This is the second half of my talk at ACIM in Berkeley where the audience asks questions.
Toward the end there is an interesting interaction with a man who identified himself as having been a Buddhist priest in a Mahayana tradition for 4 years. He disagrees with me that the goal of Buddhism is to escape the world and suggests that this is true of Theraveda but not Mahayana. I should have drawn him out more (I should have shut up) so he could elaborate his position. But, it’s a position I’ve heard time and time again. In my experience,it’s very difficult to nail anything down with a postmodern person who has come into contact with Eastern teachings because, ultimately , nothing is seen as real. “There is no eternity, this moment is an illusion, its all a projection of the mind of ignorance, there is nothing.” It always seems to come down to, from my perspective, a nihilistic position that I can’t relate to. But this man was actually quite charming and intelligent and I wish we had the time to pursue the matter.
I cannot see either the traditional the Eastern or Western perspectives as valid anymore. I’m interested in that third position that integrates, and transcends each. But that does not result when postmodernism coopts the Eastern teachings to flatten the entire universe. I’m not suggesting that the gentelman here was doing that as we did not have sufficient time to pursue the matter, but it is something to consider.