A few weeks ago I took the opportunity to visit Boulder Shambhala Meditation Center. The center was offering an open house to ask questions on Buddhism and meditation.
It was Sunday morning so my mind started to juxtapose everything I was experiencing to that of a typical church service. For instance many churches offer coffee and even doughnuts, the Shambhala center offered herbal teas. At most churches I’ve been to, even the most staunch, it is very likely one might see a group of people talking and laughing and in the less staunch churches the foyer can be a loud place where people are laughing and talking and catching up with one another. However, here it was very mellow, people didn’t really talk before the gathering and didn’t open up much when asked to talk.
All this is just a personal observation, but I did find it interesting how different each gathering is. I don’t think it is an apples to apples comparison either since many of these people at the Shambhala center were first time people. Perhaps if these people met on a regular basis there would be more jibba jabba and gathering.
However, that was not the most interesting part of the experience. For me it was how everyone was asked to introduce themselves and tell why they were there that morning. Most everyone mentioned some interest in meditation. Meditation was the reason they were there and meditation was what most wanted to know about. Women out numbered men especially if I were to take myself out of the equation and the two other guys I went with. Then it would be a ratio of 2.5 to 1.
There was a nice surprise with the facilitator. I did not know what to expect and what kind of topic would be the center of our meeting. I mostly expected a stuffy self-absorbed prat who exuded a mastered look of peace on their face while everything they said was to exude some special wisdom like, “a dove has wings, but a snake does not fly. See how great the dove and the snake are.” And then everyone would get a look on their faces as though they touched enlightenment. Yet, the facilitator was a middle-aged woman who was very open about Buddhism and herself. She was very down-to-earth and very pleasant. She basically answered questions with no reservations and with no hesitations. She was not there to please people, but to give honest answers to the questions asked. Though I was not there at the time, I had to leave, one of the guys there with me told me later that a woman asked if a Christian could also be a Buddhist. The facilitator simply said that there were conflicts that would keep a Christian from becoming a Buddhist and visa versa. She didn’t go on to say what those conflicts were.
The question this week is how far would you go to visit and understand someone else’s faith, how far is too far? And if what this lady says is true, about the conflicts in faith does this mean that we should not try to get close to those in other faiths in their own environments? This is a tricky ordeal how close is too close? One week from now I’ll be in the physical place where someone I admire very much hit on this very topic.
Hope to see you.
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