ciel_perdu
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- Jun 29, 2011
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Jesus said in Luke 14:33 ''whosoever of you that does not forsake all that he owns, cannot be my disciple''.
We see from Jesus' life that he did this, and we see ample evidence of his disciples doing this, not only in the gospels, but in the book of Acts too.
Buddha also renounced everything, forsaking his worldly possessions/attachments/relationships etc in the search for meaning and truth and the end of suffering.
I believe Christians should follow this teaching of Jesus, just like his first disciples did, but there are a very rare few that do. Why? Isn't it because we love our possessions, our status, our relationships, our lives and our money!
So, how do people reconcile what Jesus did and what Buddha did, and what they taught, with their own unwillingness to actually do the same?
We say that we have let go of all our attachments in our heart.
It certainly sounds a lot more spiritual doesn't it? People inevitably say, ''yes, certainly if you're (so un-spiritual) to be attached to your possessions then you will need to forsake them...as for me, I don't need to ACTUALLY forsake anything that I own because, I am not attached''.
How convenient. They spiritualize not letting go of their attachments, at the same time as making out that those who actually DO literally forsake all they own, to be some what spiritually inferior.
Truly a measure of our attachment to money, our possessions, our relationships, to our lives, will be if we can forsake them all for God, love and truth. Jesus did it, and taught his disciples to do it.
So, why don't we do it?
We see from Jesus' life that he did this, and we see ample evidence of his disciples doing this, not only in the gospels, but in the book of Acts too.
Buddha also renounced everything, forsaking his worldly possessions/attachments/relationships etc in the search for meaning and truth and the end of suffering.
I believe Christians should follow this teaching of Jesus, just like his first disciples did, but there are a very rare few that do. Why? Isn't it because we love our possessions, our status, our relationships, our lives and our money!
So, how do people reconcile what Jesus did and what Buddha did, and what they taught, with their own unwillingness to actually do the same?
We say that we have let go of all our attachments in our heart.
It certainly sounds a lot more spiritual doesn't it? People inevitably say, ''yes, certainly if you're (so un-spiritual) to be attached to your possessions then you will need to forsake them...as for me, I don't need to ACTUALLY forsake anything that I own because, I am not attached''.
How convenient. They spiritualize not letting go of their attachments, at the same time as making out that those who actually DO literally forsake all they own, to be some what spiritually inferior.
Truly a measure of our attachment to money, our possessions, our relationships, to our lives, will be if we can forsake them all for God, love and truth. Jesus did it, and taught his disciples to do it.
So, why don't we do it?