Al-Misri Response

While reading this passage my mind was rushing with thoughts of things to say in my response. I love the passages that give me new ways of thinking about things. So far, this set of blog readings has been my favorite. They make me feel really good inside and also make me think, which is hard to come by with anything these days.
As soon as I read "Why is it that we become more humble as we become more like God?" THAT immediately made my mind start spinning. I began to think of all of the religious people that I know and for the most part, their biggest and most likable characteristic is that they are so humble! Now, I'm not saying that ALL religious people are humble because I know PLENTY that are the complete opposite but I believe that we should all be humble. We are living our lives for God because He died for us. We are His servants and we should be doing everything we can to please Him.
I loved the part where it said "O my saints, if you meet someone who is sick through separation from me, heal him..." God is willing to do pretty much anything to make anyone believe that He is the truth and the path you should be following. He wants to prove that he is the truth and once you realize it you will be content and will want to seek for more. He has done everything for us, why shouldn't we give back to Him? He deserves it.

Al-Muhasibi Response

I really enjoyed this passage and agreed with a lot of what was said. In the beginning it said that if you follow God then negative things/people such as hell and satan are not on your mind because you are so focused on God and His teachings that nothing else, especially negative things, really matter. Why focus on the negative and feel badly when you could focus on the positive and feel better than ever? When one devotes themselves to God one gets rewarded in so many ways. Why wouldn't you follow Him, knowing that in the end you are going to such a magnificent place? I feel like this passage is giving non-believers to believe. If you do not believe I think it would make one wonder why negative thoughts may be going on in their head and realize if they do follow God that life seems so much more full of love and understanding. Dwell with God and you are blessed. Simple as that. God does not make it difficult to believe and follow Him, or else no one would follow Him. I believe that it is the easiest thing in the world to do good acts, but these days we are so enveloped with what its like on "the other side" that once we start going down the bad path it is much harder to become "good" again. That is why it is such a reward once we are back to being a believer. It is all worth it. This passage very agreeable in every thing it said. Not only was it an agreeable passage but it was also an easy one to read, which is not exactly common in this book.

John the Evangelist Response

I really enjoyed reading this passage. Even if there was not a lot said, I got a ton from it. After reading the Bible and going to church on Sundays it seems as though if you are in touch with God and have a relationship with him, there is no reason to be sad or mad or discouraged in any way. If you know that you are living your life for God and that he is looking out for you and leading you on the right path then there is nothing to worry about. If you have all the riches in the world, then one day your house burns down and you suddenly go bankrupt, you just have to believe that there is a reason for everything and in the end it will all be okay because God is looking out for you. I loved where it said ".. those who don't know love, don't know God; for God is love." I definitely believe that that is true because He is love. He is every emotion that we have. "to all who receive him, he gives the power to become children of God." THAT is the life that I hope to live one day; to be a child of God in Heaven. He has power over all and He knows what is right for us. Receive His teachings and believe everything that He says is true and you are his child. Like I was saying before, there is no reason to be sad when one has a relationship with Him. Just trust that He will help you and He will be right by your side.

Jesus of Nazareth Response

Reading this passage made me feel so good! The beginning part where it talks about loving your enemies, praying for those who mistreat you, not to dwell over what you don't have but to realize what you have been blessed with and "knock, and the door will be opened to you" is absolutely amazing. All of that is so true and I wish that I always thought like that. Life would be a lot easier I think. My favorite part of this passage was when it talked about how the birds in the sky don't get together and complain about how hard their life is and God still feeds them. So why should we complain? God will still aid us in all that we do. The story about the father and his two sons was very empowering. It made me rack my brain of all the arguments I have gotten in and whether or not I made it easy for others to forgive. I feel like if someone took me back that fast and so kindly, I would have so much more respect for them and feel even worse about whatever I did since they were so nice about it. I love at the end how it says that the kingdom of God is not here nor there for it is within you. Once you have found God, it really is a kingdom! There is so much to learn, to explore and so much knowledge to obtain. I love how positive one can be if they just live their life for God. If you think about it, there really is nothing to complain about. Thing are fixable, whether it is today or twenty years from now, things can change. You just gotta believe that God is on your side.

