In Reply to: the appeal of oriental religion posted by porceleindoll on July 07, 2003 at 02:32:19:
i think the "atmosphere" of "oriental religion" does tend to offer a kind of tranquility that is often missing from what is generally presented as christianity. but at its heart, the spiritual path preached and modelled by Jesus, born out of a matrix of a covenant relationship between Yahweh and the seed of abraham, and living relationship w/ a living, speaking creator God, is more eastern than western. it is steeped in mysticism and a sense of God's immanence, finally expressed in Emmanuel. the sad thing is that so many, both here and in society at large, have rejected it based on an experience of a counterfeit knock off of the original.
b4 i met the family, or even would call myself a christian, i stumbled on various passages of the "red letters" of Jesus and be struck with just how stunningly different they were from the other proponents of eastern traditions i'd read...AND from the impression i had of him as some sort of c.e.o. of "christianity inc." i still didn't get what the "gospel" was, or what that crucifixion thing was all about, but i was beginning to see him free from the stuff that had been piled on him. what i saw, drew me. my heart reached out and i began to speak to him. amazingly, he began to answer. and to put it mildly, it has proven to be , at least from my point of veiw, a conversation wellworth having! like you say of the Jesus of your childhood, your "best freind"... and didn't he say it was that childlike approach that somehow opens the eyes of the heart to "see the things of the kingdom of God"?
may the path to enlightenment you say you are not seeking open before you.