One of the great joys of studying a "Master" or great teacher, is the joy of interpreting his writings. This takes study. No one should ever call himself the disciple of anybody without deeply studying the teachings of that person. That being said, the result of such study is that someone can be labelled as a "fundamentalist." In itself that is not a bad term. A fundamentalist is one who goes to the roots of one's teachings and explores their beginnings.
The real problem with most fundamentalists is that they are not fundamentalist enough. They go to the "roots" and stop there. But that is a mistake. To truly understand a teacher, you must understand his roots. And that is when fundamentalism leads to real revolutions in understanding and becomes valuable. Study a teacher in his context and suddenly you learn universal things and things that detach you from literal mindedness.
In the Lotus Sutra there is the story of the "Phantom City." It is early in the Sutra, just before Shakyamuni begins to reveal his "core" or "Homon" teachings. In that story a magician is leading a party on a treasure finding expedition through a wilderness. The people are tired, thirsty, hungry and feeling exhausted. So he conjures up a magic city for them to stay in. They move into the city and for a time it gives them great joy and comfort. But then at some time the people are rested, and the magician makes the city to disapear.
Teachers build "magic cities" for people to live in. They also give "guidance" and information designed to help people to reach their goal and find the "treasures in their lives." In truth the "magic cities" are the creation of the "Universal" and we actually participate in creating their magic. To reach such "magic cities" requires concerted efforts of discipline, self-control, and coordination. Hence every master gives teachings that involve discipline and rules. The archetype of all masters is located in the concept of "God" or a "Dharma-body" Buddha himself, because while temporal teachers may give us teachings that contain precepts that we may live if we live by, those human teachers are themselves fallible. Hence, man has invented the notions of "law", "Dharma" and an ultimate ineffable law in order to express the higher unity of all such teachings.
The individual teachings themselves may be empty. The God who demands sacrifices at one time (Moses) may find them abhorent in the hands of otherwise perverse people (Isaiah). The Buddha who teaches precepts at one time, may tell his disciples later to abandon precepts so they can grasp the principle behind those precepts. Even Paradise or Heaven is ultimately a "magic city" for us to reach, rest in, learn from, and "move on" from.
Somehow we can find the "treasures in life" -- if we continue living in a disciplined and spiritually seeking manner -- on to the next resting place. And we can learn to take refuge in the Ultimate in the meantime. To gain, sometimes we have to let go. We won't find the jewels in life if we cling to the ruins of our magic cities and don't continue to grow. Even the death (literal or figurative) of our heroes and teachers is to help us learn the truths of life: God/Buddha is within.
Hence, if you want to be a fundamentalist. More power to you! But don't stop with the Bible, go and read it's origins. Follow the teachings in all directions. Don't cling to the magic cities. If you like Mohammed, read him in context. If you like Jesus, read him in context. You do that and you will find congruence, and you will abandon conflict. You will find enlightenment, and you will abandon "stiff necked" ideas.
Chris
Posted by cholte at August 9, 2004 05:44 AM