Now You See It; Now You Don't

I had copied a portion of Matthew 28 yesterday: Be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and ye all are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. (If you need to know the verse numbers, look it up.) Now I shall write another excerpt from another book called Angutttara-nikaya: (The Kalamas are a group of people who questioned the Buddha.) Now, look you, Kalamas, do not be led by reports, or tradition, or hearsay. Be not led by the authority of religious texts, nor by mere logic or inference, nor by considering appearances, nor by the delight in speculative opinions, nor by seeming possibilities, nor by the idea: 'this is our teacher'. But, O Kalamas, when you know for yourselves that certain things are unwholesome (akusala), and wrong, and bad, then give them up...And when you know for yourselves that certain things are wholesome (kusala) and good, then accept them and follow them. When I was younger, I saw similarities. I would say: "Look! The Lord Jesus and the Lord Buddha agree here!" However, this is an incorrect focus. Read and be silent. Do what you must. They were talking about the same thing. Yes. Upon that we agree. However, the most important thing, the only thing of any importance is what has been said, not who has said it, nor whether they agree, nor whether there be points of similarity between the followers of one speaker and the followers of another. Do not write a book nor a treatise upon this sudden dawning of what you call "truth". Live a good and holy life. Your Reason may lead you to a path which leads to an empty way, a way of no importance. So may your Faith, if you allow Reason to rule Faith. There comes a time when the greatest knowledge is in the Silence of those gathered in God's name.