酷我-北美枫

[ericcoliu]

"Through a glass darkly" is an abbreviated form of a much-quoted phrase from the Christian New Testament in 1 Corinthians 13:12: For now we see through a glass, darkly. The phrase is interpreted to mean that humans have an imperfect perception of reality.

The following postings are my personal reflections on religion in general, Christianity in particular, which is seen through a stained glass window, darkly:


A Nuanced Version of Noah’s Story


Among children’s Bible stories Noah’s story is the most widely told one because almost all children love stories about animals. And no Bible story has fared better at the hands of picture-book illustrators than Noah’s story because picture books and the Flood story are a natural fit. Among many versions of Noah’s story told in Chapters 6–9 of Genesis, the best one for preschoolers is Noah’s Ark illustrated by Dutch-born American artist Peter Spier, which won the 1978 Caldecott Medal Book Award.

Noah’s Ark begins with a translation of a seventeenth-century Dutch poem about Noah’s story that has singsong rhymes simple enough for three-year-olds: “Dog and cat, / Mouse and rat, / Fly and vole, /Worm and mole … In they came, / Pair by pair, / Gross and fair.” What follows are colourful illustrations of every stage of the ark's journey: from the gathering of the animals through the appearance of the rainbow symbolizing God’s promise never to send another flood like the one Noah survived.

In this wonderfully illustrated book, Peter Spier traces the biblical story of how the God of the Old Testament showed His grace by using Noah to preserve life on earth in spite of the Flood. It contains very few words -- only two sentences -- which is, in fact, one of its strengths. The book pictorially traces through the story from the building of the ark, through the coming of the flood waters and the endless days in tight quarters. The story ends, very simply, with the hopeful words, "and he planted a vineyard," hinting at the hope of renewed fruitfulness and a creation that has the opportunity to again be the good creation which the God of the Old Testament intended.

A surface reading of this widely-circulated illustrated book seems to conform to the doctrinal understanding of God’s grace and punitive power. However, at some point in the middle of the book, what you see is that an array of animals is going to embark. You'll see a bunch of animals sitting outside in one frame, and then in the next frame, you'll see they all have wet feet. And in the next picture, you only see the trunk of the elephant right above water level, and the nostrils of the giraffe. And in the next picture, all you see is water.

This is a nuanced version of Noah’s story seen from the flood up, and from the drowning of those who are not on the ark. It offers a possible counter-reading of the original Noah’s story seen from God’s angle, from Noah’s experience, challenging readers to re-think in what kind of God Christians believe.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

"Through a glass darkly" is an abbreviated form of a much-quoted phrase from the Christian New Testament in 1 Corinthians 13:12: For now we see through a glass, darkly. The phrase is interpreted to mean that humans have an imperfect perception of reality.

The following postings are my personal reflections on religion in general, Christianity in particular, which is seen through a stained glass window, darkly:


A Nuanced Version of Noah’s Story


Among children’s Bible stories Noah’s story is the most widely told one because almost all children love stories about animals. And no Bible story has fared better at the hands of picture-book illustrators than Noah’s story because picture books and the Flood story are a natural fit. Among many versions of Noah’s story told in Chapters 6–9 of Genesis, the best one for preschoolers is Noah’s Ark illustrated by Dutch-born American artist Peter Spier, which won the 1978 Caldecott Medal Book Award.

Noah’s Ark begins with a translation of a seventeenth-century Dutch poem about Noah’s story that has singsong rhymes simple enough for three-year-olds: “Dog and cat, / Mouse and rat, / Fly and vole, /Worm and mole … In they came, / Pair by pair, / Gross and fair.” What follows are colourful illustrations of every stage of the ark's journey: from the gathering of the animals through the appearance of the rainbow symbolizing God’s promise never to send another flood like the one Noah survived.

