A Buddhist Christian pilgrimage

I think the English-language Buddhist press mostly missed it, at least I didn't see it reported on the Buddhist news sites I personally follow, but recently a Korean Buddhist monk and two Korean Catholic priests completed a 400-kilometer silent ochetuji pilgrimage, carrying out prostrations after every three steps, from Jirisan to Imjingak. They were joined by some 10,000 people along the route, and the purpose of their journey was to help promote the cherishing of life and peace.

The report, which you can read by following the link below, states that Father Mark Kim In-kook, from the Catholic Priests' Association for Justice, told UCA News that the pilgrims "showed what religious communities in our society can do for the common good", and their joint action seems to me to be a fine example of how Buddhists and Christians often work together in a spirit of friendship that stands in stark contrast to the default position adopted by many western Buddhists.

A brief look at the largest English-language Buddhist forum, Esangha, for example, will reveal a remarkable degree of hostility towards Christianity. But of course most of this comes from young converts with very little experience of life in Buddhist countries and often with uncomfortable experiences of Christianity. Such people are naturally keen to draw boundaries between the Buddhism they've adopted and the faiths they've left behind, rather than explore areas of friendly agreement.

Of course, sometimes it is perfectly necessary to point out differences between Buddhism and Christianity, especially when addressing a western audience. Phra Cittasamvaro Bhikkhu did just that last week in the second of his rains-retreat talks for example. A magnificent Buddhist practitioner and scholar, Phra Pandit briefly mentioned the contrast between religions in which the Truth is revealed, with the job of the follower being to believe, and Buddhism, in which one is to experience truth for oneself.

The point was little more than an aside and perfectly in context and yet, and I'm entirely confident Phra Pandit would agree with me here, investigated from a slightly different angle the distinction seems almost to disappear. I notice, for example, that Thai Buddhists rever the Buddha as, in the language of the daily chants, "the Blessed One, the Exalted One, the Fully Enlightened One", the "teacher of gods and men". He is revered because he taught, or revealed, the truths.

Yes, Buddhists are then to experience these truths directly through the practice of wisdom, ethics and meditation, but they were first revealed through the teacher that Buddhists rever daily with chants, bows, offerings and incense. Is that really so different from Christianity, in which the central truth, of God's love in this case, is first, yes, revealed, but which is then to be experienced in the everyday lives of Christians, and developed in ongoing daily practice?

Father Laurence, in The Good Heart, describes this practice: "through meditation, we begin to experience the indwelling, the fact that Jesus is not only a historical teacher from the past, but now has an inner existence within each human being, as well as a cosmic presence." The Dalai Lama, in the same book, talks about Buddha-nature and how to perfect it, and compares the Christian ideal of becoming one with the father with how enlightenment is described as becoming of one taste with the dharmakaya.

I'm getting away from my central point here, which is not about the nature of the fourth mark, or about the relationship between revealed and experienced truths, or even about the ways in which Buddhism and Christianity share certain features. My point is that Buddhism stands on its own three feet, and while some western practitioners automatically and instinctively look for points of contrast with and distinction from Christianity, focusing on areas of convergence is a much healthier approach.

Thich Nhat Hanh, in a book called called Teachings on Love, has written that "Buddhist practice can offer effective means to heal, reconcile, and reunite with one's blood and spiritual families, in order to discover the precious gems in one's own traditions. Thanks to the practice, people will see that Buddhism and their own spiritual tradition have many things in common, and therefore it is not necessary to reject their own spiritual tradition."

I don't think Thich Nhat Hanh here is calling for waves of western Buddhists to return to Christianity. What he's suggesting is that practitioners make peace with all our traditions, to look for what we can embrace. In this we are lucky to have so many great examples. Father Laurence and the Dalai Lama. Venerable Sukyung and Fathers Paul Moon Kyu-hyon and Simon Chun Jong-hun silently walking across Korea. People whose default position is to find areas of convergence, rather than contrast.

Link:
UCAN: Buddhist, Catholic clergy complete 400-km pilgrimage

Photo: Wat Niwet Thamprawat, near Bang Pa-In Palace, Thailand, a fully functioning Buddhist monastery and temple built by King Chulalongkorn in 1878.