Transcript

I received an email recently from a Christian viewer of my videos. He was deeply impressed by the Buddhist teachings, and he was looking for a way to reconcile them with Christianity. One thing, though, was a real challenge for him. Here is what he wrote, If Nirvana means giving up thirst and desires for bad but also for good. Would not we miss love, love to your close ones, family, love to God. Would not we become too detached, and as God is love, would not we become detached from God? His question struck me deeply. It is one I have been struggling with myself.

The Buddha leads us to detachment. Christ leads us to love. Are these two teachings in conflict? If not, how could we reconcile such opposites? What do love and detachment even mean? These are broad and difficult questions, but they take us into the heart of what Christ and the Buddha teach, in fact, they take us right into our own heart. So let's investigate further, love and attachment, Buddha and Christ, God and Nirvana, self and other. Let's put all these in dialog, and let's see what they reveal about the journey of inner growth.