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June 17,1982
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A Bridge To The East
IN “THE RELIGIONS OF MAN,”
Huston Smith writes, “To borrow
Nietzsche’s image, we have all been
summoned to become Cosmic Dancers
who do not rest heavily in a single
spot but lightly turn and leap from
one position to another. The Cosmic
Dancer, the World Citizen, will be an
authentic child of his parent culture
but related closely to all” and not
identifying with any one land. (NC
Photo by Barry Fitzgerald)
The Withered Fig Tree
BY FATHER JOHN J. CASTELOT
When Jesus entered Jerusalem in
procession, Mark’s Gospel says he went into
the temple precincts. But that time he just
looked around, then went back to Bethany
(Mark, 11:11).
For Mark, geography is important. It
serves his theology. In Mark’s Gospel, Galilee
is the special territory for Jesus. Galilee is
the scene of his healing activity, the place of
salvation.
Jerusalem, on the other hand, symbolizes
antagonism, hostility. Even during his
Galilean ministry, opposition to Jesus comes
“from Jerusalem”; it is there he will be
killed. So during his final week, Jesus
pointedly stays outside the city, entering
only to attempt to melt the obduracy of the
leaders.
Mark records a strange little incident in
connection with Jesus’ visit to the city the
day after his arrival. Jesus sees a fig tree. But
he can find no fruit. “It was not the time for
figs.”
He curses the tree, declaring it sterile
(11:14). But if it was not the time for figs,
why the violent reaction?
The unreasonableness of the situation
alerts us: We are dealing with symbolism.
The symbolism emerges as one reads on.
What we have here is another example of
Mark’s bracketing technique - a writing
technique in which two episodes, like arms
of a bracket, enclose another account.
The curse of the tree is the first arm of
the bracket. The second arm turns up in
Chapter 11:20, on the way back to Bethany
when the tree is seen “withered to its roots.”
The two arms of the bracket enclose the
account of the cleansing of the temple.
“Cleansing” is hardly the word! Jesus’ action
is symbolic. For literally it makes little
sense.
The activities he disrupts in the cleansing
episode are legitimate activities. People had
to purchase animals for sacrifice, and they
had to change ordinary coins into the Jewish
and Tyrian currency which alone was
acceptable in payment of the temple tax.
If there are those who have turned the
area into ‘a den of thieves,” it is not because
they are involved in dishonest transactions.
It is rather that they use the temple as an
asylum, a cover-up for the thievery — and
worse — perpetrated in their daily lives.
The main thrust of the incident is
expressed in the citation from Isaiah 56:7:
“My house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.”
The temple must be a place to meet God
in the intimate interpersonal relationship of
prayer. It is not to be a place for empty
ritual which glosses over godlessness.
Most important for Mark’s gentile
Christians, the temple should be a house of
prayer “for all peoples.” The reaction of the
chief priests and scribes indicates that they
got the message. They began to plot against
him.
But again, Mark is careful to point out
that the opposition came from the
leadership, not from the people in general.
This is not a condemnation of the Jewish
people. In fact, furious as the leaders were,
they were “afraid of him because the whole
crowd was under the spell of his teaching.”
Verses 22-25 of Chapter 11 are sayings of
Jesus which appear in other contexts in the
other Gospels. For example, ‘When you
stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom
you have a grievance ...”
Mark places the sayings here as a sort of
commentary on the temple incident. The
true spirit of religion is to be characterized
by deep trust in God, unwavering faith and a
readiness to forgive.
This new era will be ushered in by the
death of Jesus.
meditate by those who are experienced in
the ways of meditation. This meditation is
handed on, in oral tradition, by learned
teachers and holy men called “rimpoches.”
Father Merton exchanged views with a
number of rimpoches. They discussed their
different monastic backgrounds high in the
beauty of the Himalayan Mountains.
The Trappist monk’s journal states: “We
started out early on a cold morning . . .
looking for Chatral Rimpoche . . . the
greatest rimpoche I have met so far . . .
“Chatral looked like a vigorous old
peasant... He had a week’s growth of
beard, bright eyes, a strong voice, and was
very articulate, much more communicative
than I expected. We had a fine talk . . .
covering all sorts of ground.”
Father Merton wrote that he and Chatral
“spoke about some points of Christian
doctrine . . . the risen Christ, suffering . . .
The half-spoken message of our talk was our
complete understanding of each other as
people who were somehow at the edge of
great realization and knew it. . . that it was
a grace for us to meet one another.”
Of special significance for Father Merton
was his audience with the Dalai Lama, the
young Buddhist leader the monk described
as having “obviously received a remarkable
monastic formation.”
Father Merton reported the Dalai Lama
kept insisting that no one could attain
anything in the spiritual life “without total
dedication, continued effort, experienced
guidance and real discipline.”
Throughout the journal, one senses the
understanding Father Merton and his
Eastern brothers felt. In addition, many
photographs of Father Merton with
rimpoches and Hindu holy men grace the
pages of his last book.
