The Christians who were on Buddha's trail drove around for a while, before spotting him sitting in the Playground of a McDonalds in Dallas. They ran into the playground and asked him:

"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?"


The World-Honored One responded:

"Christian friends, had I ever said "Nirvana is beyond good and evil", it would not lead to the conclusion you have come to, that there is no difference between an evil man and a good woman, or between helping and harming a fellow human being.

To state that something should be considered beyond the categories created by the grasping of the deluded mind and beyond the act of labeling is one thing; to say that there is no difference between the actions undertaken by an evil man and a good woman, or no difference between helping and harming, is something else entirely.

There are those who do harmful things to others, and there are those who selflessly give aid and compassion to others; woe follows the first kind of person, and joy is the companion of the second. Avoid woe; do what leads to peace and joy. This is the Law, ancient and inexhaustible. That is what the Buddha teaches."



* * *


Not to be undone, the Christians tracked Buddha down and found him in Boulder, Colorado, standing outside the gates of Naropa Institute.

They asked him:

"Thich Nhat Hanh, bodhisattva (holy man) and author of Living Buddha, Living Christ, 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."


The World-Honored One smiled patiently and said:

"Christian friend, I have never suggested that a person could or should be a "Christian Buddhist". I have never suggested that someone be anything in particular; I have only ever taught that people should be mindful, should avoid extremes, and practice compassion and virtue. That is all. How a man acts is one thing; how he understands is another, and these two are entwined. What a man calls himself, whether Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, or Brahmanist, is secondary to how he thinks and acts, and tertiary to the level of mindfulness that man has attained. Only in compassionate, selfless, and virtuous acts are the conditions for peace created; only in peace can mindfulness be cultivated. What a man calls himself therefore means little to me.

For a man to say that he "is the truth" sounds like a misframed statement; there is confusion here. It would be just as confusing for a man to announce "I am Justice". A man may seek justice or attempt to perform just acts; he can teach about justice or believe in justice, but he is not himself justice. A man is a man, and justice is justice.

The Buddha is the Buddha, Truth is Truth, and Compassion is Compassion. I do not say "I am truth" or "I am compassion"; I am awakened and I teach the eternal Dharma; I am awakened and I teach about the way suffering arises, and the way it is defeated. That is salvation, and it is boundlessly available to all, in any age, though karmic obscurations are so strong that most will need to hear the Dharma of the awakened ones to find the natural peace that arises from recognizing their unborn nature.

Those who cannot or do not understand what I have said will create warped teachings which they believe will offer them release from their suffering- doctrines of this and that God, doctrines of sin and requirements of prayer, incense, sacrifice, and ritual. They will go around and around the wheel of suffering grasping on to these things, their desperation growing stronger as their doubts about themselves grow stronger, and their minds will become darkened with despair, fanaticism, violence, and ignorance.

These conditioned things can no more free people from suffering than the light reflecting from a pond's surface can quench a man's thirst. They can enchant the senses, but they end where they began: in suffering and deluded grasping for some certainty which the Buddha has taught cannot be found in this world of samsara. If it is certainty you seek, you must obtain it from your own awakened nature, and from nothing else."



* * *


Finding the Buddha wading in the shallow water off the coast of Oahu, the Christians sent forth their most clever commentator, who asked the Buddha:

"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?"


The World-Honored One said:

"Christian friend, a million beautiful words can be spoken or written down, but bring no peace. Better than a million beautiful words is one plain word that brings peace. Men and women love words, and so many words will be spoken and written down, in every time and place. The orientation towards peace is more important than words, and this orientation has always existed in every school or sect of Buddhism.

Many years ago, when I was born as Siddhartha Gautama, I realized unexcelled freedom, and I taught people a way to the end of suffering. Since that time, people have taken my teachings and applied them in many brilliant ways, all for the same purpose- the end of suffering.

Regardless of sect or transmission, my teachings about the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path have remained constant; my view of the Middle Way has informed all sects of Buddhism, and through every age, sanghas working in the name of my teachings have devoted themselves to rooting out the causes of suffering. All of these sects have produced impressive works of art, writing, and culture, all of which manifests the spirit of great awakening.

In much the same way that many variations on the teachings of Jesus have evolved down through the years, such as Catholicism, Greek Orthodox Christianity, Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicanism, Methodism, Mormonism, Southern Baptism, and many, many more, so have people looked upon my teachings in the various ways they needed to look upon them, to find peace."



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