56. Similarities between East and West

The audio recording is available at https://youtu.be/vP-YcoMJ2IY.

The Zend Avesta was adopted not only by the old scripture but also by various Eastern religions, or rather, life philosophies such as Buddhism, Zen, Taoism, and Confucianism. With the exception of the old scripture, all these teachings agree that there is no need for the individual self. Non-pagan religions offer theological salvation (external, everyone's sins are already redeemed, no need for individual correction), whereas Eastern religions offer metaphysical salvation (internal, each person is their own redeemer, individual correction is possible and required). Despite these differences, we will see that there are many similarities between East and West in correct interpretation. For instance, both Eastern philosophy and Christianity affirm true vision, the inner sight—Christianity speaks of this in hidden form, such as when it speaks of the purity of the heart.

When illustrating the similarities between Eastern ways of life and teachings and Western religious perspectives, we refer to the fact that both: 

·         Strive for awakening and enlightenment,

·         Establish dialogue,

·    See the difficulties of human life as rooted in deviation, the indulgence of desires, and ignorance, and therefore encourage the pursuit of wisdom,

·         Teach humility,

·         Define the ultimate goal as returning to the source,

·         Use meditation to achieve either existence or emptiness/fullness,

·         Both emphasize experiential elements (much more in the East),

·   During enlightenment or emptying, they distinguish between the world of analogies (existence) and the world of similarities and differences (life),

·         Acknowledge the human trinity: the body, the soul, and the spirit. 

Further similarities can be found between Eastern and Western transcendence in terms of achieving their goals, for example: 

1) Reaching lightness: Both Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist teachings encourage returning to glamor, to light, where our formless soul can take shape once more. The reverence for light is also found in the teachings of Suhrawardi, a Persian philosopher who laid the foundations for Islamic thought. He argued that the fundamental material of creation is the photon, and light is equivalent to being itself, i.e., the light of existence. In Christianity, especially in the Franciscan order, the reverence for light is also present.

2) Realizing unity: In both Eastern and Western thought, the goal is the union with the One, though the approach differs. In the West, it is through the Church, while in the East, it is seen as inside the individual. The individual is the person who, as the subject of initiation (the object), becomes one with the goal of initiation (the subject).

3). Reaching soul maturity: In Christianity, revelation is for everyone, but no one can speak with the One directly, the One is not a person, and the relationship with the One is metaphysical. The message of the One was delivered through a messenger, our Initiation Master, and the revelation is about returning to the One. There is no specific time-frame for the revelation; it is rather a good news that if we are aware of the task of returning, our returning will be successful. In Buddhism, the body is not considered truly real, as only the soul exists, and anything outside the soul is illusion or maya. Buddhism sees the soul as having the possibility of renewal (a dynamic soul) here on earth, which is called samadhi. In our perspective, this is the cycle of love.