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Vipassana/Theravada Buddhism
B.G.: Unless you prepare yourself to experience that love, that kingdom, that peace, those are still just words. People must try within themselves to experience that. To experience that, they must follow certain steps, certain methods, and certain systems. If they don't do that, then they are not experiencing it. It will simply be a theory.
L.M.: What if our meditation practice doesn't lead us to a loving attitude and behavior? Even though I am meditating, I'm still short-tempered, I am noticing and often criticizing the faults of others.
B.G.: We always try to encourage people to look within themselves. Rather than, looking outward and trying to find fault in others, and criticizing others. Sometimes, a teacher may need to criticize students in order to show them the path. To say that this is not right.
L.M.: Concerning interreligious dialogue, one Buddhist nun has said that, for example, Buddhists and Christians will meet at a conference and they will be saying nice things about one another's religious traditions. But they're thinking: my religion is really the best. Still, it's easy to imagine Buddha and Christ meeting together in a genuine spirit of love. Here at Bhavana, you no doubt have Baptists and Methodists as your neighbors. How can we honestly interact?
B.G.: I'll tell you, I was visiting my students in Brazil, and I came to the airport to find my departure gate. There was a young man, I told him my gate, and he took me there. His father came also, and we were talking very nicely. He said he was a Christian missionary. So I told him: that's very good. You come back and convert these people. Ten years later, I will come back and convert them to Buddhism. So we had a good laugh.
We can have a friendly attitude toward each other—and try to see the truth. The truth doesn't belong to any religion. For instance, when I get angry at anything that another person does, my religion doesn't prevent me saying what I want to say. Similarly, with anybody else, whether Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or whatever, it can be exactly the same. We consider that to be wrong behavior. If on the other hand, I am generous, my being generous does not belong to Buddhism or Christianity.
These are what we call common factors: generosity, compassion, and understanding. If we try to develop these things, then we will not be nitpicky
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