Today I talked with a guy who was looking for a reason to stop coming to A.A., but I didn't realize it at the time. He said that Jesus said that it was better to commit a sin then to talk about committing a sin, and therefore it was better to not attend A.A. meetings where we talk about our commiting of sins. This is obviously completely back asswards, but he didn't give me a chance to respond. After saying his thing, he immediately walked away and refused to listen. He's fixated on an idea and become trapped by it, and for all I know, he may die as a result. If there's one thing I think is true, it's that one should never cling to an idea.
This also brings up for me a concept that I have been struggling with, which is whether I should talk about my Buddhist beliefs at A.A. meetings. I asked a Lama I feel close to, and she said that I shouldn't try to introduce Buddhism into A.A. It is basically a Christian program, she said, and my doing this would probably be a source of confusion and tension. She said that it might be appropriate to discuss it with someone who sees me doing well, and asks me how I came to be this way. Having had this experience this morning, I see that her advice was good. If someone can be driven away because he doesn't think A.A. is Christian enough, just imagine the confusion I might cause. People might be driven away because they don't understand Buddhism. In fact, one guy I talked to asked "That's not Satanism, is it?" when I mentioned I was a Buddhist. I do not want it on my conscience that I drove someone away from the program.
Currently when I share in meetings, I use the term "God," but I use it metaphorically, so that the other people there can identify with what I'm saying. It's a way to promote harmony. If we live spiritually, we are helping other beings, no matter whether we perceive ourselves to be Buddhists or not. It would probably help no-one to say, "Through the help of Buddhas and other enlightened beings, as well as the ripening of my positive karma, I heard what I needed to hear at tonight's meeting" as opposed to "God made sure I heard what i needed to hear tonight."
2 comments:
wow. the guy trapped by the idea is not so much trapped by the idea, as trapped by the compulsion, which he clothes in an idea. However it's termed, that's unfortunate.
It is difficult to see past the illusions we manifest that impair our own expressions, let alome see past both ours and that of another. And it is impossible to dispel someone else's illusion or dillusion for them.
I think.
That's true, he's masking his true motivations through half-assed reasoning.
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