The one I like the best is of the Dalai
Lama and Father Merton, side by side.
Father Merton is in his Trappist habit, and
the Dalai Lama is wearing his religious robes.
My first impression was of the strong
resemblance between the two men.
What becomes apparent is that an inner
light or divine spark illuminated both men of
God, in spite of their differences. You
couldn’t miss it.
EARLY IN THE MORNING a
temple servant comes to the Buddhist
temple near Nagoya, in southern
Japan, to prepare the incense for the
day. Thomas Merton, author and
monk, said “by openness to
Buddhism, to Hinduism and to the
great Asian traditions, we stand a
wonderful chance of learning more
about the potentially of our own
traditions, because they have gone
... so much deeper into this than we
have.” (NC Photo from C1RIC)
The Narrowed East-West Gap
BY KATHARINE BIRD
“We live in a fantastic century,” enthuses
philosopher Huston Smith in “The Religions
of Man.”
It is a century of “incredible discoveries
of science.” But even aside from that, Smith
writes, it is a century when “lands across the
planet have become our neighbors. China
across the street, Egypt at our doorstep.”
A student of world religions, Smith points
out that communications media and travel
by air “have shriveled space.” In addition,
even those who never travel find that the
issues of the world are thrust into their
homes via newspapers and magazines and
television.
For Smith, the narrowing of the gap
between East and West may turn out to be
the most momentous fact of the 20th
century. He says, we “have been suddenly
catapulted from town and country onto a
world stage,” a change that bears enormous
consequences for all people.
About 2,500 years ago, Smith writes, it
took an exceptional person like the Greek
philosopher, Socrates, to state, “I am not an
Athenian or a Greek but a citizen of the
world.” Today, in Smith’s view, all people
need to struggle toward this goal.
People need, he says, to become like
cosmic dancers. “The cosmic dancer, the
world citizen, will be an authentic child of
his parent culture but related closely to all.”
Smith goes on to explain that, although
people will continue to cast down roots in
their own families and societies, and to have
their own perspectives, nonetheless, they can
no longer afford to be cast “in the hard
molds of oblivion to the rest” of the world.
Smith’s book, “The Religions of Man,”
became a classic introduction for students
taking their first look at the complexities of
religions throughout the world. The book is
not intended to be all-inclusive. The author
calls it instead, “a base from which to
journey forth.”
Smith, a retired Massachusetts Institute of
Technology professor, offers numerous
reasons why people should seek greater
understanding of world religions.
1. The widely traveled author is convinced
“the surest way to the heart of a people is
through their religion, assuming it is still
alive and has not fossilized.” He remarks,
“The God-seekers of every clime, lift their
voices in the most diverse ways imaginable
to the God of all men.”
2. Smith also hopes that greater
understanding among different peoples and
different religious groups will aid the cause
of world peace. He quotes from President
Dwight Eisenhower who once said: “With
everyone a loser in any new war, a better
understanding than ever before is essential
among people and among nations.”
3. Studying world religions is likely to
reveal the common humanity which resides
in all people. Smith is very conscious that a
religion blends universal principles with a
local setting. But the universal principles, he
adds, communicate something to human
beings throughout the world, whatever their
place or culture.
He continues: “To glimpse what
belonging means to a Chinese; to sense with
a Burmese grandmother what passes in life
and what endures; to crack the paradox of a
Zen monk in Kyoto ... to swing such
things into view is to introduce a whole new
dimension into the glance of spirit.”
Smith thinks that a look inside other
world religions “can carry a thousand
derivative benefits, silent harvests of the
yield of wisdom, but the basic reward is the
view itself.”
My Inter faith Marriage
BY DR. RICHARD LAWLESS
More than 14 years ago my wife Lisette
and I began a journey together. Our story is
not much out of the ordinary except to us
and those close to us.
In our humbler moments, both of us have
to admit that our marriage and family life
has had ups and downs that are very typical.
But there is one thing that has been special,
different and, deep down, extraordinary and
grace-filled: We are an interfaith couple.
I am a Roman Catholic while Lisette is an
Episcopalian.
Our Jewish friends in particular have a
difficult time seeing how a marriage between
two Christians of churches so close in belief
and practice should have any problems or
difficulties.
Perhaps the best way to understand how
there can be conflicts is to compare the
married life of two Christians from different
churches to the life of siblings in a family.
Sure you’re close, but that doesn’t mean not
rubbing each other the wrong way
sometimes.
Because of daily proximity, siblings have
more of a chance to bother each other. In
our humanness, Lisette and I have found
ourselves being quite unlovely toward one
another, sometimes, to our shame since we
come from sister religious communities. But
those times are rare. And, as time has passed
we deal better with conflicts that arise.
The Episcopal priest who co-presided at
our wedding set the tone of our hope, at
least, when he said what we two were doing
was something that our churches could only
dream of doing so far - becoming one in
Christ.
That message has been like a beacon,
calling us back when we drift and helping to
keep us away from the reefs and rocks which
could break us up.
