Original post here
Do Christians have any spiritual practices available to them besides prayer, celebrating mass, and applying the moral teachings of their faith? The entire point of Buddhism is the path, the metaphysical stuff comes second to that. In Christianity it seems like you affirm your beliefs and are done with it. Fasting seems more like a physical act of self hatred of the body, and I don't quite understand what that has to do with Jesus' message. Maybe this acquaintance of yours is trying to achieve union with Brahma through self denial?
I have a vague understanding of religious history in Europe and it seems that beleif in biological repression comes from Manichaeism, which thought that the flesh was evil and humans should instead try to side with God and affirm their souls supremacy. Considering we are made of flesh and I think there is little doubt that consciousness is a byproduct of flesh, there is a clear danger in accepting this doctrine.
Fundamentalists and other fideist branches of Christianity tend to emphasize confessions of faith and stop there, but this may be an aberration in the history of Christianity, which has a rich history of championing justice, equality, community, and care over dogma.
ReplyDeleteThe body-hating strain of Christianity probably owes much more to the Stoics than to Manicheanism, but it is also less predominant than you might assume. And I think you've missed the point of fasting altogether.