Ryoko Ozaki said:
Tariki, you have posted more great quotes as usual.
I love the one by Thomas Merton the best, but Jack Kornfield's was also great.
Well, as Radorth has pointed out somewhere, sometimes I don't know what I am talking about...............a few quotes from others who know much better hopefully adds a bit of sense to my own words!
If you liked the Merton quote you might be interested in looking up the Thread on this forum "Proselytizing/Evangelising" posted 2/09/03, currently on Page 8. Two very good quotes there..........
I have to say that reading through Mertons book of letters entitled "The Hidden Ground of Love" was one of the great reading experiences of my life. Here was a man, secluded within monastery walls, conversing with those of all faiths - and sometimes of none - with deep respect, understanding and honesty...........yet without once compromising his own faith in any way. His life shows the potential within the Christian faith for true love, compassion and tolerance.
I did mention his appreciation of the Buddhist faith...............some of the last words he wrote before his sad and untimely death were after seeing the huge Buddha statues near Colombo in Sri Lanka............"The silence of the extraordinary faces. The great smiles. Huge and yet subtle. Filled with every possibility, questioning nothing, knowing everything, rejecting nothing, the peace not of emotional resignation but the peace of the Buddha, which has seen through every question without trying to discredit anyone or anything - without refutation - without establishing some other argument. For the doctrinaire, the mind that needs well-established positions, such peace, such silence, can be frightening."
(Merton was on one of his few forays outside of the monastery walls, meeting with leaders of the Eastern Faiths, including the Dalai Lama. The words I quote are from his Asian Journal.)
The words from Jack Kornfield are as given in his book "After the Ecstasy, the Laundry" , a book that weaves together the insights and experience of sages of all faiths, Sufi mystics, Shamans, Buddhists and Christians, rabbi's etc etc to offer a vision of peace and toleration..............of "enlightenment"............basically, living within the mystery, within the wisdom of unknowing, where each human being will fill the "mystery" with their own special and unique understanding, their own precious individuality.
Anyway, glad you enjoy the quotes!
Derek