What are the topics we’ve all been told to avoid at cocktail parties (or wine tastings, take your pick): religion and politics, right? Perhaps this explains the prevalence of these topics in the blogosphere. It is difficult to choose the more incendiary of the two. On the one hand, we have a group of angry conservatives who are very excited right now about issues like universal health care and the legitimacy of Obama’s birth certificate. On the other hand, mega-churches are on the rise, Muslims are fighting for their beliefs and the preservation of their culture, Jews remain justifiably incredulous and outraged by Holocaust deniers and fundamentalist terrorists, and Buddhists just want us all to get along. good.

My intention is decidedly anti-inflammatory. I believe that interfaith ministry and education could one day play an important role in reintroducing religious discussions into party circuits everywhere. Wouldn’t that be great Star Trek style? Klingons, Vulcans and humans working together for the good of the Federation…

Until that future day dawns, I’d like to share some of my own spiritual leanings and religious exploration.

I grew up in a Protestant family in a predominantly Christian part of the world. I grew up surrounded by a fair number of Christian fundamentalists and also a fair number of reformers whose beliefs were often called “watered down.” Fortunately, the Bible thugs kept their distance for the most part and I was raised on run-of-the-mill Sunday school lessons. He also knew a good number of Reformed Jews and had a Hindu friend. That sums up my religious formation until I got to college.

The Oriental Philosophy course I took during the 1992 Summer Session was a real turning point in my life. I was fascinated by reading some of the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and in particular the teachings of a prince Siddhartha Gautama, more correctly known as Buddha. Although I had always feared and disdained fundamentalist religion in any form, I had believed in the divinity of Christ since my childhood. The Eastern spiritual teachings that I read in college reflected much of what I loved about the teachings of Jesus. I went through a brief phase where I actually believed that Krishna and Jesus were one and the same. I wondered if Jesus and Buddha might not have both been divine incarnations sent to our planet in different geographical locations and historical periods. I was overjoyed to know that people from all over the world, from all generations, had been striving towards similar spiritual goals and I really felt less isolated in my spiritual quest.

Obviously, Comparative Religion is a rich topic in itself and many learned people have written about the similarities between Buddha and Jesus. Rather than an attempt to reinvent the wheel on a well-researched academic subject, this is a communication from my heart about what these two figures have imparted to me, and an affirmation of my belief that they have valuable teachings for all of us.

My earliest remembered experiences of Jesus are praying before bed at night, “thank you for my parents, thank you for my toys, thank you for Santa, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny” and singing, “Jesus loves me.” this I know”. When he was a little boy, I thought it sounded like good news and I believed it. When I found out that Santa, the Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy didn’t exist, I prayed, “Jesus, I still have you.” As my childhood progressed, I read my Bible lessons and was confirmed as a Christian at the age of 13. Then he allowed me to receive communion. One of my parents went through a recovery phase during my early teens, so I also enjoyed singing modern praise songs that included a full band and tambourines for everyone. On Sundays we sang songs to God for an hour and dance was encouraged. Some people would be embarrassed by this, but I have to say that I really enjoyed it! I did my fair share of Bible reading and usually jumped right to the words written in red in the New Testament, which for those who don’t know, are the words of Jesus himself transcribed by his disciples. I contemplated those words and tried to get explanations to the parables. I prayed before taking tests at school and found that prayer is a generally useful outlet for winding down at bedtime or any time of crisis. I was a true believer. Some of my favorite verses were, “Seek and you will find” and “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I felt emboldened by my faith.

In high school, college, and certainly into adulthood, I learned of the many horrible atrocities committed throughout history in the name of Jesus. I learned about the evangelicals who maligned his name through their public displays of extramarital affairs, drug use, narcissism, and many other things most of us would consider vices. I learned about the hatred of many Christians towards homosexuals. I met some gay Christians who were able to teach me a lot about unconditional love and the truly radical approach Jesus took to ancient Jewish law and Old Testament beliefs and practices. I met many other Jews and Muslims and heard their views on Jesus and how he was perceived by those of other religions. I met Buddhists who claimed to respect the teachings of Jesus and saw him as a brother of the Buddha.

Over time, and with the pressures of work and then raising children, faith took a backseat in my life. I recently experienced what might be called a spiritual renaissance after some Jewish friends recommended that I read and listen to the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, a revered Buddhist teacher. Then I remembered that my father had given me the book “Living Buddha, Living Christ” during my early adult years. Thich Nhat Hanh is a blessed soul who rekindled my faith in the Divine and revitalized my life. Then I reread the now classic “Tibetan Book of the Living and Dying” by Sogyal Rinpoche. I reread the Bhagavad Gita and started reading the Bible again. I signed up for the Daily Scriptures via email.

