Peaceful Fire Journal

February 9, 2009

Lamrim IV

Tonight is my fourth Lamrim meeting at Jewel Heart. The instructors are wrapping up the creation of sacred space, and beginning to move on to section 4. In some respects, I'm still back at preliminaries. I still have a few things on my mind that I have to resolve.

I do find the guidance through the Lamrim provided by Rimpoche in written form to be most helpful. Specifically, he identifies the first of the extraordinary qualities of Lamrim as revealing the non-contradictory nature of all spiritual methods. This has been liberating for me. First, it means that my inclusive devotion to the spiritual teachers of my past not only can, but should be incorporated into my practice; and second that my pre-eminent devotion to Jesus does not contradict the value or integrity of my devotion to the Buddha.

In fact, it is not until I stop focusing on the differences, and accept their non-contradictory nature, that the similarities become apparent. Both Jesus and Buddha identified with the suffering of humanity, and offered a path out of suffering; Jesus through repentance of sin; Buddha through generation of merit and positive karma. Both offer a pathway through death, humanity's greatest dread. Buddha spoke of escaping the wheel of samsara and reaching Nirvana; Jesus offered a home in the Kingdom of Heaven. Both pointed to consciousness as the path to knowing; Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven lies within; Buddha points the way through meditation. Both promised to return to earth for the further benefit of humanity, Buddha as the awaited Maitreya, Jesus as the returning Messiah. Both taught that love and compassion for every living being is the infallible pathway to realization.

So Lamrim has been helpful in allowing me to develop insight into the non-contradictory nature of Jesus and Buddha and the spiritual paths they offer, along with the other teachers who've guided me through the years; Krishnamurti, Black Elk, His Holiness, the 14th. Dalai Lama, and now Rimpoche and the beautiful people of my sangha at Jewel Heart.

So when I offer a Daily Prayer as follows: Namo Gurubye, namo Buddhaya, namo Dharmaya, namo Sanghaya It will perfectly capture the meaning of the paragraph above.

So far, so good. But last week and this week we discussed setting up an altar as part of creating a sacred environment. So now comes a consideration of what an altar incorporating all of the above is going to look like?