Nondual Christianity and Zen
From a sermon not yet preached
“The Lord has given us eyes to see with and ears to listen with.”
Proverbs 20:12
I’m very interested in the rising phenomena of nondual Christianity.
The word nondual comes from the Dharmic traditions, and specifically Advaita Vedanta. The word adviata is Sanskrit and means “not two.” Our English word Nondual is a creative interpretation, to my heart a compelling interpretation of that “not two” which is adviata. In Buddhism the corollary term is Advaya, another Sanskrit word which means "identity, unique, not two, without a second.” It is closely associated with the two truths Madhyamaka school. It is also explored in Yogacara. Which taken together can be thought of as the philosophical foundations for Zen.
Nondual is somewhat different than monism, which sees reality as grounded in some singular absolute. Nonduality suggests the real is somewhat messier than that, although still asserting that ground of our being, the real, God if you will, and the phenomenal world of history and physics are intimately connected. I believe monism and nonduality are each human attempts at describing our ultimate reality, the reality we can find as human beings.
I’ve been a Zen practitioner for most of my adult life. I’ve had experiences within that tradition that have opened my heart and guided my life. This way has given me eyes with which to see the world.
As I look at the world’s religions, I see commonalities among those who hold up intimate experiences with some sort of ultimacy. But I also see lots of differences. The differences between that ultimacy being seen as God or as Emptiness for one. Differences similar to monism and nonduality as explanations of this ultimate encounter.
I find this exciting. It invites a sharpening of my eye.
What I’ve come to feel is that the intimate encounter is the fundamental thing in our lives. That ultimate. It has happened across the globe in every culture to uncounted people. And different people in different cultures explain that intimate encounter in different ways.
In my quest to get as close as possible to the, if you will, thing; I am deeply concerned with how different faiths and traditions deal with that encounter. I’m most interested in the Buddhist and Christian encounters and what the people who’ve followed those paths say.
It shows that open eyes do not always see things exactly the same way. But that vision is always recognizable for those with open hearts.