In my meditation this morning from Thich Nhat Hanh's book, "Living Buddha, Liv
ing Christ" I thought of you and your groundbreaking book once again. It seems almost every where I go to these days, I find you, your courage and your wisdom. In Hanh's book, the introduction is by Elaine Pagels at Princeton in 1995, she talks about where Pope John Paul II, in his book, "Threshold of Hope" states that only Christ.....is the one mediator between God and humanity. Thich Nhat Hanh states, "The idea behind the statement, however, is the notion that Christianity provides the only way of salvation and all other religious traditions are of no use." Like the tradition of nun's subservience?
Yesterday I took my feelings of touch to a little Mexican town's Catholic old folk's home. The Sister there gave me a rosary she had made. I could not wait to take it to the beach with me and my Buddhist mala for my afternoon's meditation. I had not had a rosary in my hands since 3rd grade where Sister Regina Marie would whack us if we forgot the correct sequence. I remembered every bead....after 60 years!
Your book seems to be opening up new channels of honesty, awareness and courage for me and my path of recovery from dogmas I grew up on.
Thank you for this key.
Kathleen O'Brien Lawrence is 68 yr old grandmother and an Advocate for Drowning Prevention in Sun City, Arizona. She has been an ultramarathoner and a business pioneer. Currently she is a US Senior Olympic Swimmer. Kathleen is a founding member of the a local Zen Buddhist Sangha in the tradition of Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hanh. WWW.granniegatorhead.wordpress.com