Larry Jordan

What is the future of Christianity? Can Christianity be more experiential, more nuanced, and more respectful of science?

The benefits of exploring other traditions are numerous. So, it is helpful to understand both the similarities and the differences in religious beliefs and practices.

Zen is not concerned with prescription or speculation. Buddhism is mostly concerned with practice, not belief.

Dogen Zenji encourages us to remove the barrier between self and other.

Buddhism does not believe in a permanent, unchanging self. Of course, each of us has forms, feelings, perceptions, thoughts, and awareness. 

Buddhism embraces a different worldview than most Western religions. Zen is experiential, not intellectual. 

Recently, I was a guest on three related podcasts hosted by my friend, Brian Allain.

 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way that we live and work. Increasingly, AI presents challenging questions about the nature of humanity and about the nature of the Universe itself.

Are visions hallucinations or transcendent experiences? Biologist J.B.S. Haldane said, “The Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.”

Do we honor Ultimate Reality in other traditions?

There are more than 45,000 forms of Christianity worldwide, and they disagree on the fundamentals. What beliefs are fundamental to Christianity?

Creation myths can illustrate the intersection of mythology, religion, and science. Do we interpret ancient religious texts as history or mythology?

The journey is the destination. Zen is more of a philosophy than a religion. It is more experiential than intellectual.

Ultimate Reality is not far removed from everyday reality. In fact, Ultimate Reality permeates everyday reality.

Today, fewer people imagine Ultimate Reality in purely personal terms or in purely supernatural terms. Increasingly, Ultimate Reality is imagined in impersonal, natural terms, such as consciousness, energy or love.

Ultimate Reality has many names: Brahman in Hinduism, God in Christianity, the Universe in humanism and the Void in Buddhism.

We know one thing about Ultimate Reality, namely that everyone is related, and everything is connected. 

Last week, I was a guest on the Harmonic Atheist podcast, hosted by my friend, Tim Mills.

Sometimes, we believe things because they are comfortable, not because they are sensible.