Theos-Talk Archives (February 2009 Message tt00283)

Bravo!
 
The Adyar TS is in good hands.
 
Chuck the Heretic
 
 
In a message dated 2/21/2009 5:16:43 A.M. Central Standard Time,  
prmoliveira@yahoo.com writes:

 
 
 
--- In _theos-talk@yahoogrotheos-t_ (mailto:theos-talk@yahoogroups.com) ,  
"Anand" <AnandGholap@Ana> wrote:

> Do you think that St.  Paul was misleading people when he said " the
> righteous will live by  faith" ? Do you think that Lord Jesus was
> misleading people when he  asked people to believe as written
> throughout the Gospels? Do you  think that Indian spiritual writings
> were misleading people when they  demanded Shraddha (faith or belief)?
> Either scriptures were wrong or  J. Krishnamurti was wrong. You can not
> say both are right. This  position is logically absurd.

Dear Anand,

I would like to  suggest that while discussing spiritual or religious
matters, the  "either/or" logic may not help. Also, there are certain
words that have  become, with usage and after many cultural and
religious wars, rather  loaded with deeply emotional connotations. 

Take the word faith, for  example. In ordinary parlance it is widely
equated with belief. This may be  a very superficial meaning of the
word but it is certainly cosy and  comfortable for many people in the
world. 

However, the word "faith"  comes from the Latin verb 'fidere', "to
trust". There is a great deal of  difference between belief and trust.
In many cases, belief is the result of  the play of appearances, while
trust implies an inner response from one's  own understanding. Both, of
course, can be proved faulty when self-interest  is involved.

If the story told in the gospels is even approximately  true, the faith
the apostles had in Jesus was not mere belief. Their faith  was an
understanding of the heart, a conviction born of a direct  and
unmediated experience of their teacher's wisdom and compassion.  The
parables that he shared with them were not an emotional appeal,  a
media stunt. They were challenges to their understanding of what  life
is all about. 

One of the meanings of the Samskrit word  "shraddha" is also trust. The
Buddha emphasized the same idea: "don't  accept something just because
tradition says its true, because the  scriptures say its true or even
because I say it is true. Only accept that  which resonates with your
own understanding.own understanding.<W

Let me conclude with a Zen story. 

In a Zen monastery,  a monk was performing his walking meditation when
he noticed a caterpillar  crossing the path. He took pity on it and put
it safely in the cabbage  garden.

His fellow monk, who worked in the cabbage garden, gently  protested
and said that if that creature would be allowed to reproduce  there it
would destroy the garden. 

As they could not settle their  gently dispute they decided to approach
the abbot of the  monastery.

The first monk explained his concern for the vulnerable  creature and
why he had put it in the cabbage garden. "Very well, my son",  said the
abbot.

The second monk pointed out the danger that the  caterpillar
represented to the garden if it was allowed to remain there.  "Very
well, my son", the abbot remarked.

Near the abbot there was a  novice. After the abbot's last remark the
novice said: "But Master, both  can't be right!" To which the abbot
replied: "Very well, my  son."

Pedro 





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