Posted on Quaker Quaker: Buddhist Quakers

An acquaintance of mine posted something about Buddhism and it got me thinking of Quakers who practice Buddhism. So, to Google I went! I, of course, found comments on QuakerQuaker.org. One Friend posted about how he realized as a Christian how out of place he was in a liberal Quaker meeting, and so he, from how I read his post, quit going to his meeting and practiced Christianity alone.

I hope that he isn't doing it alone still. We are supposed to "go into our closets and pray" (Matthew 6:1-34), but most of the New Testament is how to build the Church and live in community. So, here's my posting:

"Funny" you should post this response. I certainly can't judge how you felt when you wrote this, but if it's anything like I have felt, it is nothing short of frustrated, if not somewhat disappointed. There was a time when I would have posted the same response. Much of that was because I had no clue what Buddhism was. There was a notion I had one time when pondering the question of Buddhist Quakers that it was entirely possible as there are different philosophies within Christianity already. Why not Buddhist Christians since there are so many other kinds already? The idea wouldn't leave me, but I never put much effort into investigating that leading.

Other Friends have already explained Thich Naht Hahn's teachings on Buddhism. He writes in answer to the question on whether one should leave Christianity if they are attracted to Buddhist teachings "Christians who know how to generate mindfulness, concentration and insight are already Buddhist, whether they have formally taken the Five Precepts and the Three Refuges or not. They are truly Buddhist, even if they don’t call themselves Buddhist, because the essence of Buddhism is mindfulness, concentration and insight. There are Christians who are capable of being mindful, concentrated and insightful, and they are already Buddhists; they don’t need to wear the label “Buddhist.” When they express the desire to take the Three Refuges and the Five Wonderful Precepts (Mindfulness Trainings), they know that this practice also strengthens their faith in Christianity. They know they do not lose their roots and they do not betray their tradition, based on the insight that, in their tradition, mindfulness, concentration and insight are also very important. Coming to a Buddhist practice center, they learn methods of practice that can help them generate mindfulness, concentration and insight. They know that in their tradition, these energies are also very crucial. They want to make use of their insight, their experience, in order to renew their tradition so that many young people will know more concrete ways to generate these energies. Practicing Buddhist meditation in that way not only helps them to be a better Christian, but also helps them to renew Christianity in such a way that the young generation of Christians will feel more comfortable. Every tradition should renew itself in the light of the new developments in the world; Buddhism also should renew itself."

At Old Town Friends, our little small Christ-centered meeting in Baltimore, we have no creed; and so, while we tend to use the North Carolina YM Conservative Book of Discipline which is clearly a Christian document, Friends at our meeting have different experiences of Christ, of religion, of Quakerism. Some are new, some were born into the Society. Some have had direct experiences of Jesus, some only know of him. Together, we study the Discipline, the Bible and Quaker teachings. Independently, we draw from all sorts of sources, encouraging each other to be mindful of going where the Holy Spirit leads, reinforcing the knowledge that through the Word, the Light we baptized, born again, and we are delivered from sin and we grow into perfection.

So perhaps one Friend's experience of God is the same as Jesus' experience: Father God. A personal God that is Love. Perhaps others really have experienced God as a distant being who judges, punishes and rewards. Indeed others experience God through God's creation and see God as the Mother who gives birth to all living things, who embraces us and feeds us. And then there's the Friend whose practice of Buddhism helps him center in worship, to go deeply within to find the Light there, that Love which Fox encouraged us to mind, and through that mindfulness they new insights into Truth are revealed and the Power is opened up for them to walk cheerfully over the earth ministering to everyone through example.

I think the danger comes when I don't understand what I'm talking about. I hate to admit this can happen more often than not. I'm working on it. Not all Quakers are the same, as we know. Conservatives and Evangelicals have their differences, even if they are Christians. This is why it's so hard for is to say "Quakers are .... or Quakers believe ...." The same is true for Buddhists.

Do I think this means that a person can "be anything and still be Quaker?" No. Of course not. I'm addressing the possibility of Buddhism. One need not worship the Buddha to practice Buddhist mindfulness. Indeed, many Buddhists don't worship him, and I'm not convinced that was his intention when he was alive (and some say the same of Jesus).

