JOHN 6:24-35
WHEN WE WESTERNERS THINK
OF BUDDHISM, WE USUALLY IMAGINE A ROUND GENTLEMAN CLAD ONLY IN A
LOINCLOTH, SITTING WITH CROSSED LEGS AND A BEAUTIFUL SMILE ON HIS
FACE. BUT BUDDHA WAS UNUSUAL AMONG THE FOUNDERS OF RELIGIONS; HE WAS
VERY LOGICAL, BASED HIS TEACHINGS ON WHAT HE HIMSELF COULD OBSERVE OR
EXPERIENCE, AND BEGAN HIS PHILOSOPHY WITH A VERY CONVINCING ANALYSIS
OF THE HUMAN CONDITION. OF COURSE, LIKE ALL RELIGIONS, BUDDHISM
BROKE UP INTO DIFFERENT SECTS AND MANY EVOLVED TO WORSHIP THE BUDDHA
WITH PRAYERS AND RITUALS; BUDDHA HIMSELF WOULD NEVER APPROVE. BUT
BUDDHA SAID THIS: WHAT KEEPS US FROM BEING HAPPY IS THAT WE LIVE IN
A STATE OF DESIRE. WE CAN NEVER FULFILL OUR DESIRES, AND TO THE
EXTENT WE CAN'T WE ARE UNHAPPY. THINK OF HOW TRUE THIS IS. YOU WANT
A NEW CAR; YOU SAVE, YOU VISIT DEALERS; YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF EXACTLY
WHAT YOU WANT. BUT REALITY INTRUDES, AND BY THE TIME YOU BUY THE
CAR, IT'S NOT EXACTLY WHAT YOU HAD IN MIND; AND SHORTLY AFTER YOU BUY
THE CAR, YOU HAVE BUYER'S REMORSE; YOU SPENT MORE THAN YOU WANTED TO;
THERE IS SOMETHING NOT QUITE RIGHT ABOUT HOW IT STEERS; AND SO ON.
YOUR DESIRE WAS NOT FULFILLED COMPLETELY. AND MULTIPLY THAT BY THE
THOUSANDS OF CHOICES WE EACH NEED TO MAKE TO GET THROUGH A YEAR; AND
WITH EACH CHOICE, WE GIVE UP ONE THING, ONE ACTIVITY, ONE PATH, IN
ORDER TO TAKE THE OTHER; AND IN THAT THERE IS PAIN, THERE IS
UNHAPPINESS. HAVING MADE THIS DIAGNOSIS, BUDDHA SAID THAT TRUE
HAPPINESS INVOLVED GETTING RID OF ALL DESIRE, AND HE TAUGHT HIS
DISCIPLES HOW TO DO THIS. BUDDHA SAID THAT VERY FEW PEOPLE COULD
EVER REACH THAT STATE OF HAVING NO DESIRE; AND IF YOU DIED WITH
DESIRE, YOU WOULD REINCARNATE, AND CONTINUE TO DO SO. BUDDHA SAID HE
KNEW HOW TO ELIMINATE DESIRE. BUT I WONDER? WAS HE HUNGRY, OR
THIRSTY, OR WERE THERE TIMES WHEN HE WANTED TO FILL HIS LUNGS WITH
AIR? CAN YOU EVER COMPLETELY ELIMINATE DESIRE? TO ESCAPE FROM THIS
WHEEL OF LIFE AND DEATH, OF UNFULFILLED DESIRE, THAT WAS THE GOAL,
THAT WAS NIRVANA.
TODAY THERE IS SOMETHING
LIKE THIS GOING ON IN THE GOSPEL READING. JESUS HAS JUST FED A
CROWD; THERE WERE 5000 MEN, AND WHO KNOWS HOW MANY WOMEN AND
CHILDREN. AND HE DID THIS WITH FIVE LOAVES AND TWO FISH. AND HE HAD
FOOD LEFT OVER. AND THE SAME PEOPLE COME LOOKING FOR HIM. JESUS
POINTS OUT THAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR HIM BECAUSE HE FED THEM, NOT
BECAUSE THEY HAD ANY SORT OF RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. AND HE TELLS
THEM THAT INSTEAD OF WORKING TO GET THEIR NEXT MEAL, THEY SHOULD WORK
FOR THE ETERNAL BREAD THAT WOULD REALLY SATISFY THEM. AND IT ISN'T
EVEN HARD WORK; ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS BELIEVE IN JESUS. AND THE
CROWD ASKS FOR ANOTHER SIGN. FINALLY, JESUS COMES RIGHT OUT AND SAYS
TO THEM, “I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE; I AM THE BREAD THAT FILLS YOU UP;
I AM THE BREAD THAT DOESN'T JUST KEEP YOUR PHYSICAL LIFE GOING, I
GIVE YOU LIFE ETERNAL.”
THE STORY OF THE FEEDING
OF THE FIVE THOUSAND BEGAN WITH JESUS LOOKING AT THE CROWD AND
FEELING SORRY FOR THEM, FOR THEY WERE LIKE SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD.