Wu-Men Response

When we mentioned koans in class, I figured it sounded easy enough to understand, so I didn't write it down. Now, after reading this, I wish I had so I didn't have to take the time to research it some more.
What I do not understand the most is, why can't these people think "normally". For example, when I think of a strawberry I think, "it is something I really enjoy eating and it goes well with chocolate or powdered sugar." When Hindu or Buddhists think of it, I feel that they would think, "This is a fruit with leaves at the end, maybe these green leaves symbolize the envy that strawberries have for raspberries because they don't have leaves and maybe...." I can not even go on because it is too much for my brain to handle!
In this koan they made it so much more intricate than it needed to be. Talking about all the hair follicles in one's head and eyebrow hairs tangling, the amount of bones in the body and swallowing red hot iron balls?! With all this "fluff" that they add it makes my mind wander and I can't understand what this really comes down to.
Pretty much, I feel that this comes down to just being a better person. Learn from your mistakes, throw away the attitudes you once had because it did not get you anywhere. "You're like a mute person who has a dream-- You know it for yourself alone" You know what you have to do to be successful. You know what you need. It is your prerogative whether or not you want to share that with others.
And as for this whole "Mu" deal, I STILL do not understand. I feel like "Mu" means "whatever". As the Hindu (or is it Buddhists, I don't even know anymore) would say, "It is what it is".

The Buddha Response

In the first part of this passage, I kind of like what it says. With most religions, to convert you have to go through baptism, but before that you really have to devote yourself to the religion. You have to prove yourself to the Pastor, Bishop, Rabbi, whoever it may be, that you are in for it til the end. With Buddhism it seems like I can just says I am a Buddhist right now. To me, it seems like this religion comes down to common sense. You know whats good and you know whats bad. Keep doing good things and you win. Stay away from the bad, you win. Pretty easy!
With the man with the boat scenario and how it said to let go of the truths once you have arrived, I do not believe I have fully grasped what that means. Let go of truths to make room for more truths since you already understand what you learned? I am not sure..
I love how it says to "be a lamp to yourself". You are your own light. Sure, others will come and go and try to help along the way, but everyone only cares about themselves. You have control over how much you believe in yourself. "Be your own confidence". Same thing. Some may come into your life and build your confidence sooo high, but then they leave and it all comes crumbling down. Some may come into your life and lower your confidence until you cannot even look at yourself in the mirror because you are so disgusted. No one needs either of those people. All you need is yourself because at the end of the day, you're all you got.

Pai-Chang Response

I really sort of enjoyed this little passage. It reminded me of people whose though process is a little off. If they want to make a decision, but can not decide which is best, they will tell themselves in their mind what is the best decision and then they'll be like "Well God told me to do this in my mind.. so I'm gonna do it." Nooo. You just told yourself what YOU think would be best so you did it. Like it said in the passage, "When the time comes, you are awakened as if from a dream." One will know what the right decision to make is because everything will make sense and it will almost seem to fit. I guess this passage was talking about when it is time to accept Buddha this is all that happens. It fits into your life; you know its right because it will feel right, and nothing will go harmed. You are still the same person. Nothing has really changed except everything is more clear. But I believe this can go along with any important decision one will make; even unimportant. "When you have arrived at this recognition, please hold onto it." Again, can go both ways. When you arrive with the recognition that Buddha is the way to live your life and the way to go, hold onto it because it is the truth. When you arrive with the recognition that the choice you made is right, hold onto it because once you have accepted it, it will work right into your life and when looking back it will not seem like such a big deal as it was made to be.
I feel as if I am rambling. Hopefully it will all make sense. After reading Chuang-Tzu my mind has been over thinking EVERYTHING.