Enlightenment

[nirvana777]

Would one consider enlightenment through ZEN Buddhism or some other sect positive or negative , or nuetral in terms of its relation with the principles of Christianity, Let’s say hyptohetically
I am still trying to be christian though and remain in christ

 

[Ahimsa]

Would one consider enlightenment through ZEN Buddhism or some other sect positive or negative , or nuetral in terms of its relation with the principles of Christianity, Let’s say hyptohetically
I am still trying to be christian though and remain in christ

I personally consider it positive.

 

[Blade_and_Blood]

Would one consider enlightenment through ZEN Buddhism or some other sect positive or negative , or nuetral in terms of its relation with the principles of Christianity, Let’s say hyptohetically
I am still trying to be christian though and remain in christ

Enlightenment can be found in any religion.All Enlightenment is positive, but it depends on what you think is Enlightenment. Such paths can, of course, be found in Christianity, if that’s what you’re worried about.

Buddhism, in general, is certainly a religion in which it’s main goal is to achieve all Enlightenment, though.

Ironically Yours, Blade and Blood

 

[Dameedna]

When looking at the different religions, they often speak of very similar concepts.

It is the words that are different.

Nirvana, Heaven.

Enlightment, salvation.

They speak about the same essence. The devil is in the details

 

[EricBrooks]

The situation seems to me a little more complicated than “positive or negative.” In dealing with other religions I always keep in mind the formula “grace perfects nature.”

I keep this formula in mind because it is in many ways the summary of my journey into the Catholic faith. I studied comparative religion in college and practiced many forms of meditation, including Zen, for years beginning in middle school and ending in my last year of undergrad. All in all this was valuable, and certainly has formed me as a more prayerful Christian than I might otherwise have been, had I come to the faith at all.

During this period I was subject to the idea that all mysticism is the same mysticism, that it is all just different examples and substantiations of the same thing. Eventually I began giving a a frsh reading to Christian mysticism and saw that it is something strange and in many ways different than the techniques of meditation. In my various travels through non-Christian meditation I did learn moral discipline, I did learn to put eternal things above material things, and I did gain something of a real experience that confirmed me in a faith that there is a still point somewhere in this turning world, as well as much else of value. So it is relatively a good thing. But when I entered the sacramental life of the Church and received the Holy Spirit (which cannot be reduced to a generic sense of awareness of God within) I received a union with God that is far more intense, real, personal, and beyond my control than I ever could have imagined even in my wildest pre-Christian fantasies. So I would never go back to Zen meditation or any similar practice. I have found that God has given us more, and going back would be to accept less than the fullness being offered. But then I also see that Zen meditation is a relative good allowing people who have not received the light of revelation some sort of grounding in religious life.

I highly recommend you read this article put out by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith concerning several aspects of authentic Christian meditation. I think you will find it very illuminating: ewtn.com/library/curia/cdfmed.htm

 

[EricBrooks]

I suppose I should add this clarification:

While I have found again and again that the Christian Mystics offer me much much more than I ever found in my wandering with the eastern mystics, those techniques are totally valid for Christians so long as they are used in the right way.

The standards for that have more to do with doctrine than with practice. Some schools of meditation (not Zen) ask us to pray to pagan gods, which is not at all acceptable. Some are based on assumptions about human nature, the origin of the world, or other touchy areas that may not blend with Christianity. But as long as you can retain clear Christian thinking, there is nothing wrong with the bare bones of most meditation practices. A lot of what you find today is also “de-religioned”, and is simply techniques to help one obtain a sense of balance. It is of course preferable to rely on Christ in all things, but seeking balance in this way is as morally harmless as seeing a psychologist or asking a friend to help you with a problem. At worst it can degrade into occultism, but at best it can be a gateway to a much more fruitful Christian contemplation.

The link I gave you is a good guide to what is and is not valid Christian meditation.

 

[joseph_virgen]

i may be way off base here, but it sure sounds as though you are rationalizing your continued foray into what you yourself know is wrong. do yourself a favor and don’t look back. as when the Nazarene say, " When you plow, you never look back."

in essence, you have found the Truth, why are you still vacillating.,

 

[Fran65]

The devil is in the details

You have that right.

 

[TheAtheist]

Good question.

I ask the Jesuits i get one answer:

newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/thomas_j_reese/2007/04/eastern_spirituality_work_of_t.html

kennedyzen.tripod.com/

freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1563006/posts

A Jesuit Zen Roshi? Who would have thought such a thing could be eh?

Now of course, i ask a member of Opus Dei or a more assertive part of your church and i get a completely different answer - namely that all Eastern spirituality is the obvious work of the Devil.



My ask this of you Catholics - has the Vatican ever made a firm ruling on all of this?

 

[BJRumph]

Except Christian Heaven is not functionally the same as buddhist Nirvana or enlightenment.

While I think it possible to utilize some portions of buddhist meditation techniques, such portions of truth do not necessarily vindicate the whole. As the Church teaches, God has given some light to all peoples, but the ‘fullness’ will be found in the Church.

In Christianity, we must acknowledge the fundamental ‘realness’ of the physical world; God created it, and it is GOOD. In Buddhism, the realization of Nirvana & enlightenment is a realization of the utter lack of ‘realness’ to the physical world, the basic ‘reality’ of buddhism is that its all an illusion, none of it is real. The experience of Nirvana is an experience of emptiness (and therefore ‘good’ only because of its relationship of being in absence of strife and pain-causing illusion). It is not Heaven, a positive good of being personally in the full presence of God.

Though not written by a Catholic, you should try finding a copy of “Zen Way, Jesus Way”. It treats both ideologies respectfully, even as it shows why they are intrinsically opposite in their self-defined ends.