|
Main Index
|
| |
| | | Book Name: The Dhammapada - The Way of the Buddha, Vol 2 | Previous Next | |
|
|
|
| |
is wrong and the Christian missionary is wrong, because both are judging -- and to judge is wrong. Jesus is Jesus -- he lives in his own way. Buddha is Buddha -- he lives in his own way. Unique personalities, unique expressions of God. Neither is a copy of the other, and neither needs to be a copy of the other. And it is beautiful that the world has variety. If there were only Jesuses and Jesuses again and again, they would look like Ford cars coming out on an assembly line -- each second a Ford car coming out, the same, exactly the same as each other. It is beautiful that Jesus is one and simply one and unrepeatable. And it is good the Buddha is alone and unrepeatable.
A really religious person has a nonjudgmental approach. The moralist cannot avoid judgments, he becomes a judge. Now, this Jaina monk, an ordinary person, stupid, is ready to judge Jesus, Ramakrishna, Mohammed. He knows nothing, understands nothing, has never meditated -- has not known himself yet. That's why he had come to me.
He had come to me to understand what meditation is and how to meditate. Meditation has not happened yet, but judgment is there -- and he is ready to judge even a man like Jesus, is not even ashamed of what he is doing, is not shy, is very arrogant. And so is the case with the Christian missionary! He knows nothing of meditation, what Buddha was doing, what Mahavira was doing. He knows nothing of the subtle ways in which a Buddha functions. Just his becoming enlightened is the greatest service to humanity possible -- nothing more can be done. He has certainly not cured physical eyes, but he is the man who has cured thousands of people's spiritual eyes -- and that is real service! He has made thousands of people hear, listen, understand -- THAT is real service.
But this Christian missionary, because he runs a primary school and a hospital, thinks himself somebody who is authorized to judge. The moralist always judges, the religious person never judges. He lives in a nonjudgmental consciousness.
A MIND BEYOND JUDGMENTS, WATCHES AND UNDERSTANDS. He simply watches and understands. If Buddha had come across Jesus, he would have understood; if Jesus had
|
|
|
|
| |