Here I stand convinced and curious about Jesus' understanding of Buddhism, and what he truly meant when he said "faith".
'...Jesus said, "Had ye faith, ye could move mountains." he was speaking literal truth.'
- Be Here Now, Ram Dass, 51
I looked into the hebrew word for faith, for as I am aware, the bible was originally written in hebrew.
It seems to me that the root word Emun actually means someone who is cultivated in their craft. Firmness is used as a synonym for cultivation, because to say someone is "firm" in their craft means that they are stable, strong, definite, unwavering; all of which are results of cultivation.
So with this understand I am now able to translate the word "faith" in the bible into "cultivation" or an action which is cultivated.
So this then means that "faith in God" or "faith in Christ" in actuality means "Cultivation in God." and "Cultivation in Christ.".
So then, what does it mean to be cultivated in Christ and God?
One could take this to mean the act of doing things as God or Christ is doing things as you would expect them to be done by God or Christ. But there is also another meaning one could take from this, which holds undeniable parallels within Buddhist philosophy.
Ephisians 4:6
"One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
What stands out to me in this is "...through all and in all."
God as something which is inside of us.
So when we talk about being "Cultivated in God" we are really talking about the aspect of God which is "... through all and in all.", meaning that God is a part of our very being, being cultivated.
In buddhism this is called "Cultivating Buddha nature."
Buddha nature in my understanding is referring to our inner nature, our "true nature".
So here we come to a cross-roads. Buddhists understand buddha nature as the inner self which is beyond all that we are capable of understanding self to be, the underlying force or basic awareness of our being. Whereas God worshippers understand God to be the underlying force of the universe, the underlying awareness of the universe, omnipotent. Buddhists also refer to a scripture in which Gautama
With all these claims as to the nature of God, then we begin to understand that if God is omnipotent, and our true nature is also god, then our true nature is omnipotent.
I want to finish this, but my flow is apparently over for now.
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