Lenten Dharma

My Lenten reflection today is on our dharma. Once Richard Bonomo, Kathbert, and I were blatting over a cup of Barry's Black Irish tea when we wondered what, exactly, is "dharma"? So we looked it up and here is what we found:

Dharma is the vehicle you use to reach enlightenment, so for Buddhists it would be the Eightfold Path. This explains the formerly mysterious (to us) designation of "Greater Vehicle" and "Lesser Vehicle" Buddhism. Dharma is a metaphorical boat to take us to enlightenment, and in the Lesser Way, you build your own boat and find your own way across the ocean. Zen Buddhism is an example of this Lesser Way. In Greater Way Buddhism (for example, Tibetan Buddhism), the dharma is a large ship being sailed by a knowledgeable crew (the sanga, i.e., the lamas) with a lot of people on it together. This idea appealed way more to me, since I like the idea of company and don't trust myself to build a seaworthy craft or find my way to the opposite shore. I'd rather have experts doing it!

Then again, I am Catholic, which is the "Greater Way" in Christianity. The dharma is the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, etc., all the rules given to us by which to live. In many branches of Protestantism there is a belief (sola scriptura) that one can read the Bible and figure out how to follow its rules. A metaphor for this would be someone who reads a book on sailing and figures out how to build his own boat. Me, I'm not so handy. I don't trust myself with that hammer! I would rather have the sanga (the Magisterium) sail a really large ship across the ocean while I am on board hanging out with the other passengers. After all, if it were up to me to interpret Scripture, I could probably come up with some mighty interesting interpretations! I feel it is best for me to leave all sailing - and Scriptural interpretation - to the experts. Plus I enjoy company and would get very lonely on that little boat in the middle of the ocean.

So that is the difference between Protestantism and Catholicism: the dharma in one is a small sailboat, and the other one is a cruise ship with lots of fun festivities (Mardi Gras!) and plenty of bread and wine for everyone! And Jesus has already paid for us all to go on this cruise!

Famous Hat