JESUS MAKES THE SAME DIAGNOSIS AS BUDDHA; ALL ARE UNHAPPY BECAUSE OF
DESIRES WHICH IN NO WAY CAN BE COMPLETELY SATISFIED. AND HE WORKS
THE MIRACLE OF FEEDING THE CROWD NOT BECAUSE HE FEELS SORRY FOR THEM,
BUT PRECISELY TO SHOW THEM THAT IF THEY TURN TO HIM, WHAT THEY NEED
WILL BE PROVIDED. TODAY'S GOSPEL TELLS US WHAT THE SIGN MEANS, AND
THE WORDS OF JESUS DESCRIBE HIS SOLUTION TO BUDDHA'S PROBLEM; THERE
IS A WAY THAT ALL DESIRE CAN BE SATISFIED.
WE HUMAN BEINGS ARE MADE
TO ENTER INTO UNION WITH GOD. BEHIND EVERY DESIRE – FOR A CAR, FOR
A GREAT MEAL, FOR A HOME, FOR A SPOUSE – IS REALLY A MANIFESTATION
OF THE LONGING IN EACH OF OUR HEARTS FOR THIS UNION WITH GOD. AND NO
WONDER WE HAVE BUYER'S REMORSE, NO WONDER THAT AS SOON AS WE GET ONE
OF OUR WANTS FULFILLED, ANOTHER POPS UP. BECAUSE NOTHING BUT GOD
WILL PUT AN END TO OUR WANTING, OR LONGING, OUR DESIRES. AND JESUS
STATES THIS VERY CLEARLY – HE WHO COMES TO ME WILL NOT HUNGER, AND
HE WHO BELIEVES IN ME WILL NOT THIRST.
BUDDHA SAID THAT IF YOU
EVER GOT RID OF DESIRE, YOU WOULD ENTER “NIRVANA”. HE COMPARED
ORDINARY LIFE TO A CANDLE FLAME THAT BURNS ONE CANDLE DOWN, THEN IS
PASSED TO ANOTHER, THEN TO ANOTHER, ON AND ON FOREVER. NIRVANA WAS
THE SNUFFING OUT OF THE FLAME. FOR BUDDHA THIS WAS DESIRABLE, FAR
MORE SO THAN TO GO ON FOREVER AND EVER. BUT IN A SENSE, AND THE
BUDDHISTS WILL AGREE, THIS REALLY IS THE ANNIHILATION OF THE SELF,
WHICH IS SEEN AS AN ILLUSION, ANYWAY. THE ANSWER TO ALL PAIN AND
SUFFERING IN LIFE IS TO BE SNUFFED OUT COMPLETELY.
BUT THE ANSWER FOR JESUS
IS THE OPPOSITE; UNION WITH GOD IS COMPLETION OF THE SELF; I CONTINUE
FOR ALL ETERNITY, BUT SINCE THAT SOURCE OF ALL DESIRE, THAT SOURCE OF
ALL UNHAPPINESS, NO LONGER EXISTS, BECAUSE I AM FILLED UP WITH GOD
AND CAN'T WANT ANYTHING ELSE, I AM FULFILLED, I AM COMPLETELY HAPPY
-- AND I AM STILL ME, ME AS I WAS MEANT TO BE.
MODERN BUDDHISTS SAY THAT
YOU DON'T HAVE TO BELIEVE --ANYTHING TO BE A BUDDHIST;
ANY PRAYING OR SACRIFICING, ANY SELF-DISCIPLINE HAS AS ITS END THE
QUENCHING OF DESIRE. WE CATHOLICS DO HAVE TO BELIEVE, AS JESUS SAID.
WE BELIEVE IN JESUS, WE LOOK TO HIM FOR DIRECTION IN OUR LIVES, WE
STUDY HIS LIFE SO THAT WE CAN IMITATE IT, AND WE PRAY TO HIM BECAUSE
HE IS OUR BROTHER AND OUR GOD, AND WE BELIEVE HE IS WHAT WE NEED TO
BE COMPLETE. WE DO THIS, BY THE WAY, BECAUSE IT MAKES SENSE. IF WE
BELIEVE THERE IS A GOD WHO CREATES US, IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THAT THIS
GOOD GOD WOULD PROVIDE THE MEANS FOR US TO FILL UP OUR LONGING, TO BE
COMPLETED. AMONG ALL THE RELIGIONS IN THE WORLD, ONLY BUDDHISM AND
CHRISTIANITY SAY THAT DESIRE IS THE SOURCE OF HUMAN MISERY. AND ONLY
CHRISTIANITY SAYS THAT THERE IS A REAL SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM, A
SOLUTION THAT DOESN'T INVOLVE THE ANNIHILATION OF THE SELF. AND THAT
SOLUTION IS JESUS CHRIST, OUR BREAD AND OUR WINE, WHO PROMISES TO
ELIMINATE ALL HUNGER AND THIRST FOREVER.
WE BELIEVE THAT IN HOLY
COMMUNION, WE REALLY RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST, BODY AND BLOOD, SOUL AND
DIVINITY. TODAY TRY TO LET GO OF ALL YOUR DESIRES, SO THAT HE CAN
FILL YOU UP.