After searching online, I found meditation classes offered in my area through the Kadampa Buddhist Center, an affiliate of the global New Kadampa Tradition. I read The Meditation Manual written by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. For months, I meditated daily. I saw dramatic changes in my life, and with each new Buddhist teaching, I was able to make a new connection with Jesus. I finally started to understand some of those mysterious parables! I was so inspired by my new Buddhist meditation practice that I attended an actual Buddhist retreat at a temple in Glen Spey, New York.

My visit to that Buddhist temple, ironically enough, finally convinced me that although I have immense respect for the Buddha, Jesus is my true spiritual teacher. After spending a day in that temple, chanting, praying, and listening to the teachings of the peaceful Buddhist monks, I walked away feeling strangely empty. I don’t mean the blissful emptiness that Buddhists want to achieve. I felt emotionally flat to the point of mild physical discomfort. Nothing felt right to me. I left the temple and walked away from the communal dining tent where I was supposed to enjoy dinner. I got in my car and experienced some slight nausea. I could not understand these feelings because during my time in the temple I had been inspired by the beautiful statue of Shakyamuni Buddha and the other Buddhist deities. I particularly enjoyed the singing and was pleased with myself for memorizing many of the prayers before the retreat. As I started my car and the radio came on, I heard a Phil Collins song, cover to cover: “Don’t Let Him Steal Your Heart Away.” I listened to every word while driving, as if paralyzed. Tears fell down my face. For the first time in many years, I felt the presence of the one I only know how to call Jesus Christ. I felt like he was singing directly to me. I returned to my hotel, after buying a giant cheeseburger and a bottle of wine, and packed up my belongings. I decided to skip the rest of the retreat and drove home that night. Since then, when I meditate, I first try to clear my mind, and then I try to invite Jesus to sit with me for a while. I have also asked him to answer my questions in his sleep, which I believe he has done.

As an aside, I’d like to point out that at two other times in my life I felt like Jesus was singing directly to me in a pop song. The first time was after feeling guilty about an encounter with some fundamentalist evangelical Christians. The song was “I love you just the way you are.” You know, the one that makes you sing “Don’t you go to change!” The second musical message was Stevie Wonder’s song, “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing” after recovering from illness and going through a divorce. Just like with the Phil Collins song, I immediately felt a spiritual presence and tears flowed freely!

All things considered, I feel that my spiritual progression over the past few years has been healing and transformative. I have experienced peaks and valleys, lulls and spurts. I now have a stronger sense of spiritual identity than ever, as I believe our childhood religious beliefs are, by and large, more imposed than enforced.

I will continue reading, contemplating, and benefiting from the Buddha’s teachings for the rest of my life, as long as I retain my mental faculties. From the Buddha, I believe we can learn to master anger, jealousy, obsessions, and many other forms of harmful attachments. Buddha can peacefully guide us to realize our interconnectedness and our collective progress on this Earth as a group of souls.

Jesus will always be the one to whom I say, “Jesus, I still have you.” When he dies, hopefully I will hold the hand of one of my loved ones and I will also feel the presence of Jesus guiding me into the mystery that lies beyond our physical lives. Jesus offers us all the unique lesson of Grace and strength perfected in weakness. Like Buddha, Jesus has a unique approach to disease. He said of many diseases that the purpose was not to destroy the body but to glorify God. When the apostle Paul asked Jesus to heal him, Jesus did not heal him, but instead responded, “My grace is sufficient for you, for strength is made perfect in weakness.” Jesus had a prostitute as a close friend and confidant. Jesus spoke to many women in his day and showed love and acceptance to a myriad of “sinners.” He was called out by the religious leaders of his day for his disdain for the law. It was said that he healed on Saturday. He asked a man to come and follow him, quite controversially on the day this man was going to bury his father. He said: “Let the dead bury their own dead.” Unlike the Buddha, Jesus was reported to have shown anger on several occasions. He once cursed a fig tree because it had no fruit at the time. He once overturned the tables in the temple in a fit of anger because he believed that God’s holy place was not a proper place for commercial transactions. Like Buddha, Jesus was a radical when he placed it in the historical context of his generation. Perhaps the most radical quote from him was: “Before Abraham was, I am.”

While I respect and admire anyone trying to follow a spiritual path, I identify with the voice of that radical, Jesus of Nazareth. I may not go to a church for a while. I drink I swear, sometimes, and I’ve always liked to dance. I don’t have much use for Christian fundamentalism, or any religious fundamentalism for that matter. What I know I know I know is that as Jesus says “my sheep hear my voice” and I can proudly shout BAAAAA from my rooftop tonight or any night! Good night! And God bless!