[at-l] Church anyone?

[shane@theplacewithnoname.com (Shane Steinkamp)]

<RELIGION WARNING:  DELETE AT WILL>

> And what about non-Christian
> "religious" hikers?  Just curious.
>
> William, The Zen Buddhist Southern Methodist-Baptist Sufi Catholic Turtle

My first response was from the humorous standpoint of Lenny Bruce, "More and
more people are leaving church and going back to God."

But, Being half Buddhist myself, I'll answer from that viewpoint:

Buddhist story:  Wan Sung said, ‘Once, as the Buddha was walking along with
a group, he pointed to the ground and said, “This place is suitable for
building a sanctuary.”  Shakra, Emperor of Angels, stuck a blade of grass in
the ground and declared, “The building of the sanctuary is done.”  Buddha
smiled.’

This is a story with only three sentences, but its teaching is very
profound.  We can follow its meaning in the context of many other great
teachers and teachings.  It has three main elements.

Buddha, and for that matter, Jesus, and Mohammed, and other notable persons
traveled in the company of all beings.  The most famous teachings of these
people did not occur in temples, synagogues or churches.  Instead they
occurred wherever they unfolded.  Thus we hear most famously about the
Sermon on the Mount, or of teachings by the sea.  So, when Buddha points to
the ground, it is any ground.

Shakra, Emperor of Angels, who conveniently just happens to be nearby, puts
a blade of grass in the ground – which quickly gets lost among the other
blades of grass and doesn’t change a thing – and declares the building of
the sanctuary to be done.  In some ways, Shakra performs a powerful miracle,
for, as Walt Whitman wrote, ‘I believe a blade of grass is no less than the
journey-work of the stars.’; but in other ways Shakra did nothing.  The
teaching he provides however, is the core element of Buddhism – which is
that things are as they are; or, that even commonplace things can be the
building blocks for the miraculous and the magical.

I think that God does not dwell only in churches or temples.  Should anyone
ask me about my church, I take them outside and say, ‘The ground is a good
altar, and the sky makes an excellent cathedral.’ It is the essence of the
belief and the spirituality of the moment which benefits us, not the place.
Any place is suitable for building a sanctuary...

My friend Bob is Catholic, and doesn't share this viewpoint.  I expect you
will find him in almost every church along the way.

>From the standpoint of a minister, I find either method satisfactory.

Shane