I share a concern, however, with Geoffrey in this: in many liberal Friends meetings, there is little mention of Jesus and people tend to talk of their individual practices during worship which are not Quaker nor Christian. They do not do what Thich Nhat Hahn said, which is basically to use Buddhism as a tool to go more deeply into their own tradition. They do not educate themselves on Quaker foundations, they do not seek Christ or even try to wrestle with the traditional Quaker teachings of Jesus, the Bible. Conversation about faith becomes difficult because we do not speak the same language, we do not wrestle with the same tradition. It's not impossible, just difficult. And frankly, I can't tell you how many times I've heard Friends from liberal and Evangelical Quakerism say something to the effect of "really? I had no idea Quakers had such an understanding of God/Jesus/Bible/Christianity/Religion" when sharing my understanding of Conservative and earlier forms of Quakerism. At least the Evangelicals center on Jesus and wrestle with his teachings and how to be disciples.

Anyway I digress as usual. Point is, for me anyway, do we mind the Light and live up to what is given? Do we come to know Jesus experientially? Are our hearts and minds being transformed so that our lives speak? Does our faith produce good works? Are we sharing our faith or hiding it? As Quakers are we disciplined? Do we seek God in private moments and deliberately engage the Scriptures and other writings in order to learn and grow? Do we make our involvement in our Quaker meetings a priority, as a central part of our lives, believing that not only is our physical being the temple of Christ, but also the gathered assembly, the church is the body of Christ; when we are absent from it, part of the body is missing.

Finally, an anecdote: When I came to Quakers as a kid, I was more influenced by the Baptist faith and the culture around me. I had read Fox's Journal and being a somewhat ornery child I identified with his confrontational, oppositional (and perhaps self-righteous) zeal. You can imagine being a teen how that mix went over in a liberal Quaker meeting. Oh the confrontations, the wounds (they weren't alway nice, either) ..... Yet after a few years of worshiping there, I never once changed what I believed God to lead me to do or say. I probably out ran my Guide way too often, and spoke in worship more than I should have (but without elders, how is one to learn to grow in ministry?). I know now that I had not been grounded in Love and didn't always speak from it (and boy the difference in reactions from others to Christian ministry when I learned to do this). Still, my meeting threw me a huge going away party when I left for Guilford. Some time later, a Friend who considered herself a Universalist Friend sent me an letter thanking me for being faithful to Christ; he had finally reached her somehow and it had been from whatever it is I had done. She reminded me never to stop being faithful to him.

So, for years later, I would find myself at Evangelical and Liberal meetings (mostly liberal). I'd be The Gay that some Evangelicals had to hold their nose and learn to love, and the Christian that Liberals would have to do the same. I stayed at Homewood from 2002-2010 and it was HARD. But, I learned a lot there. God led me there, and God did not release me until late 2009. It was while there that I learned how to speak from a place of Love, to be humble (FLGBTQC Friends also played a large role in this).

I am very grateful that God gave me a leading to start a new group, and that while we struggle to meet our rental obligations, and we are a meeting of mostly young grad students and professionals who are paying back loans and are broke, we seem to be making it. We don't have support from local Friends, though we've reached out. It's frustrating. We are learning what it means to live in community, to encourage one another to grow in Christ, to share each other's burdens, to not isolate ourselves, and to confess and forgive. I love my new meeting, and don't miss the difficulties of being a Christian in a liberal meeting. I'm also aware that this may be a temporary thing, and one day God may lead me back to another meeting; and we've already experienced difficulties in ours so it's not all pie!

So, I hope that Friends will gain something from my experience. Be faithful friends and seek that Love. Otherwise, not matter how true our words and insights may be, they will be nothing but a distraction, a noise and perhaps even keep people from finding the Truth. That would be a great sin.

I no longer label myself. My experiences have changed, and I think labels have their uses, but also their dangers. I am a Quaker. I lean Conservative, have Evangelical stripes, and a universalist world view. I've been all over the map, and have worshiped with all sorts of Christians, Jews, Quakers, and even pagans. I got so distracted by trying to "find myself" that it became a problem. What a joy to finally just release it and pay attention to what Friends have been teaching all along: GO WITHIN YOUNG MAN! BE MINDFUL! PRAY! How Buddhist! (I don't practice Buddhism at all). How Quaker!

Unity among Friends

I am sitting here daydreaming, while I should be finishing the final accounting for Russell's estate and taking it down to the Orphan's Court to get approved. I need to do this soon. School starts Monday!

