, but to guide us toward Awakening. Any non-dualistic teacher will contradict themselves when they speak. On purpose. This is a tool to point us in a certain direction. It has nothing to do with any statement about ‘reality’.

In this case, the words are pointing toward the nature of ‘desire’. If we look carefully, desire itself is a process of resistance — resisting some things in life in favor of other things. So non-dualism has nothing to do with resisting desire — it has to do with understanding exactly what desire is.

ChristianAnswers.net –

10. Personal Trivia: Did you really sit under that bo tree for seven full days–without ever eating any figs? Did your remarkably sensitive, compassionate, nature come more from your mother or father? How did your son, left to grow up without a father, feel about your “Great Renunciation”?

KentonWhitman.com –

Does history record the truth? How are we influenced by the various influences in our lives? Can we know any individual’s reported feelings unless we ask them ourselves?

These ten questions give us a great overview of some basic concerns with non-dualism. You probably noticed that my answers began to repeat themselves to some extent. This is because dualism can’t help but deal with the same issues over and over (and thus ask the same questions over and over). This gives insight as to the nature of dualistic conflict – sometimes it is very subtle. Not conflict in the sense of bombs and fists, but conflict in the sense of confusion – in this case, the repeated tendency to follow in dualism’s peculiar logic-circles. It goes around and around, caught in the opposite poles of the ideas it has created. If we believe our ideas are real, we can’t help but go in circles, because reality will never support our assumptions. We must make a constant effort to support our ideas with more ideas. This is an example of the cycle of rebirth – over and over, with no end in sight. We can only break out of this cycle if we see the world Just As Is.

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