pretending that the black man is a white man, is the cause of all kinds of problems; but the theistic approach can go much further than that, to the point of covering up any differences: “Let us have real unity. We can conceal this problem. We can iron it out completely, like a cloth. Let us work in such a way that when we have ironed our sheet we can even conceal the seams. In fact, we can make the whole sheet seem to be made out of one big cloth. God is in us and we are in God. It’s all one, so don’t worry.”
Another way to cover the gap is to try to eliminate discomfort. The modern world has provided us with all sorts of conveniences: television, beautiful parents, lots of toys to play with, automobiles, and so on. There are notices everywhere offering entertainment and telling us how to handle ourselves. Even while we are flying in an airplane, we have food to entertain us. The world has provided all kinds of entertainment to make us feel better, to make sure that we do not feel bad or lonely. When we board an airplane, the stewardess says, “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you have a comfortable flight. Call us if you need any help.” That is a theistic remark, and such remarks occur all the time.
On the other hand, we could act without guidelines. This possibility may be completely unappealing to people who are used to their luxury. Nevertheless, it is a very truthful way to relate with things, and there is no room for deception. In this approach there is no hospitality; we have to provide our own hospitality. We have to work on ourselves. We are provided with kits, K rations, booklets, and our own parachutes, and off we go. If we land on the top of a tree, we try to make the best of it; if we land in a gorge, we try to make the best of it. That is the nontheistic lifestyle: We can’t do everything for one another. We have to make do for ourselves. We have to learn how to live with nature. So the nontheistic tradition is much harsher than the theistic tradition. It is very skeptical, unyielding, and somewhat outrageous.
We are not comparing Eastern and Western philosophies here, but theistic and nontheistic traditions, wherever they occur. We might hypothesize that Easterners think in a different way than Westerners, and that Eastern philosophy expresses this different style of thought. But philosophy is not that neatly divided into East and West. The basic thinking processes of the East and the West are the same. The only difference that exists is between the thinking style of ego and non-ego. Failing to acknowledge that difference in style becomes a tremendous problem.
The standard approach to ecumenicism is to try to pretend that theism and nontheism are not different. But this is another theistic attempt to conceal the discomfort or the energy that comes from experiencing duality. We should be aware that differences exist. Then true ecumenicism, or continuity, can come about because of the differences.
In comparing theism and nontheism, we are discussing different approaches to separateness. In the theistic approach, we know that things are separate, but since we don’t like it, we feel we should do something about it. We don’t like the separateness, so we try to overcome it to the best of our ability, and that becomes an enormous problem. In the nontheistic approach, we also know that things are separate; therefore things are unified. Things are different, but that is not regarded as a problem. Fire is hot and water is cold, but still they can coexist. Fire can boil water, changing it into steam, and water can kill fire. We should not be embarrassed about the functions of the universe.
We are still talking about energy—energy and reality. And we are concerned with what actual reality is. Is reality a gap, a crack, or is reality a big sheet of cloth, all-pervasive? In the nontheistic tradition of Buddhist tantra, when we begin to have a relationship with the world, we do not try to make
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