A Religious Mutt
This is part of an interview that i found with Goldie Hawn. She is apparently a Buddhist Christian. I ran into a lady who was the same thing a few weeks ago and i asked her how she came to that conclusion and she said that she was raised catholic and her boyfriend was Buddhist and he helped her know Jesus better. i was just really confused. well, here's goldie!
So you had a multifaith childhood.
Definitely. I also went to the Presbyterian church. And it was so great not to be stopped, you see. A parent can say, "You’re Jewish, you don’t get to do that. This is our faith, you don’t get to learn about it." But my mother loved Jesus—she was just a complete Jesus freak.
She was?
Oh, and I am too—that’s another interesting thing.
Why?
He went to the desert; he sat quietly. He sat so quietly that he heard the voice of God. He heard the truth. He felt the truth. He was able to receive the truth because he emptied himself and he had the ability to do it. Perhaps that was his specialness, or part of it.
Why was your mother so into Jesus?
Because she felt he was an extraordinary man. She didn’t believe, of course, that he was the son of God. But she believed that he was one of the great humans, superhumans, on the planet.
That was a long time ago to have been Jewish and to believe that.
I know. My mother was the kind of person who was very much part of her tribe and very much a satellite of her tribe. She was the girl who left her family at the age of 17 and went to Washington. My mother was orphaned at three and then was brought up by my aunt Goldie. So, yes she belonged, but there was a part of her that didn’t.
How do you incorporate Judaism and Christianity in your spiritual practice?
I’ve been practicing modalities of Eastern philosophy since about 1972. What I’ve learned through my meditation is a sense of equanimity, a sense of all things being equal. Then I went to Israel--and when I went to Israel, I had a very, very strong epiphany. Every now and then, I will light a candle; I will light candles for my mother on the High Holidays and my father and my relatives. I haven’t been to the synagogue, at least not recently.
And when I went to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, I started to look at their society, I started to look at their people, I started to look at the ways in which they lived and what mattered to them as a society, as a people, what is their natural inclination in building a good society. Mothers and grandmothers took care of the preschoolers and created afterschool programs, where children can go after school to get them off the streets. These were incredible nurturing qualities, right down to making sure they had hot food. I looked at this and I finally realized, "Oh my God, now I see myself. Now I know why I sit and I watch my children eat and I’m sitting over them, watching them eat and wanting them to be happy because I’m feeding them." That’s when I realized that was my DNA.
I integrate that knowledge into my spiritual practice. But who you are has not much to do with what you are becoming, because the qualities you bring to any faith--whether it’s honed by family, religion, or lack of religion whatever it is--you bring it to wherever you’re going. The idea of faith itself, that you believe or you don’t believe in certain things, will continue no matter what faith you are in. You will learn to question all. So do I bring it to my practice? No, I don’t bring Judaism necessarily into my Buddhist thought, because all that I have been is there already.
Is that the same for the Christian half of you?
Yes. The interesting part of my spiritual life is studying as much as you can. Islam and Buddhism and Hinduism and Shamanism and Judaism, Christianity--you try to learn what the precepts are, what the religion is, and ultimately, it’s based in the same thought, it’s based in the same outcome, you know.
(Whispers) It just has a different façade.
We go into religion in order to feel warmer in our hearts, more connected to others, more connected to something greater and to have a sense of peace. I think all religions try to do that, but they corrupt themselves. I like Buddhist thought because it breaks that down; it teaches you how to view your thoughts rather than be your thoughts. We live in this crazy world, full of jobs, and we have to be there, be-be-be--it’s a very demanding, taxing world. The result of meditating is watching your thoughts, detachment from your own precepts of what is right and wrong, things that frustrate you, that you can’t grasp and want to grasp onto.
posted by Tim Costine @ 9:51 AM
14 comments
14 Comments:
"She didn’t believe, of course, that he was the son of God."
Of course not, that would be ridiculous.
Yeeesh.....
This is a prime example of faith centered on "self" and not God. I'm sure it's quite "self" fulfilling in a way, but ignoring God's revelation of Himself and replacing it with your own private version of reality is ultimately self-delusional. It reminds me of the syncretism in the OT. They had the real truth, but many turned their back on it and created a Heinz 57 variety religion that met their "felt needs".
Well that's about the biggest load of BS I've heard in while. Funny how Satan uses the same old crap and slaps a different name on it every few hundred years.