We have encountered many blessings in
our marriage too.
In times of sickness or deep crisis, clergy
from both our communities have been
available to us. A friend of mine - a member
of the Catholic Benedictine religious order -
flew with us from Kansas to California to
officiate at the funeral of Lisette’s father.
An Episcopal priest was with me when my
mother-in-law died and upheld me through a
hectic time of making arrangements in three
states.
Another rich source of gifts to us as a
couple has been that people of faith from
our two traditions have befriended us. They
have shown us something of the Lord’s love
and goodness through their lives.
These individuals, older and younger lay
persons and clergy, often seem to embody
the best of their community, and show us
how Christ is at work.
That is a rich ecumenical lesson, made
stronger because it has come through the
lives of real persons. The children’s parochial
school principal who arranged for the
children’s accommodations when their
grandmother died was one such person. The
older women from Lisette’s parish who
stayed with her through a medical crisis were
two more.
In our home life the children, Lisette and
I find ways to celebrate our oneness in
Christ.
Meal prayers, blessings at night and special
activities in seasons like Advent and Lent
provide a common ground in which what
unites us far outshines what divides our two
traditions.
Added to parish events in both traditions,
these home events and customs become the
ordinary ways we find to shape faith and
build each other up.
Increasing numbers of couples (in some
areas, well over half of all new marriages)
reach across lines of religious communities
to marry.
Our journey is one of many thousands.
Like so many others, we hope to be special
signs of the unity to which the Lord calls
and challenges separated Christians.
Discussion Points And Questions
• Many people today display interest in the religions of the world.
What are two reasons why Catholics might be interested in learning
about other religions, like Buddhism or Hinduism?
• Why does Dolores Leckey say that Father Thomas Merton acted as
a bridge to the East?
• What does Mrs. Leckey indicate is the role of the holy men in
Tibetan Buddhism?
• Richard Lawless and his wife come from different religious
traditions. What does Lawless say is the advantage of this interfaith
marriage of two Christians?
• Does the Lawless family find any common ground in their religious
practice?
• In Katharine Bird’s article, why does educator Huston Smith think
studying the religions of the world is valuable?
• What does Ms. Bird mean when she quotes Smith as saying people
today have to learn how to be “cosmic dancers” and “citizens of the
world?”
• How does Father John Castelot explain the mysterious incident in
Mark’s Gospel when Jesus curses the fig tree?
BY DOLORES LECKEY
(“Prudently and lovingly, through
dialogue and collaboration . .. acknowledge,
preserve and promote the spiritual and moral
goods found among these (followers of other
religions) as well as the values in their
society and culture.” - Vatican Council II,
“On the Relationship of the Church to
Non-Christian Religions.”)
The ecumenical borders of the late 20th
century are moving eastward.
/ \
KNOW
YOUR
FAITH
(Alt Articles On This Page Copyrighted
1982 By N.C. News Service)
V /
Father Thomas Merton, a monk from Our
Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Louisville,
Ky., journeyed to the East at the end of his
life. There he explored the spiritual insights
of non-Christian religions.
This monk was one of the best-known
Catholic writers of this century. In his
spiritual pilgrimage, as he probed the
meaning of his own life - what it meant to
be a monk - he wondered what might be
learned from the treasures of prayer and
insight that could be found in the East.
His final work was a speech in Bangkok to
an international conference of monastic
leaders from the East and the West,
including Benedictine and Cistercian or
Trappist monks of the Catholic Church.
In that speech, Father Merton stated his
belief that “by openness to Buddhism, to
Hinduism and to the great Asian traditions,
we stand a wonderful chance of learning
more about the potentiality of our own
traditions.”
Father Merton hoped he as a Catholic
Christian could learn something through
Buddhists, especially about contemplative
prayer. He was intrigued at the thought that
a Buddhist and a Catholic resemble each
other in special ways that aren’t thought
about very much. Both carry the image of
God.
A few hours after his speech, Father
Merton (or Father Louis, as he was known in
his own Trappist monastery) was dead, the
victim of an accidental electrocution. It was
Dec. 10, 1968.
Father Merton’s journey to the East had
become the opportunity for him to visit the
places and meet the people of several world
religions. He appreciated the variety of
religious expression in India, from the
respected cows mingling in the city traffic,
to Hindu mythology.
He expressed interest in the mystical
followers of Islam, the Sufis. Storytelling,
singing and dancing are the Sufi pathways
into mystical experience. Father Merton had
a chance to encounter some of this vibrant
Islamic life in India.
Zen Buddhism was an interest of Father
Merton’s for years, an interest nurtured by
his correspondence with Dr. D. T. Suzuki.
Part of this correspondence appears in
Father Merton’s book, “Zen and the Birds of
Appetite.”
The record of Father Merton’s last days
on earth are to be found in “The Asian
Journal,” published after his death. Central
in this collection is his encounter with
Buddhism.
Tibetan Buddhist monks are taught to