Religion as Practice: A Zen-Quaker Internal Dialogue
1994; University of Hawaii Press; Volume: 14; Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/1389832
ISSN1527-9472
Autores Tópico(s)Religion, Gender, and Enlightenment
ResumoThree years ago, I came before the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies and shared with my colleagues my view that many of us who are engaged in the process of Buddhist-Christian dialogue can observe elements of both Buddhism and Christianity in ourselves. I asked: with this mix of traditions in our minds and hearts to varying degrees and in varying forms, how do we go about our lives? I recommended internal dialogue, or mindful observation of our behavior and inner life, in order to begin answering this question.' On the present occasion, I will share some fruits of my own internal dialogue. Again, I encourage everyone to try this process. I have formal membership in the Religious Society of Friends, aka Quakers, and in a Zen Buddhist organization. I want to share with you today my thoughts concerning what this dual religious identity means to me. These remarks will probably sound quite Buddhist to many of you; they do to me when I review them. However, the gist of these thoughts came to me one Sunday morning as I sat in silent Quaker meeting for worship. I do not offer these remarks in any normative sense as suggestions to anyone as to how one should understand religious identity, but as a simple report of my own views, offered in the spirit of dialogue. When I question myself about what it means to me to be a Quaker and a Buddhist, two main responses come to me: (1) I find that, for me, religion is primarily a form of practice, and (2) I find that, for me, religious identity is primarily an identifier for social purposes. Let me discuss these in turn. First, for me, religion is primarily a form of practice. I am aware that there are many categories of religious practice. I am mainly drawn to two categories: (1) practice relevant to the soteriological and/or mystical element of religion, and (2) practice relevant to ethical living as shaped by the soteriological or mystical element. When I say that religion for me is primarily a form of practice, I am thinking of practice within these two categories. I am a Quaker because I am drawn to Quaker practice, specifically to the unprogrammed, largely silent meeting for worship with spontaneous verbal
Referência(s)