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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Y2K" data-source="post: 10835084" data-attributes="member: 35049">Jesus: How do you break free from the tension? You insist on the pursuit of truth wherever it leads but get snared by this breakdown in your own claim. You not only claimed to know everything, but you also said that you knew even more than God. Job thought he knew everything, too, and when God confronted him with a flurry of questions, job was thoroughly embarrassed about how much he did not know. He realized as never before that all knowledge ultimately belongs to God, not to man.Three centuries before you came on the scene, my prophet Isaiah said:Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way?... To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. That is the same God who will say to Priya in her broken condition, "I give strength to the weary and increase the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." I know the number of hairs on your head, Priya. I know when every sparrow falls to the ground. I intimately know and care about how your heart aches. I even knew you before you came to be.In fact, we will see how inescapable these truths are even among your followers, Gautama.I would love to pursue this a bit, but I must wait awhile. I know you wish to complete the thought on this "illusion" of self that your enlightenment dispelled.Buddha: It's my turn to say, "Fascinating." I've always appreciated an inquiring mind and I will be eager to hear. However, I'm beginning to feel a bit uneasy in that I'm answering all your questions and haven't had a chance to pose any to you. I certainly hope I will get the chance.Jesus: You will. But when I began, you said you weren't comfortable with this woman being led astray, so I thought it would be good to hear what you do consider the truth.Buddha: Fair enough. But I'll have my chance too, right?Jesus: Anytime you're ready, just say so.Buddha: All right. It won't be long, I can assure you. You were asking ... oh yes! About the self. You see, the self that we claim is actually nonexistent. It exists nowhere, neither in our physicality nor in our mental parts.Look at this boat. Is it the wood? Is it the motor? Is it the glue? Is it the paint? No, it's none of these. In the same way, the self does not exist in any of the individual elements that we are composed of, nor is it outside of them. We're nothing more than physical quantities, and when that physical being dies, the individual dies as well. Nothing remains beyond that consciousness. And all of our troubles begin by having this sense that there's an individual, united self.It's only when you realize that the self doesn't exist and that you're living with an illusion of self that suffering comes to an end.All of this woman's desires were for her self. Take a look at this pathetic, shriveled-up body that Priya lives with. If she had seen that she didn't have a self, she would've stopped trying to satisfy that self and would never have entered into this state of devastation.Once we realize that the self doesn't exist, we find the middle way between asceticism and pleasure, and in that balance, life ceases to hold us hostage to our attachments.Jesus: Gautama, your plea is puzzling. I really wanted to interrupt you earlier, but I held my tongue!First you told us that there is no God. Then you said that you know more than God. You've also said that when "gods" come to the realization that you have, they will be promoted to your state. You went on to postulate a moral law apart from God and to assert that each one owes a moral debt flowing within "the human stream of consciousness," whatever that means. Now we're told that there is no such person as Priya.No real self on the one hand-but her self is all she needs, on the other hand, to find the truth? What does all this mean?Listen to your own words; they speak a different message: "Once we realize... We find the middle way... If she only knew... She would not be... Life ceases to hold us. "All these assume personality, Gautama. Who are we talking about? This you and she are particular individuals, not to be confused with any other him or her. You cannot shake off the person no matter how hard you try. And it stands to reason. You cannot reconstitute reality just by changing language.Priya: It does seem confusing to say there is no self, yet I'm all I need to solve my problem. I don't understand this. I'm not sure I'm saying it well. You both are better at words than I am.Jesus: Oh no, you're saying it very well.My assertion is that each one is an individual-created unique and created in the image of God. That's why your analogy of the boat, Gautama, should be a contrast, not a comparison. There's no breath in it. It's but a thing that man has carved with his own hands.You didn't turn to the boat for wisdom or understanding. I'll grant you that there is a plan, a design-and a designer. That's why it steers and floats. But it's lifeless. When this boat is old and decaying, you won't be sitting here explaining to it the tragedy of being old.Boat Driver: I hope it doesn't get old too soon. I haven't finished paying for it yet.Jesus: Thank you, Driver....But when you see Priya, Gautama, you're not seeing a boat or just a thing to be used. You see why even God is mindful of her. He has made her less than a god and crowned her with dignity and honor. In her being she reflects what it means to be made in God's image. In her present state she grieves the loss of that dignity. That's why she wrestles with such lofty ideas. Even her misery is a veiled reflection of her grandeur.Buddha: Here we part most seriously, Jesus. Why do we need God to have that dignity? I gave humanity rules and laws for their dignity. Well, maybe we'd better not get into that till we deal with this "self" a bit more. I think I may have interrupted you.Jesus: No, that's all right. But a thought or two might help.It's surprising that you haven't yet discerned that morality itself cannot bring freedom or dignity, Gautama. Extremism toward moral claims is the chronic bent of the human mind. Some take moral precepts and apply them with ruthless rigor. They pile law upon law till they break under the burden of legalism. Others try to escape from that burden by seeking unbridled pleasure. As we lift our eyes from this boat, we see the ascetic and the indulgent. This is nothing new.When my servant John the Baptist lived in the wilderness, many lashed out at his rigorous pursuit of the law. When I ate and drank with the moral rejects of society, the moralizers called me a glutton and a drunkard. Just as the lack of wisdom in a parent is lived out in the child, so every generation without God, bereft of wisdom, will have opposing reactions to moral issues.Isn't that the first clue to finding an answer for the source of human dignity? It's not so much the illusion of self but the self over God that breeds a breakdown of what God intended us to be.Buddha: I must admit that I've never gotten into a discussion this profound before. In fact, some of my disciples that I discussed these issues with were pretty pathetic in their understanding of such things. Nevertheless, I do have a response, but please finish thethought.</blockquote>

Verification: Nawa warak dahaya keeyada? (Namaya wadi kireema dahaya)

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