I've been reading "The Art of Living" by Thich Nhat Hanh in the mornings lately. Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist teacher, master, and the Abbot of Plum Village in France. He also founded the Order of Interbeing which is a Buddhist religious order focused on a practical Buddhism that echoes Mother Theresa's own Order in some respects. He was also a personal friend of Martin Luther King Jr. and Thomas Merton. "The Art of Living" is the last book published in his name before he went into hospice (he has since passed away in his home country of Vietnam), and is edited from a number of his "dharma talks." I've read a number of his books, as well as "The Dharma of Star Wars" (an absolute must read for any serious fan of the Jedi) written by one of his students from the Plum Village community as I understand it, Matthew Bortolin. I can safely say, he ranks among my favorite authors, if not the favorite author.
One of the things which has always struck me about his writings is how much he talks about Jesus Christ, for being a Buddhist Abbot and teacher that is. Certainly he understands Jesus from a Buddhist perspective and not a Christian one, but he clearly knows what Jesus taught, and has a good working knowledge of the text of the New Testament being able to recite stories and parables which are contained therein. In one of his books, I think it was "Living Buddha, Living Christ," he describes having not just an image of the Buddha upon his meditation altar, but also an image of Jesus, saying, "I bow to Lord Buddha and I bow to Lord Jesus." Given what I've read and seen of him, his work, his philosophy, and his practice, I would go so far as to say his words and his actions would mark him as a better follower of what Jesus taught than most Christians, and yet his belief system, his worldview. had virtually nothing to do with traditional Christianity at all.
When I was younger and attending a Bible Church, and later an Evangelical Missionary Bible School, it was repeatedly impressed upon me how much the world and non-Christians hated and rejected Jesus Christ. How much Christians would be persecuted because they believed in Jesus. And what we needed to do was to teach them about Jesus and the Gospel, giving them as much of the written word of God as possible. But as I have gotten older and experienced things outside of that bubble, I have found something very, very different to be the truth. What I have found is that most people outside of that church background already know at least the basics of what Jesus taught. Most people, whether they are Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, or even humanist atheists, at the very least have a respect for Jesus Christ Himself and what He actually taught in the Gospels. And most of those who are educated in any way have a decent grasp on what He said even if they've never set foot in a Sunday School, a church, or a Bible Study. What Jesus Christ taught, and He Himself, has been spread so far and so wide, and so much a part of our international cultural heritage, that it is truly difficult to escape some understanding of it and Him within the civilized world. And the irony is, this is why many who know what Jesus taught do not choose to become Christians.
Mahatma Ghandi comes to my mind as well. He was a Jainist, and a devout man within his religion. But there was a time when, after reading what Jesus taught, and the Gospels, he had considered becoming a Christian. What stopped him? He got to know some Christians, and after seeing how they actually lived in contradiction to what Jesus taught, he decided to stick with Jainism feeling that was a more honest and sincere path.
Watching the news, reading what is being taught and promulgated in Jesus' name... sometimes I feel dumbstruck at the audacity. I feel even more shame that I was a part of it once upon a time. There is a bumper sticker which reads, "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven." And this is the philosophical excuse many use for outright disobeying and even contradicting what Jesus taught. They do not seek to walk as He walked, or live as He taught, because "it's too hard." They do not seek to love their neighbors much less their enemies. They judge, they keep account of perceived wrongs, they do not forgive, they condemn without mercy all while singing songs which praise His Name and performing ceremony, liturgy, ordinance, or sacrament. They do all of this and more, verbally and sometimes even physically attacking the vulnerable and defenseless, the poor, the outcast, the foreigner, orphans, and so on because it is politically acceptable to do so. They totally ignore what Jesus said in that "inasmuch as you did this to the least of these my brothers, you did this to Me," and expect total absolution for such things because they "believe in Jesus."
Such things were not the case among the Khristianoi of the first and second century. They were explicit in that someone who was found not living as He taught was not recognized as one of them, no matter what doctrine they professed to teach. John too in his first epistle was explicit when he wrote that someone who claimed to make their home in Him was obligated to walk as He walked. They would have been horrified at the idea that someone could have the gall to call themselves by His Name and then belittle His teachings as "too weak." They would have put that person outside of their group of Christians until they came to their senses.
There is another irony at work with Thich Nhat Hanh and other Buddhist authors like him. While they may in no wise claim to be Christians, much of their writing is composed of practical instructions on how to actually do what He taught. How to love and have compassion on every single being. How to forgive without limit. How to not judge even those who hurt you. Their writings are frequently filled, not with theological discourse or doctrinal dogmas, but how to be at peace, how to love, how to experience joy, and so on. And they put many if not most "Christian" authors to shame for their unabashed and authentic discipleship. If you really want to learn how to follow Jesus Christ in His commands to love, I can think of few better manuals than Lama Zopa Rinpoche's "Bodhichitta" published by Wisdom Press.
There are some very vocal non-Christian critics of Jesus Christ to be sure. Some who have been hell bent on disproving Him and His resurrection (though anyone who has actually taken the time and done the research has ended up believing in Him and it). But if you look deeply at them and their background, almost every single one of them has had some kind of hurtful or painful experience with "Christians" which is driving their vitriol. They wish to disprove God or Jesus because those who claimed to speak for Him hurt them in some way.
Most of the non-Christian world doesn't have a problem with Jesus Himself like I was taught. They have a real problem with those who claim to speak in His Name not following Him themselves and claiming to get away with it. Any genuine, careful reading of the New Testament will show that He has a real problem with it too.
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