I was thinking about my feelings towards Quakers who are not Christians or Christ-centered (to me, there IS a difference -- Christian buys into the entire Christian tradition, where as one who is Christ-centered could be focused on the Resurrected Christ and may have philosophies that are influenced by other faiths or none. I consider Messianic Jews to be Christ Centered, but they aren't Christian, for example. There are liberal Quakers who are Christ-centered, but not Christian). It is simply a fact that one does NOT have to be a Christian to be a Quaker. There are thousands of Quakers who are members and who aren't. It is a fact that the vast majority of Quakers are Christians, and the majority of those Quakers are Evangelical. Many Christian Quakers are also fundamentalist, liberal, mystical Christians, though each of those is a minority among Quakers). We also have pagan Quakers, Buddhist Quakers, and other, um, bi-religionist Quakers (all, again, small numbers compared to the entire family). So, when we look at Quakers as a world body of under 1/2 million people, we're talking about a predominantly Evangelical group concentrated in Africa or of African descent the wealth of said group being in the United States.

Since I was a kid, I've struggled between paganism and Christianity. It is very true that early Quakers were anti-pagan. I think, though, that this had more to do with the trappings found in the liturgical churches than because they had problems with pagans. Early Quakers worshiped with Native American pagans without qualm. So, I think the anti-pagan sentiment was more of a "not in our church, but you can do it if you're not Christian." One missionary concluded Islam was "valid" after talking to the Sultan of Turkey. For me, the spirituality of paganism is.. well... earthy. However, I believe in the One God, the God of Ruth, Elizabeth, Elijah, and Jesus, and my heart loves Jesus with all its might. This isn't something I chose. God came to me, God has shown himself to me. Indeed, when I pray that I want something, I can't off the top of my head think of it ever being "answered." At least, not in enough time that I remembered having asked for it. And yet, God has come, God has revealed himself on God's terms. The writings and witness of Early Friends all but yanked me out of my pre-teen years and sent me on an early quest towards God. I know Christians have done horrible things over the past two thousand years, but that's not Jesus' fault, nor the religion's. Rulers of pagan lands have enslaved, murdered and tortured just as many or more people in history. Communist Russia and China have committed their share of atrocities and they are atheists! So let's not blame Christianity, Christians or Jesus for the world's problems. Let's not place paganism in some make-believe light of being some purer alternative to Christianity. They are what they are on their own. Both are powerful, both are magical, but they have very distinct philosophies about the relation of Creation to the Creator, and humanity to the Divine. My own thoughts on these topics put me squarely in both camps, evidently, though my mind and heart are focused on Jesus Christ.

So what's this all have to do with unity among Friends? Well, I will say this: it is really hard for me to worship in a Quaker meeting where I cannot be expressly Christ-centered and share my Christian understanding of our relationship to God. How can I speak of Christ's redeeming power, of his death on the cross, the importance of taking up our own cross, of being made right with God and allowing the Inner Light to reveal the Son in us, to reveal the truth of the Gospel? How can I speak of being baptized with fire and spirit or of joining in communion with God? I have been eldered at liberal meetings for even speaking of Jesus, let alone all that. Even my own meeting, when I was new, sent their M&W (of which I am now clerk) to speak to me about liberal Quaker diversity (even though I grew up a liberal Friend and attended ESR for a year or so). I have found that in many liberal Quaker meetings I can feel God, but the growth is slow. The most growth, however, has come not so much in my relationship with CHrist, but in learning to love, understand, and still grow spiritually to some degree and moreso emotionally with people who are very different from me (and then not all that different in other ways). More plainly, I have grown up, matured even having spent the majority of my time as a Quaker surrounded by Quakers who have issues with Christians and who do not consider themselves as such.

So, when I hear of formal schism or separation from these Friends, it makes me sad. It would be a huge loss for me. Even though I'm now worshiping with a very small group in Baltimore, all of whom are Christ-centered and maybe most of whom are Christian, I find myself still in some sense connected to the Quakers who do not share my Christ-centered faith. I don't see them as mission fields or me as a missionary. Indeed, I have often felt that the result has been the opposite, that they have had more of an influence on me than I'll ever have on them. I see the world as a universalist, though I see God through JEsus Christ. Does that make sense?

Still, I have found, that the worship I get among just a handful of those dedicated to Jesus Christ is more powerful than any worship that I've experienced in at least a decade if not longer. The power in the silence is tangible. The presence of Christ is known, not just assumed or believed. I can't really go back, now. That is, not until God is through with whatever it is God is doing with us at Old Town Friends. Even in writing this I've glimpsed something: I don't need to worry about paganism or Christianity. Either is a distraction, now. I need to keep focused on the Son. There is where right thinking comes from and where the path forward is revealed. In the Son, there is only Love.