BELL
Dear Thay dear Sangha
We have a friend. He is a Catholic monk.
When he was a child, he didn't have any spiritual life.
But when he grew up, he had an experience of love and unity.
And he became a monk.
Now he has two spiritual sources.
The first one is Jesus and the other one is Thay.
He has read some of your books and he follows your teachings on the internet.
and he is very grateful for them.
Probably, he won't be able to come to Plum Village.
Will you say some words about this interbeing between Catholicism and Buddhism?
(Read again please.)
Dear Thay, dear Sangha
We have a friend, who is a Catholic monk.
When he was a child he didn't have any spiritual life.
But when he grew up, he had an experience of love and unity.
And he became a monk.
Now he has two spiritual sources.
The first one is Jesus and the other one is Thay.
He has read some of your books and he follows your teachings on the internet
and he is very grateful for them.
Probably he won't be able to come to Plum Village.
So could Thay say some words about the interbeing
between Catholicism and Buddhism.
The day before yesterday, we said something like:
"Buddhism is made of non-Buddhist elements."
It's like a flower that is made of non-flower elements.
And the Buddha has used only non-Buddhist elements to make his Buddhism.
And he was aware of that.
So looking around you see many elements.
And if you are a skillful person, you can make use of every element you see
in order to make your own Buddhism.
So the same thing must be true with Christianity.
Christianity is made of non-Christianity elements.
And the teaching of interbeing is also available in Christianity.
The teaching of living happily in the present moment
can be found in the teaching of Jesus Christ.
And when you read the Bible... you read statements like this one:
"There will be a day when you will see that I am in My Father
and you are in Me and I am in you."
That is from John. This is the teaching of interbeing.
I am in the Father and you are in Me and I am in you.
We are inside each other and not outside.
And in the Gospel according to Matthew is said that:
"Let us not worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will take care of itself."
So that is the teaching of living happily in the present moment.
So there are many points that can... be recognized.
And there are many of us who practice
according to the teaching of Jesus and the Buddha and do not find any conflict.
And that is very good for the cause of peace, unity and harmony in the world.
BELL