The more I read this, the more troubling it reveals itself to be. First, she starts out by saying, basically, that she admires Christ because He was a Buddhist. Then, at the end she says this:
"it teaches you how to view your thoughts rather than be your thoughts. We live in this crazy world, full of jobs, and we have to be there, be-be-be--it’s a very demanding, taxing world. The result of meditating is watching your thoughts, detachment from your own precepts of what is right and wrong, things that frustrate you, that you can’t grasp and want to grasp onto."
What she's saying is that Buddhism is attractive because it separates the knower and the known.
Dangerous stuff. And even worse that she tries to align Christ with it.
I do get concerned sometimes with the different definitions of "meditate" and the possible confusion people may have. There's a world of difference between meditating on God's Word [requiring active, focused, engaged thought] and Buddhist meditation [emptying, non-thought that tries to separate the self from the physical world/body to reach a spiritual world - rather gnostic, huh?].
This whole conversation smacks of "a prime example of faith centered on "self" and not God." Where is Goldie's blog wherein she knocks the beliefs that bring everyone else in the world compassion, clarity, and understanding. Is she spending her time cultivating an exclusionary belief system and calling the non-adherents pawns of satan?
Do any of you realize how hateful and judgemental you are being to have this conversation? How much your scorn of the rest of us - "Mutts" - is verbal and psychological abuse that we constantly have to endure. I never feel such hate and malice as I do in the presence of a Christian.
It comes down to which basis of authority you are willing to trust your eternity to. There are basically two choices: my own/some other person's human reasoning idea of who God is or what God Himself has chosen to reveal to mankind in His Word. "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."(Jn.14:6) "Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?...Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also." (I Jn.2:22-23)
You either agree with that or you don't. If your/Goldie's ideas are right, they are ultimately of no ultimate consequence to what happens to the "real me", my soul, after my body dies. If God is right, it matters a lot where I put my trust.
the term 'religious mutt' was not meant so much in a derogatory way, but to point out the absurdity of letting your eternity ride on such a mix of beliefs. too many people aproach God because they want him to make their lives better, but they end up picking and choosing what they will take and leave whatever makes them uncomfortable. This makes the person the authority instead of taking God for His word. You may see these words as hateful, but the truth seems offensive sometimes.
Meredith Kline once said the religion is man's way of running away from God. If you are going to claim Christ, you must claim who He Himself says He is. To find out who He says He is, we must go to the Holy Scriptures, and those scriptures alone. In the scriptures Christ plainly says who He is (the Son of God)and why He came (to be the Savior). To say otherwise is to deny God's truth and call Him a liar. It is not up to us to "redefine" or "reinvent" Christ into someone that we admire for reasons that we find admirable. We do not draw closer to God by doing this, rather we merely selfishly satisfy our desire for "religion" or "deeper meaning" and put distance between ourself and the One True God.
BethsMom and Tim's replies are focused on the concept of an afterlife or "eternity". I would like to remind the forum that not all religions are focused on the threat of Hell and afterlife, or are participating in the who's-in who's-out fads of the Christian world.
Religion can function quite remarkably as a way to learn to love one another fully and honestly; as a way to understand our world and how we might make it kinder for our fellow humans; how we might make this world, the one we're living in right now, here, a little better.
Kindly escort away your crusaders, inquisitors, and manipulative politicians and contemplate the afterlife or hell or heaven, but please leave this delicate earth to those who are interested in caring for it, now. Those of us not invested in attaining blissful heavenly afterlife are trying to make this world as compassionate and humanitarian as we can. And it has come to that time, once again, when Christians are hurting far more than they're helping.
* * *
I apologize that your forum is bearing the brunt of my anti-Christiandom, but I've just been harassed too many times. Seen too many families destroyed by divisive theologies, and recieved too many tracts from people trying to scare me with images of being burned alive.
I can no longer, in good conscience, watch this vitriol continue without stepping in as a representative of those oppressed by the Christians.
and a PS: You guys really don't sound like you have a clue about buddhist meditation, you should drop-in on a buddhist meditation group and spend some time LISTENING. And relax, no one is going to try to "convert" you. Christians cornered the market on that.
Mutt,
I have to say (and please don't misinterpret my tone of voice here -one of the downfalls of e-communication), in response to your whole comment, and in reaction to your Post Script in particular, that perhaps you don't know as much about Christianity as you think you might.
For example: I, along with many others, believe that the earth is part of the promise of God's redemption. The book of Romans attests to this when it says that "the very creation itself groans for the day of its redemption." This belief carries the necessity of good stewardship of those that believe and hope in God's promises. Christians do, or at least should, care for the earth; it is part of our charge.
