Soon after we became "empty nesters," my wife Mary and I had the great good fortune to attend and learn from teachings by Gelek Rimpoche and other great masters of the Tibetan lam rim tradition, the “Stepwise Path” of spiritual development. Over the course of several years, I came to realize that the precepts and practices of this tradition formed a framework from which I could reinterpret my Christian heritage. I became increasingly interested in finding a way to broaden and deepen this reinterpretation into a path of spiritual growth combining the wisdom of both traditions.
A second stroke of good luck accompanied another major life event. Upon my retirement, Mary suggested that we try out a local church in the Evangelical and Reformed Church tradition of our families. The lectionary-based worship and adult study curriculum of the nearby Faith United Church of Christ have provided exactly the environment I have needed to understand in depth the origins and precepts of Christian faith and their relationship to the lam rim teachings. The Revised Common Lectionary prescribes Bible readings for each major day of the Church calendar in a three-year cycle that covers what many of the mainstream Christian denominations consider to be the key passages of the New Testament and related passages in the Hebrew Bible. In the course of 8 years since joining Faith UCC, I have been exposed to each of these readings at least twice, and have tried as often as possible to link their precepts to what I have learned from the lam rim.
This year, the adult study group is taking a break from the lectionary-based curriculum to pursue a series of shorter studies. As part of those studies, I have committed to present the lam rim in a systematic way that I hope can help Christians to live a fuller and deeper spiritual life. Here's what I said in the church bulletin:
"When the 14th Dalai Lama and a whole generation of highly accomplished teachers from Tibet became refugees in the late 1950s, they brought with them a unique tradition for the systematic construction of a Spirit-filled life. In these eight Sunday morning sessions, beginning on January 5th, I will try to provide a very abbreviated introduction to the use of this 'spiritual technology' to build a progressively wider and deeper understanding and practice of both Buddhist and Christian precepts."
Obviously, whatever can be done in 8 Sunday morning classes only amounts to dipping a toe into the ocean, but I hope to be able to help those who attend to begin building a craft suitable for navigating its depths and arriving safely at last in the harbor of here and now.
NEXT: Buddha's Warning Label
