The following is fiction:
James: How was your trip to India to meet the great guru?
Peter: I enjoyed India. But I've come to the conclusion that the only good guru is a humble guru. The guru I met in India was sitting on a throne and claiming to understand everything about the universe. He did not look in good health. He may be what you call a 'theomaniac': someone who gets very easily irritated and doesn't like being contradicted.
James: You are a fan of humility.
Peter: I am. Think of Jesus on the cross saying, "My God, why have you forsaken me?" That seems to be Jesus admitting that he's not perfect. He seems to be admitting that some things have gone wrong.
James: You don't think Jesus was perfect?
Peter: Jesus said, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God." He also said that he was not seeking glory for himself.
James: That suggests that Jesus was capable of making some mistakes.
Peter: Exactly. Remember that Jesus wanted people to be humble, like little children. He wanted people to see themselves as servants. Jesus washed people's feet.
James: What about Jesus when he was criticising some of the Jewish leaders and calling them names? In Matthew, Jesus says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!... You blind fools!... You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?"
Peter: This seems to conflict with Jesus's teaching about not judging people; and about seeing your own faults; about turning the other cheek and about not resisting evil.
James: What do think Jesus thought about God and life after death?
Peter: I think Jesus used parables because it's not possible to explain all these things very easily in words. When Jesus talked about being at one with the Father, that could mean many different things. I think Jesus believed that we can all be one with the divine.
James: So your guru must be humble.
Peter: The guru must teach that we should be humble, kindly and flexible in our thinking. But, the guru must himself be humble, kindly and flexible.
~~~
The Religion OF Jesus - not ABOUT Jesus: Toward the theology OF Jesus
Arthur C. Ruger
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/new_christianity/98598
James: How was your trip to India to meet the great guru?
Peter: I enjoyed India. But I've come to the conclusion that the only good guru is a humble guru. The guru I met in India was sitting on a throne and claiming to understand everything about the universe. He did not look in good health. He may be what you call a 'theomaniac': someone who gets very easily irritated and doesn't like being contradicted.
James: You are a fan of humility.
Peter: I am. Think of Jesus on the cross saying, "My God, why have you forsaken me?" That seems to be Jesus admitting that he's not perfect. He seems to be admitting that some things have gone wrong.
James: You don't think Jesus was perfect?
Peter: Jesus said, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God." He also said that he was not seeking glory for himself.
James: That suggests that Jesus was capable of making some mistakes.
Peter: Exactly. Remember that Jesus wanted people to be humble, like little children. He wanted people to see themselves as servants. Jesus washed people's feet.
James: What about Jesus when he was criticising some of the Jewish leaders and calling them names? In Matthew, Jesus says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!... You blind fools!... You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?"
Peter: This seems to conflict with Jesus's teaching about not judging people; and about seeing your own faults; about turning the other cheek and about not resisting evil.
James: What do think Jesus thought about God and life after death?
Peter: I think Jesus used parables because it's not possible to explain all these things very easily in words. When Jesus talked about being at one with the Father, that could mean many different things. I think Jesus believed that we can all be one with the divine.
James: So your guru must be humble.
Peter: The guru must teach that we should be humble, kindly and flexible in our thinking. But, the guru must himself be humble, kindly and flexible.
~~~
The Religion OF Jesus - not ABOUT Jesus: Toward the theology OF Jesus
Arthur C. Ruger
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/new_christianity/98598
"Jesus, in fact, was typical of a certain kind of fanatical young idealist: at one moment holding forth, with tears in his eyes, about the need for universal love; at the next furiously denouncing the morons, crooks and bigots who do not see eye to eye with him, It is a very natural and human behavior." - Margaret Knight, 'Honest to Man' : p26 ( personality )
The Prophet said, "Have I not taught you how the inhabitants of Paradise will be all the humble and the weak..." Islam: Hadith of Bukhari.
"Be humble, be harmless, Have no pretension..." Hinduism: Bhagavad Gita
"To know when one does not know is best. To think one knows when one does not know is a dire disease." Taoism: Tao Te Ching
"The fool who knows that he is a fool is for that very reason a wise man; the fool who thinks he is wise is called a fool indeed." Buddhism: Dhammapada
~~
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