Smith College Buddhists Chat with a Christian

Here at the Empty Bell sanctuary yesterday, we were please to host a group of Smith College students who are studying Asian spiritualities with Dr. Jamie Hubbard (on the far right in this photo), who lives in Japan in the academic off-season. I was so impressed with the students’ questions and insights. I mentioned that I’ve been navigating the Christian-Buddhist worlds since the 1960’s and that as a Christian, I’ve been on retreats with Ch’an, Korean Zen, Japanese Zen, Vipassana, and Tibetan Buddhist teachers. I emphasized that, for me, blessings of the inner spiritual life come from both sacred traditions, and each one brings special blessings, when we suffer or fear, and when we are feeling blessed and joyful. I shared a few stories, including how, one night I awoke in a panic, with no discernible reason for it. At 3 a.m., buzzing with anxiety, an image came to mind.

This is a fierce image of Guru Dorje Drolö (Tibetan. གུ་རུ་རྡོ་རྗེ་གྲོ་ལོད་, Wyl. gu ru rdo rje gro lod; ('Wild Wrathful Vajra'), one of the Eight Manifestations of Guru Rinpoche—who, in wrathful form rides upon a pregnant tigress. This deity is well-known in countries like Bhutan. I had meditated on this image for years, wondering if Dorje Drolo has anything to do with Christian reality. But in this particular, dire moment, what I thought about this deity didn’t matter because something amazing happened. This imaginary creature seemed to come alive in me, and actually did something: I got up from bed feeling quite wonderful, and relieved from all anxiety. It was as if Dorje Drolo had simply “eaten” my panic, and I felt free. I walked around the living room, and occasionally sat down with a joy and peace that I hadn’t felt for a long time.

So, of course, as a Christian all my life, I inwardly “consulted” with Jesus, asking his opinion about this experience. Was I still in the same Christian world? Then I remembered the story of Saint Michael the Archangel, a prominent figure in all three of the Abrahamic traditions—Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. St. Michael had always been revered as a spiritual warrior and champion of justice, often depicted with a sword, and known for leading the angelic forces against Satan. Perhaps my anxiety and panic hadn’t arisen simply from trauma in my personal past, or from current events. Perhaps the dark danger I felt was something deeper, something transcendent.

It occurred to me that the fierce protective power of Dorje Drolo and St. Michael arises from the same spiritual depth, from that sacred, ultimate place—in, and available to everyone—that protects us from evil. As the sun came up through the trees around the Empty Bell, I began to feel safe and comfortable—now thinking, “Oh yes, this deep desire for protection is not ‘owned’ by any one spiritual tradition. It is a universal, unconditional gift from the author of reality—the One we Christians call God.”

Once this doorway to universal truth opened within me, new images of safety and blessing arose, reminding me of other statues and icons that I’ve always featured and treasured at the Empty Bell—such as Fudo, the sacred warrior deity that I had seen standing at the sides of Zen monasteries in Japan. Fudo stands guard at the entrance to all sacred places, to protect these places and people from evil. Here is Fudo on the left, beside an image of Julian at the Empty Bell:

Fudo carries the sword of sacred protection in his hand, as he stands fully awake, and surrounded by the fires of darkness and human passions such as fear. Here, Fudo protects the goodness and presence of the Christian divine figure, Julian of Norwich (1342-1416). She became well-known for her declaration that “All will be well, and all manner of things will be well,” even in the midst of danger. And I surmise. . . .because Julian trusts that she is protected by a sacred Someone, she wouldn’t mind if her protector were called Michael, Dorje Drolo or Fudo, as long as she knew in her soul, that all authentic protectors come from the ultimate and unconditional Belovedness of God.

In the current political, social, economic, and spiritual uncertainties and dangers in America, we can be grateful, that even as we feel our fears and sorrows and wonder about what actions we might take to help others, we are protected. There’s no scientific proof for this. It’s a faith is an ultimate and universal gift and offer. All we have to do is to accept it.