Where The Light Meets: Buddhist Christian Reflections and Practice

In this episode, we talk about spiritual teachers: Who are they? How are they recognized? Can they be anyone? Is Jesus your teacher? Is the Buddha your teacher? We discuss our experience with teachers and who we consider teachers, the difference between students and disciples, and the difference between Christian teachers and Buddhist teachers. We talk about this and a lot more, including the importance of an open awareness of noticing the teachings all around you, without making a "mini-God" out of your teacher. And maybe the "perfect teacher" is our own humanness.

And in our practice section, Levi asks us "What teacher did you see today?

Quotes shared in this episode: "Rev Akegarasu is always whispering in my ear, 'There is nothing to worry about. You had better do whatever you want to do.' This is the Buddha-Dharma that I heard from him." ~Shuichi Maida, from Heard by Me

"Our Lord desires that our spirit be truly turned to gaze upon him and upon all his glorious creation, for it is exceedingly good. And his judgments are sweet and comforting and bring our spirit to rest. Thus, we turn from scrutinizing our own blind actions toward the delightfulness of God. For we consider some actions good and others wrong, but God does not look upon them so."  ~Julian of Norwich, from Revelations of Divine Love

"To me, your bright face is so majestic and independent. This awesome nobility is beyond limitation. There is nothing to equal such brightness!

Even the brightness of sun and moon and mani jewels seems like black ink compared to your brightness.

Buddha's appearance transcends the world; there's no comparison. The whole universe vibrates with the great sound of your enlightenment.

Your awesome virtues—deep meditation, wisdom, precepts, listening power and strength of endeavor—are so superior and rare, beyond comparison....

~Translation by the Venerable Gyomay M. Kubose, from Tan Butsu Ge

In this episode, we talk about how love and being loved fit into our spiritual journeys. We all have a need for love but can we open to a bigger love and/or compassion to make our spiritual lives more fulfilling? Is the Buddhist use of the word compassion the same or different than the use of the word love in Christian teachings and practices? Is love too "woo-woo" of a word for Buddhists? Is compassion too "interdependent" and universal to offer a felt sense of being loved? We talk about this and a lot more, including whether or not there is a need for a personal relationship with God, the Divine, or a Buddha or Bodhisattva. We also talk about whether you would or should kill the Buddha (or Jesus or God), if you meet him on the road or, instead, dance or have a beer with him.

And in our practice section, Holly shares a practice of Lectio Divina with poetry by Mary Oliver: Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.You do not have to walk on your kneesFor a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.You only have to let the soft animal of your bodylove what it loves.Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.Meanwhile the world goes on.Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rainare moving across the landscapes,over the prairies and the deep trees,the mountains and the rivers.Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,the world offers itself to your imagination,calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —over and over announcing your placein the family of things. https://www.estuarysoulcare.com/

In this episode, Christopher, Holly, Levi, and Wendy talk about how we might find some "Holy Envy" in a tradition that's not our own. We ask how we talk about what makes us Christian or Buddhist? Is it a black and white thing? Or is it a personal experience that is as unique as each of us? Using the book, Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others, by Barbara Brown Taylor, as a springboard for our conversation, we challenge ourselves and our listeners to try not to define other's religious or faith practices. Just let them be what they are for each person. How often do we assume we know what another's belief system and practice is by our own biases or "situatedness"—reducing things to our own religious lenses or stories in a neat, little black and white perspective?

And in our practice section, we suggest attending a virtual faith service from a tradition not your own and generate a little "Holy Envy" ... then let us know!

In this episode, our intrepid hosts tried to do the impossible. Define the indefinable. Express the ineffable. And conceptualize what shouldn't be conceptualized.

Even if we didn't accomplish what was impossible, we hope you enjoy the conversation! Here are a few things we discussed:

* Individual God concepts and images * Individual Buddha concepts * What is the creation and who or what created the world * What is the Divine Source * What is Trikayaka and the Trinity * What is Buddha Nature * What is the Cosmic Buddha or Cosmic Christ * Who is Amida Buddha * What is Dharma * Who is Jesus * What is myth * What is faith * Experience is not found in words

AND our special practice segment we hope to end every episode with. Each host will share a special practice for you to "take home" and try!

Words. We can't live without them and living with them can get us into a lot of trouble, in normal conversation and—especially—in inter-religious or interspiritual dialogue. In this episode we try to break through a tangled web of words, concepts, and labels.

