I think the genius of the Dalai Lama and of Buddhism is that they do not get lost in metaphysics and argumentation about dogmas and doctrines. They stay at a different level and thus avoid much of the endless disagreement that we find within Christianity. They do not argue about “what” but spend all of their time on “how”—which we have tended to neglect while we argue about “what.” As the Dalai Lama says, “My religion is kindness.” We could dismiss that as lightweight theology, until we remember that Jesus said, “This is my commandment: you must love one another” (John 13:34). Kindness is supposed to be the religion of Christians too!
(Adapted from Susan Hines-Brigger’s interview of Fr. Richard Rohr,
St. Anthony Messenger magazine, May 2013.)
As we continue to mature, we come to a sure sense that there is a deep okayness to life. “All will be well, all will be well, and every manner of things will be well,” as Julian of Norwich put it. We can live more and more within unitive consciousness and know the Divine Life itself is flowing through us. Your life is not about you; you are about Life! Life, your life, all life, the one life that we all share, is going somewhere and somewhere good. You do not need to navigate the river, for you are already flowing within it. For some reason, it takes a long time to get where we already are. Our goal is to intentionally participate in this mystery of what has always been our True Self. The Great Ones all agree on this: This one life, this True Self that lasts forever, is Love (1 Corinthians 13:8, 13). And we practice for it by being kind to everyone now.
Gateway to Silence:
My true self is love.