Speaking of promises and redemption, Christianity is not based on the "threat of hell", as you said, but rather on the promise of life. Yes, the afterlife comes into play here, but one of the teachings of Christianity is that the Christian's new life starts here and now, on Earth and extends forward from the day of salvation. I am not simply waiting around for Christ to return and "take me away from this awful place". I am living (or at very least trying to live) as one redeemed from death and charged, by my Redeemer, with representing Him and promoting life to all around me. I believe God uses His people to renew the earth, to bring about its redemption.
Christianity is not exclusionary. In fact, quite to the contrary, it is universal. Let me explain (especially to those who know me and can't believe I just used the word "universal"). To avoid getting too "theological", let me just say it this way: God's plan of salvation has always been for all peoples of the world, and, as I said before, the effects of this salvation/redemption are meant for His physical, not just spiritual creation. No doubt you have heard the following, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will have everlasting life." The invitation has been issued to all people of all races, of every nation, of every social class, of every income level, of every political persuasion. It is there for them. It is there for you.
Finally, I hope you can see that, when all the above is taken into consideration, that Christianity is very much a faith that seeks unity, not division. Christians long to be in harmony not only with all peoples of the world, but with the very Earth itself. We believe that this can only be achieved by living in such a way that reflects God's original intention for His creation. That is to be unified in glorifying Him.
Now, that being said, it must be understood that even the most devout, most learned and commited Christian is human. While being transformed by God, the Christian is still human and subject to failures; the Christian still sins. The Bible is very clear in its teachings about the Christians struggle with sin. Have there been errors of theology in the past? Yes. Have these errors lead to terrible events? Yes. Are their errors now? Absolutely. But this can, in fact must, be said for all religions. Any religion that claims inerrancy on the part of its followers is lying to you. No matter how deep your meditation, no matter how long your reflection, you cannot escape or do away with your own sin.
How can each person believing their own thing, doing what is right in their own hearts, bring unity? How can anyone say that the way to peace or unity is relativisim? How can we learn to "love fully and honestly" when we not only disagree about what love, fullness, and honsety are, but also say that it's OK and that there is no need to agree? No right and no wrong is the path to anarchy and chaos, not peace and harmony. If I beleive something is right that you beleive is wrong, and it affects you adversely, oh well....to each his own, right? No, you see the only way to have harmony is to have definitions and rules that everyone follows. The only way to live in peace is to base your convictions on truth and live by them; it is not "detachment from your own precepts of what is right and wrong". I would be interested in learning how you place hope for peace and unity in a religious practice or philosophy that encourages each to find their own truth.
I am truly sorry that you have had such a bad experience with Christians and Christianity. My first reaction is to say that you've been hanging around the wrong Christians, or maybe even people who aren't Christians at all. Please understand that I, and I think it safe to say no one else who posts here, am trying to force you to believe anything. I believe only the Holy Spirit can change a person's heart. It's not my job to convince you, it is only my job to speak the truth, and that is what I believe I am doing. And I am doing it out of love, not fear mongering, and out of the desire for unity, not to divide.
and about the buddhism thing, how did you come to that conclusion? i know a lot about different religions throughout the world and how they approach their picture of 'god'. I infact do know about buddhism. what buddhism do you study? are you more interested in the american version of buddhism, because that has been largely different than the older eastern buddhism.
i had a friend that would try to convert me to buddhism all the time. his name was gavin. he was involved in Nicheren Soshu Buddhism. I have been to a buddhist temple and sat in and watched people do their thing there. after studying it, i came to the conclusion that Gavin was so desperately seeking this enlightenment he was promised that he thought he could get it through chanting this phrase over and over again.
as far as meditation goes, most eastern meditation concentrates on empyting the mind, but we believe that that only leaves you with yourself, which can be a dangerous thing. like my mom said (bethsmomtoo), we must ask ourselves what our authority is. it has to be outside of ourselves, because we are just weak people. we don't really control anything. we are sinful people who need a remedy outside of ourselves.
thank you for posting on here. i enjoy being able to talk like this and i don't mind at all that you are using this as a forum for your anti-christian thoughts. i'm just glad you have decided to discuss it with us. i'm praying for you.
I think one of the most fascinating things is that I had many of the same beliefs as the person commenting - up until the age of almost 30, at which time I started reading the Bible to see what God had to say about it. My educational background, political point of view and personal beliefs had led me down quite a different road from the one I travel now. Rather than listening to us, why don't you read the Gospel of John and see what God has to say about it? Don't let the use/misuse of the word "Christian" obscure your view of God.
I religious Mutt? talking about yourself again? get fucking over it.
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