In this wonderfully illustrated book, Peter Spier traces the biblical story of how the God of the Old Testament showed His grace by using Noah to preserve life on earth in spite of the Flood. It contains very few words -- only two sentences -- which is, in fact, one of its strengths. The book pictorially traces through the story from the building of the ark, through the coming of the flood waters and the endless days in tight quarters. The story ends, very simply, with the hopeful words, "and he planted a vineyard," hinting at the hope of renewed fruitfulness and a creation that has the opportunity to again be the good creation which the God of the Old Testament intended.

A surface reading of this widely-circulated illustrated book seems to conform to the doctrinal understanding of God’s grace and punitive power. However, at some point in the middle of the book, what you see is that an array of animals is going to embark. You'll see a bunch of animals sitting outside in one frame, and then in the next frame, you'll see they all have wet feet. And in the next picture, you only see the trunk of the elephant right above water level, and the nostrils of the giraffe. And in the next picture, all you see is water.

This is a nuanced version of Noah’s story seen from the flood up, and from the drowning of those who are not on the ark. It offers a possible counter-reading of the original Noah’s story seen from God’s angle, from Noah’s experience, challenging readers to re-think in what kind of God Christians believe.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[ericcoliu]

No Self, Mere I


In a lecture on the Buddhist view of the self, the Dalai Lama emphasized that nothing has any self and "no self" means no permanent identity continuing from one moment to the next. Being a seasoned promoter of Buddha's teaching, He smartly preempted the seemingly clichéd question -- if there is no self, what makes up the human personality – that possibly any of the doubting audience would raise with a wise answer: five aggregates, from material form to consciousness, make up of the human personality and are only momentary, but they group together to give the illusion of permanence, like the flow of a river or the flame of a candle.

After having given several thoughtful reasons why the self did not exist, the Dalai Lama smiled and asked, "If there is no self, who just told you this?" His question took all of the audience completely by surprise, and no one was able to take on his challenging question. He smiled again and answered softly, "no self, mere I."
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

No Self, Mere I


In a lecture on the Buddhist view of the self, the Dalai Lama emphasized that nothing has any self and "no self" means no permanent identity continuing from one moment to the next. Being a seasoned promoter of Buddha's teaching, He smartly preempted the seemingly clichéd question -- if there is no self, what makes up the human personality – that possibly any of the doubting audience would raise with a wise answer: five aggregates, from material form to consciousness, make up of the human personality and are only momentary, but they group together to give the illusion of permanence, like the flow of a river or the flame of a candle.

After having given several thoughtful reasons why the self did not exist, the Dalai Lama smiled and asked, "If there is no self, who just told you this?" His question took all of the audience completely by surprise, and no one was able to take on his challenging question. He smiled again and answered softly, "no self, mere I."
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[ericcoliu]

Madonna, A Crucified Goddess

In one of the most controversial parts of her performance during her recent world tour, Madonna was hung Christlike from a mirrored cross, wearing a crown of thorns and singing Live to Tell. Behind her, a gigantic screen showed a thundering apocalyptic fireball. The cross fade was with young African faces. Shortly afterwards, through the video firestorm, passages from the Bible appeared on the screen:

"I was naked, and you gave me clothing."

"Whatever you did for one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me."

Nowadays, celebrities are becoming the iconic figures of “the new social conscience”. We take our cues from their lives and they tell us what to believe.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

Madonna, A Crucified Goddess

In one of the most controversial parts of her performance during her recent world tour, Madonna was hung Christlike from a mirrored cross, wearing a crown of thorns and singing Live to Tell. Behind her, a gigantic screen showed a thundering apocalyptic fireball. The cross fade was with young African faces. Shortly afterwards, through the video firestorm, passages from the Bible appeared on the screen:

"I was naked, and you gave me clothing."

"Whatever you did for one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me."

Nowadays, celebrities are becoming the iconic figures of “the new social conscience”. We take our cues from their lives and they tell us what to believe.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[ericcoliu]

Christianity's Central Metaphor

Every time when I go to attend the Sunday service held at my local church, which is mainly made up of white middle-class Canadians, I am always stuck by the giant words -- God is Love ( 1 John 4:8 ) – painted on one side of the Sunday school wall. Although I have been baptized for eighteen years, I still remain amazed that Christianity’s central metaphor for understanding God is “God is Love.” As many scripture scholars claim, this Johannine metaphor is the first classic Christian reflection on the meaning of the passion narratives described in the four Gospels.

