Question
Hello,
Please excuse my impertinence in taking the liberty of writing you this email.
I am a Catholic and charismatic Christian.
I would like to ask you a few questions:
First, how do you view Jesus from your Buddhist perspective?
I almost have an answer, since I know a little about Buddhism: you must see Jesus as a bodhisattva, but I would have liked a more in-depth answer from a specialist in Buddhism.
Another question: Do you ever speak about Jesus at gatherings, in sanghas, monasteries, or temples?
Christian churches are running out of steam; congregations are emptying in favor of more fundamentalist congregations (sects).
Christianity is in decline, and to save the memory of Jesus, my master and also my God, I believe this
memory can be saved through Buddhism and also through Islam.
Here is my idea: beyond any specific religious form or dogmatism, the Holy Bible could find refuge beside the Buddha. The icon of our Master would find refuge on a Tibetan or Japanese altar, since he is less and less accepted in his own home.
He would be there not as the Jesus of another religion in whom Buddhists take an interest, but as a Jesus who is a true saint, bodhisattva, and god.
Of course, among you Jesus is mainly seen as a great master and teacher, but at least his message would be preserved. A kind of preservation of the memory of Jesus, whose teaching was, indeed, very close to Gautama’s. Since the churches are emptying and priests are disappearing… Is this already happening? Could it happen?
Islam has already taken up part of the Jewish and Gospel heritage, but I know that Buddhist tolerance will accept “Jesus, man and Master” more readily than Muslims, who are rather conservative about religious law.
I dare to put forward this idea, this initiative of mine.
Will Buddhism save the memory of Christ’s teaching?
Will Catholics find support in the sanghas?
Galot Didier
Answer from Master Kosen
I am not a historian, and what interests me is revealing universal Christ consciousness within myself.
Kosen