Desire
I have been taking a CD course on Buddhism that I am enjoying. I like learning about other religions and comparing them to Christianity, noting both areas of confluence and divergence. At the heart of Buddhism is the notion that "All is suffering." This understanding is addressed by the Four Noble Truths: 1. the truth of suffering; 2. the truth of the origin of suffering; 3. the truth of the cessation of suffering; and 4. the truth of the path which leads to the cessation of suffering. Suffering, in this account is the result of desire and the goal is to free the person from desire, in part, through the process of meditation.
Christianity notes the reality of suffering, but understands its origin and solution in a different way. Suffering is the result of rebelling against God and God's order which then infects and deforms human desire which leads to suffering. The problem is not desire itself but desires that have gone awry. The solution is not the elimination of desire, but the transformation of desire to its original created "goodness" as a function of God's incredible love and the "new person" we become in Christ. Our desire's ultimate object is God, and all other desires become ordered by our ultimate desire. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts and feelings about desire and the place that it plays in our lives.
Christianity notes the reality of suffering, but understands its origin and solution in a different way. Suffering is the result of rebelling against God and God's order which then infects and deforms human desire which leads to suffering. The problem is not desire itself but desires that have gone awry. The solution is not the elimination of desire, but the transformation of desire to its original created "goodness" as a function of God's incredible love and the "new person" we become in Christ. Our desire's ultimate object is God, and all other desires become ordered by our ultimate desire. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts and feelings about desire and the place that it plays in our lives.
posted by UCC Medfield at 6:21 AM
1 Comments:
Our desires are a gift from God if their fruits lead us to become more like Jesus. That's why it's important for us to cultivate a reflective inner disposition and to carefully consider in which direction our desires are leading us.
Our spiritual communities can help us with this type of noticing.
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