We talk about our relationship to the words we use in describing our spiritual or religious experiences—how we use them, as "labels" and "badges" and how we might use them as offensive or defensive postures or positions. Words can lead to misunderstandings in talking to others outside our faith or spiritual tradition, but also talking with others "inside" our own tradition.

We need to use words, conventionally, of course, but the challenge is to not reify them into concepts that block our direct experience of the ultimate.

Words can block our direct experience with our practice ... the Divine ... God ... Buddha ... Christ. Listen to our conversation about what we think works and what doesn't work, in our relationship to words.

Give this NEW podcast a listen! A spin-off of Everyday Buddhism: Making Everyday Better, our goal for Where The Light Meets is to share the light of self-knowledge, faith, and a spiritual foundation that shines brightly from all wisdom traditions.

In this podcast, Wendy Shinyo Haylett, Holly Rockwell, Levi Shinyo Walbert, and Christopher Kakuyo Ross-Leibow meet to learn from each other and share how to discover and harness the light found in Buddhist and Christian teachings for everyday reflection and practice. In the first episode, we introduce our hosts and jump head-first into the swirling soup of traditions, texts, and practices. We each share  our own spiritual and religious background, where we find ourselves today, and what we hope to learn from each other as we share our "discoveries" with our listeners. Introducing our hosts: Wendy Shinyo Haylett is an author, Buddhist teacher, and lay minister with The Bright Dawn Center of Oneness Buddhism. She conceived, developed, and produced the podcast, Everyday Buddhism: Making Everyday Better and this new podcast, Where The Light Meets.

Wendy has 30+ years as a Buddhist practitioner and 25+ years of coaching experience. She reads deeply in Christian traditions, primarily mystic and Franciscan writings and teachings, in addition to Buddhist traditions, mainly Mahayana.

She calls herself a Christian-infused Buddhist and practices primarily from a Shin Buddhist center.

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Holly Rockwell is a Buddhism-infused Christian. She was raised as a Roman Catholic and is an Ignatian prayer guide. But after a winding spiritual journey, she now considers herself non-denominational. She also has a deep and abiding love for nature and finds God in all of creation.

She is currently a certified spiritual director in private practice through Estuary Soul Care. She works primarily with the spiritually curious; those who wish for a deeper connection to the divine than their religious experience has provided as well as those who are unchurched and seeking.

Until recently, she was Program Manager/Outreach Coordinator at Mercy Spirituality Center in Rochester, New York. She is a graduate of the Haden Institute for Spiritual Direction, holds a Juris Doctorate from SUNY Buffalo School of Law, and in 2015 was certified as a Master Naturalist by Cornell University's Conservation Education and Research Program.

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Christopher Kakuyo Leibow is the founder of the Salt Lake Buddhist Fellowship. His journey to Buddhism started in the Catholicism of his youth, and 6 years as an active Latterday Saint and then through Thomas Merton and Sufism before finding home in the Buddha Way. He is fascinated by the idea of praxis and ritual in both Christian and Buddhist traditions and what that looks like for the average person in their everyday lives.  He is also fascinated by the power of the imaginal found in the great myths of all religions. 

Christopher currently is the leader of a growing Sangha in Salt Lake City, which focuses on the idea that all are welcome to come just as they are, on deep listening,  and on the teaching of the Buddha, that that whole of the Buddha way is spiritual friendships (community).  He is an inducted Lay Minister of Bright Dawn Way of Oneness in addition to visual artist and poet with a MFA from Antioch. 

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Levi Shinyo Walbert is a Buddhist Minister, Seminary Student, and Contemporary Wizard. He was raised in a largely non-practicing Christian household, yet at a young age found interest and wonder in the religion and mythology of the world. This curiosity would lead him to experience both the positive effects of religion and faith in the world as well as the toxic and harmful side of organized religion.

Though, since finding Buddhism as his spiritual home at a young age, he still finds value and joy in learning from the spiritual traditions of the world. From his experience in working within interfaith and non-faith communities, he has begun to experiment with new ways of introducing spirituality as a personal voyage and narrative through one's life. In doing so he has taken up the mythical role and archetype of the "Wizard" in hope to introduce what he feels are neglected elements of spirituality that is needed in today's world: Levity and Fun.

He is currently a student at a Theological Seminary in which he is working towards a master's degree in theology and accreditation in chaplaincy. His academic focuses are split between interfaith dialogue between Christianity/Judaism and Buddhism as well as an extended study on the history and modern interpretation of Satan.