But how could love be the central clue to the Divine Reality? This would seem absurd to any Greek or Roman, who believed that intelligence provides the major clue to the nature of the Divine Reality, as indeed it may still seem absurd to any sensitive observer, ancient or modern, of the horrible sides of human existence. During my first ten years as a member of the Christian community, I posed this question to any “spiritually mature” Christian I encountered, and I got back almost the standardized answer, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, and whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” It is fair to say that the Christian’s sense of the nature of God as Love is through their understanding of the identity of Jesus the Christ, the icon of the reality of God’s love.

But the problem is that this God’s love cost the lives of boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under at the time of Jesus’ birth. None of the Christians I have asked mentioned that they felt unease with this unbearable heaviness of loss of life, and that how they reconciled this tragic “historic fact” with their belief in a God, who is the one who claims that human beings are more valuable than the birds that He feeds.

This Christian metaphor “God is Love” teaches me two truths: the truth of the nature of the Christian God as Love is a mere metaphor, nothing more, and the truth of the extent to which this metaphor is applicable is bound within the walls of a church unquestioningly accepted as the whole world.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

Christianity's Central Metaphor

Every time when I go to attend the Sunday service held at my local church, which is mainly made up of white middle-class Canadians, I am always stuck by the giant words -- God is Love ( 1 John 4:8 ) – painted on one side of the Sunday school wall. Although I have been baptized for eighteen years, I still remain amazed that Christianity’s central metaphor for understanding God is “God is Love.” As many scripture scholars claim, this Johannine metaphor is the first classic Christian reflection on the meaning of the passion narratives described in the four Gospels.

But how could love be the central clue to the Divine Reality? This would seem absurd to any Greek or Roman, who believed that intelligence provides the major clue to the nature of the Divine Reality, as indeed it may still seem absurd to any sensitive observer, ancient or modern, of the horrible sides of human existence. During my first ten years as a member of the Christian community, I posed this question to any “spiritually mature” Christian I encountered, and I got back almost the standardized answer, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, and whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” It is fair to say that the Christian’s sense of the nature of God as Love is through their understanding of the identity of Jesus the Christ, the icon of the reality of God’s love.

But the problem is that this God’s love cost the lives of boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under at the time of Jesus’ birth. None of the Christians I have asked mentioned that they felt unease with this unbearable heaviness of loss of life, and that how they reconciled this tragic “historic fact” with their belief in a God, who is the one who claims that human beings are more valuable than the birds that He feeds.

This Christian metaphor “God is Love” teaches me two truths: the truth of the nature of the Christian God as Love is a mere metaphor, nothing more, and the truth of the extent to which this metaphor is applicable is bound within the walls of a church unquestioningly accepted as the whole world.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[ericcoliu]

Karma, The Wheel of Life

Unlike the esoteric Christian tradition where there is a creator God viewed as the First and Ultimate Cause of all things taking place in the human world, in Dharmic religions like Buddhism, one key understanding of why things happen and how phenomena arise is the concept of dependent origination. It explains the sequence or nature of the world , which consists of formation, existence, destruction and void, and it also emphasizes how we have to undergo “birth, age, illness, and death” in our lifetime, thus making us realize that an object we desire depends on causes and conditions to exist. The main element in The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination is Karma, the condition for consciousness in which we form our impressions or habits.

In the popular Buddhist teaching, Karma denotes the entire cycle of cause and effect; it is viewed as a sum of all that an individual has done, is currently doing and will do. The law of Karma deals mainly with all deeds actively created both past and present and with the effects in all present and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one’s own deeds and for the pain and joy brought to oneself and others.

