I keep thinking what it means to be immersed in the Christian community while being nurtured by and accepting Buddhist teachings and practices. I think of my life's journey and how it has led me to this point. I think of the influence of the many letters of Paul in the Christian scriptures and the narrow choke point that Christianity went through with Constantine and the Roman empire. How we know from Nag Hammadi and other evidence that "Hundreds of rival teachers all claimed to teach the true doctrine of Christ and denounced one another as frauds." I tend to think that among those hundreds were some teachers that Buddha would have recognized. We have intimations in some of the early writings that have been found and the interfaith dialogues that have gone on among Christian monks and Buddhists which hint at the similarities. So I am in this somewhat in between place where my immediate community is quite Christian but my beliefs are radically out of the mainstream of Christianity and I am very comfortable with Buddhists. I also feel called to Zen Buddhism especially the Ordinary Mind school. The monthly gathering I attend has only one other regular person. The leader is in touch with her teachers and wants to share the Dharma with others. It feels symbiotic, because at this point I want to be part of some group and have not found one locally that clicks as much as with this dedicated but inexperienced teacher. She is not sure how to expand the Sangha but I am hanging in there and appreciating her desire and dedication to share the Dharma.
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