Editor’s note: “Spiritual leaders answer” is a weekly column inviting Kaua‘i’s religious and spiritual leaders to share their doctrine’s perspective on a suggested subject. Every Friday a topic is printed inviting a response. Submissions are edited for content and length.
Editor’s note: “Spiritual leaders answer” is a weekly column inviting Kaua‘i’s religious and spiritual leaders to share their doctrine’s perspective on a suggested subject. Every Friday a topic is printed inviting a response. Submissions are edited for content and length. Thoughts or suggestions for future topics are always welcome. Next week’s topic is trust. The topic at the end of the column is for the following week.
Rev. Dr. James Fung
Lihu‘e Christian Church
The notion of dying to one’s old self and experiencing the newness of a transformed heart and mind is central to the teachings of the Christian faith. When we follow the practices that include the study of scriptural truths, disciplined reflection, compassionate living and honest and humble openness, something happens. We see ourselves, others and life in general in a new light. Our priorities become reordered. Instead of working so hard to make a living we find ourselves gaining a life — a life characterized by less anxiety and worry and more of a sense of inner peace, gratitude, curiosity and joyfulness.
I think of the man who sat in my office, who spoke of a childhood of hurt and fear. His father was an alcoholic who belittled his wife and treated his children with a combination of harshness, neglect and shaming behaviors. He spoke of looking back and coming to an awareness of how he never witnessed empathy and loving care as a child. And with tears, he said that with the only kind of modeling he got — he had become the kind of man that his father was. And he came to hate the person he saw in the mirror.
But something happened. There was an inner tug that nudged him to church. And from there he found himself reading the Bible again and hanging out with people who were positive and encouraging. And it was as if Jesus was telling him that he understood and did not judge him, that he saw goodness in him, that he would help the negative habits and patterns of the past to be replaced by something new. He would need to take the risk of trusting in God and working at healing the wounds of his past, forgiving his father and letting himself receive the love of God so that he could, in turn, pass on the love of God.
He said that Jesus helped him to realize that we cannot give what we have not received. And as he received God’s love, slowly he began to experience a personal rebirth — becoming the person that he always wanted to be.
Lami Tashi Dundrup
Kaua‘i Dharma Center
Rebirth is the process by which we move in time from one life to the next. It is controlled by our emotional involvement with our forms and thoughts. We call this karma. Regardless of our faith or belief, future rebirths are caused by the negative or positive results of our body speech and mind’s activity.
These rebirths basically fall into six categories: 1) The cause of being reborn in a heavenly spirit realm, which is not permanent, is pride and endgrandizement or the need to be adored. 2) The cause of being reborn as a Titan God or Goddess is jealousy or envy and power-mongering. 3) The cause of a human rebirth is desire or lust. 4) The cause of animal rebirth is stupidity or ignorance. 5) The cause of rebirth as a hungry deprived spirit is stinginess or greed. 6) The cause of a being reborn as a demonic spirit is anger or hatred. This is all called cyclic existence which started in the human mind or realm.
There is a kind of rebirth that only human beings can accomplish which is outside of time and emotional involvement. It is attainable through training in totally positive human activity of one’s body, speech and mind on the extraordinary path of the bodhisattva, the result of which is Buddhahood. In this state of mind all one’ s future rebirths are a spontaneous result of wisdom mind. In our reality this is like a mother’s relationship to her only child.
The Baha’is of Kaua‘i
On the day that we are born we physically enter this world. Though undoubtedly a spiritual being, our spirituality is not yet awakened and our behavior is primarily governed by our material needs and impulses. However, as we develop virtues and recognize our relationship with God, our spiritual nature emerges and we can be said to experience a rebirth. As we obey His laws and develop spiritual perfection, we begin our journey to grow closer and closer to our Creator.
The Baha’i writings explain this in the following way:
“The rewards of this life are the virtues and perfection, which adorn the reality of man. For example, he was dark and becomes luminous, he was ignorant and becomes wise, he was neglectful and becomes vigilant, he was asleep and becomes awakened, he was dead and becomes living, he was blind and becomes a seer, he was deaf and becomes a hearer, he was earthly and becomes heavenly, he was material and becomes spiritual. Through these rewards he gains spiritual birth, and becomes a new creature. He becomes the manifestation of the verse in the Gospel where it is said of the disciples that they were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God; that is to say, they were delivered from the animal characteristics and qualities which are the characteristics of human nature, and they became qualified with the divine characteristics, which are the bounty of God; this is the meaning of the second birth.”
Topic for two weeks from today
• Will you speak to us on honesty?
• Spiritual leaders are invited to e-mail responses of three to five paragraphs to afrainier@thegardenisland.com.
• Deadline each week is 5 p.m. Tuesday.