There is a very popular lyrics sung among Asian Buddhists, saying that

The law of Karma
Remember this in your mind:
Avoid the bad, do only good.
Purify your mind;
When you die, you’ll go to Heaven.
Life in the cycle of Sam-sa-ra,
There is no way to get out
Under the law, the law of Karma

Buddha once said,

"Because of delusion, there is Karma and because of Karma, there is suffering."

The wheel of Life is interlocked within a series of cause-and-effect operations.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

Karma, The Wheel of Life

Unlike the esoteric Christian tradition where there is a creator God viewed as the First and Ultimate Cause of all things taking place in the human world, in Dharmic religions like Buddhism, one key understanding of why things happen and how phenomena arise is the concept of dependent origination. It explains the sequence or nature of the world , which consists of formation, existence, destruction and void, and it also emphasizes how we have to undergo “birth, age, illness, and death” in our lifetime, thus making us realize that an object we desire depends on causes and conditions to exist. The main element in The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination is Karma, the condition for consciousness in which we form our impressions or habits.

In the popular Buddhist teaching, Karma denotes the entire cycle of cause and effect; it is viewed as a sum of all that an individual has done, is currently doing and will do. The law of Karma deals mainly with all deeds actively created both past and present and with the effects in all present and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one’s own deeds and for the pain and joy brought to oneself and others.

There is a very popular lyrics sung among Asian Buddhists, saying that

The law of Karma
Remember this in your mind:
Avoid the bad, do only good.
Purify your mind;
When you die, you’ll go to Heaven.
Life in the cycle of Sam-sa-ra,
There is no way to get out
Under the law, the law of Karma

Buddha once said,

"Because of delusion, there is Karma and because of Karma, there is suffering."

The wheel of Life is interlocked within a series of cause-and-effect operations.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[ericcoliu]

The Big Question

There was a recovering Catholic and a disenchanted Protestant standing on the street corner, which is near an abandoned church, and discussing with each other the big question.

“You know, I wonder why God allows all this poverty, suffering and hurt in the world?”

“Well, why don't you ask your God about that?”

“Well, I have asked this question since the first day of my being Christian and got no answers from Him. I grew tired of asking the same question over and over again. How about you? Got any idea from the Vatican?”

“Well, I'm scared of asking this mind-boggling question.”

“What are you scared of?”

“I guess I'm scared that God will ask me the same question.”

A silence fell upon them.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

The Big Question

There was a recovering Catholic and a disenchanted Protestant standing on the street corner, which is near an abandoned church, and discussing with each other the big question.

“You know, I wonder why God allows all this poverty, suffering and hurt in the world?”

“Well, why don't you ask your God about that?”

“Well, I have asked this question since the first day of my being Christian and got no answers from Him. I grew tired of asking the same question over and over again. How about you? Got any idea from the Vatican?”

“Well, I'm scared of asking this mind-boggling question.”

“What are you scared of?”

“I guess I'm scared that God will ask me the same question.”

A silence fell upon them.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[ericcoliu]

The Good News

People, as usual, attended the Sunday service at St. Michael’s Church. Upon their entrance into their church, surprisingly, they found out that there were no bibles there and all of them had mystically disappeared.

The minister tried to calm down the disturbed congregation, and he asked everyone to pray to God for his guidance. After the prayer, the minister asked if anyone had good news from God. No one admitted having any, some of the congregation felt bored and started leaving.

One man stood up, saying that his wife had just had a baby early this morning. The remaining congregants didn’t think it was a word from God. They start leaving and went home. No one paid any attention to him.

He continued to stay in church for one hour, contemplating God’s word. He was sure that the birth of his little baby was the good news from God. He stood up and gave thanks to God, and he went home happily.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

The Good News

People, as usual, attended the Sunday service at St. Michael’s Church. Upon their entrance into their church, surprisingly, they found out that there were no bibles there and all of them had mystically disappeared.

The minister tried to calm down the disturbed congregation, and he asked everyone to pray to God for his guidance. After the prayer, the minister asked if anyone had good news from God. No one admitted having any, some of the congregation felt bored and started leaving.

One man stood up, saying that his wife had just had a baby early this morning. The remaining congregants didn’t think it was a word from God. They start leaving and went home. No one paid any attention to him.

