It's Relative

Richard Rohr is the latest Christian writer to see and invoke the similarities between Jesus and Buddha, something Christian writers since Thomas Merton have done, joining commentary by the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh from the Buddhist perspective. 

There is a great deal to draw these two streams of thought together. Both lay a foundation of selfless compassion as the basis for engagement with the world. Both seek to find the commonality between human beings instead of the distinctions. Both refuse to accept the mythology of individualism in favor of a communal approach to life. And, of course, both have the elimination of suffering as their end. 

The only real difference is the presence of God.

Buddhism is an intentionally non-religious religion. Buddha is seen as sacred and holy, but firmly remains a human being, thus something all us can hope to emulate in our own lives. Some forms of Buddhism, e.g., Pure Land, contain more divine than other streams, but still the idea is to free the mind from “otherness” that might keep one from full practice of the dharma. 

Christianity, though, being realized Judaism, has God at center of all. Moreover, Jesus is “God with us.” He is human, but he is also God through the great mystery of incarnation. Whereas Buddhism seeks freedom from “ultimate’ causes or concerns because they lead to conflict with differing understandings of what is ultimate, Christianity must continual grapple with the absolute at center, which, of course, has led to countless conflicts within the Church and between the Church and the rest of the world. 

For me, the key to the successful realization of great ends of our faith stream, including a coexistence with all other faith streams, is to practice absolute relativism or relative absolutism. The first is recognizing that God speaks in many ways to the seven billion humans on the planet—no single way is correct or superior to others. God speaks us to in ways we can hear, understand, and use in our context. For me, the existence of the world religions makes manifest the vibrancy of God’s imagination and creativity in dealing with us. God made us different. God made us free to be who we are, where we are. God made us so in order that we might grow through understanding. It would be a boring existence if there were only a single way of being and doing. God and life before God is anything but boring, therefore, we discover that the absolute God speaks in relative ways. The second is not necessarily a repetition of the first. Here, we encounter the reality that even as we exist collectively, human beings remain individuals. Each of us has our unique experience of life. We are each unique acts of God’s creative imagination. Therefore, there will be truths that our individual existences prove to be true for each of us. Each of us will find things work for each of us. There will be truths that are final for each of us. For example, for me, alcohol is verboten. Too many alcoholics in my family stream means I need to make abstinence absolute. Now the relativism comes in the next step of development of this truth—what is true for me is not true for everyone else. I cannot make my abstinence a necessity for everybody else, for they may have no problems whatsoever. I have to get over my need as applicable to everyone. Stephen King commented on this reality in recent New York Times essay—

There were two older ladies at a nearby table. They were conversing with great animation over their meals, while their half-finished glasses of white wine stood forgotten in the middle of the table. I felt a strong urge to rise from my place and speak to them. Only that’s not right. I felt an urge to actually hector them. To say, “Why don’t you drink your wine? It’s sitting right there, for Christ’s sake. Some of us can’t drink wine, we don’t have that privilege, but you can, so why the heck don’t you do it?”

That is a perfect illustration of relative absolutism. What is true for him he knows is not universal, so he demands that others practice their freedom!

Like it or not, human life is relative. It is simply part of the way we are. Our understanding has limits. Our abilities are finite. Our insights are partial. While there are times when such is a great weakness, there is also grace in our limited nature. It allows us to freely and fully converse with others. It allows us to listen and learn from one another. It frees us from the great burden of having to be right. It allows us to see that there is more to life than being correct. 

The more we are able to grasp this understanding of our existence, the more able we will be to practice compassion, for we see that all of us, no matter who we are or where we are, struggle to make sense of life, the world, suffering, success, and all else. We are able coexist.