He continued to stay in church for one hour, contemplating God’s word. He was sure that the birth of his little baby was the good news from God. He stood up and gave thanks to God, and he went home happily.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[Champagne]

[[Champagne]]

[ericcoliu]

[[ericcoliu]]

[ericcoliu]

The Long Hours of the Night

Where does faith reside?
In the soul?
The mind, the heart or the marrow of the bones?
Into the long hours of the night,
The murmuring voice of the doubting mind carries.
Then daylight comes,
And the doubler's question fades away.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

The Long Hours of the Night

Where does faith reside?
In the soul?
The mind, the heart or the marrow of the bones?
Into the long hours of the night,
The murmuring voice of the doubting mind carries.
Then daylight comes,
And the doubler's question fades away.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[Champagne]

Zen, An Opening-up of the Mind


There is an often-told story about a great Zen master, Tzu-ming.

One day, Ke-chen, Tzu-ming's disciple, walked a long way to see his master for instruction. The master asked calmly, "What is the fundamental principle of Buddhism?"

His disciple answered eagerly, "No clouds are gathering over the mountain peaks, and how serenely the moon is reflected on the lake!"

All of a sudden, Tzu-ming angrily shouted, "Shame on you! It’s unthinkable to have such a view for a man like you who has been learning Zen with me for a long time. How can you expect to be delivered from birth-and-death?"

Ke-chen was frightened and he asked in a trembling voice for more instructions, "Master, what is the fundamental principle of Buddhism?"

The Master stated calmly, "No clouds are gathering over the mountain peaks, and how serenely the moon is reflected on the lake!"
_________________
I'm Champagne,
Bottled poetry with sparkling joy.

[[Champagne]]

Zen, An Opening-up of the Mind


There is an often-told story about a great Zen master, Tzu-ming.

One day, Ke-chen, Tzu-ming's disciple, walked a long way to see his master for instruction. The master asked calmly, "What is the fundamental principle of Buddhism?"

His disciple answered eagerly, "No clouds are gathering over the mountain peaks, and how serenely the moon is reflected on the lake!"

All of a sudden, Tzu-ming angrily shouted, "Shame on you! It’s unthinkable to have such a view for a man like you who has been learning Zen with me for a long time. How can you expect to be delivered from birth-and-death?"

Ke-chen was frightened and he asked in a trembling voice for more instructions, "Master, what is the fundamental principle of Buddhism?"

The Master stated calmly, "No clouds are gathering over the mountain peaks, and how serenely the moon is reflected on the lake!"
_________________
I'm Champagne,
Bottled poetry with sparkling joy.

[ericcoliu]

"Through a glass darkly" is an abbreviated form of a much-quoted phrase from the Christian New Testament in 1 Corinthians 13:12: For now we see through a glass, darkly. The phrase is interpreted to mean that humans have an imperfect perception of reality.

For the time being, for me, It doesn't matter whether or not God exists; what it matters is what people have attributed to Him. It doesn't matter whether or not God makes man in his image; what it matters is how man behaves himself to reveal his spark of the divine. We may have three different views on truth.

Three Views on Truth

Truth is absolute
And has been divinely revealed by God;
Truth is objective
and can be scientifically through a reasoning mind;
Truth is inter-subjective
And must be socially endowed by the communal consensus.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

"Through a glass darkly" is an abbreviated form of a much-quoted phrase from the Christian New Testament in 1 Corinthians 13:12: For now we see through a glass, darkly. The phrase is interpreted to mean that humans have an imperfect perception of reality.

For the time being, for me, It doesn't matter whether or not God exists; what it matters is what people have attributed to Him. It doesn't matter whether or not God makes man in his image; what it matters is how man behaves himself to reveal his spark of the divine. We may have three different views on truth.

Three Views on Truth

Truth is absolute
And has been divinely revealed by God;
Truth is objective
and can be scientifically through a reasoning mind;
Truth is inter-subjective
And must be socially endowed by the communal consensus.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul