Catalytic Disparities
by Rev. Nobuaki Hanaoka
An eye can only see
two-dimensional images, but when two slightly different images seen by two
eyes are processed together in the brain, they become three-dimensional. In
other words, the brain translates the “retinal disparity” into depth
perception. That, of course, is a description of what is known as binocular
stereopsis, but it also serves as a metaphor for our bicultural experiences.
As Asian Christians, we have lived “cultural disparities” between the East
and the West. Even though we have become quite skilled in Western logics and
technologies, what is written deep into our spiritual DNA cannot be erased
easily. Yet we are often in denial of it, depriving ourselves of the benefit
of three-dimensional vistas.
Disparity of any kind is
unsettling and often confusing, especially when two cultures are
internalized together and the Eastern and the Western parts of our
consciousness question and challenge each other. It takes courage and
determination as well as intellectual honesty to recognize and process the
disparity until the blurry double vision becomes a clear three-dimensional
vision.
As part of my ongoing research project, I
have identified the following 10 items as catalytic disparities
between our two cultures. Since the space does not permit me to elaborate on
all of them, I would like to offer you this laundry list of mine and a brief
comment for your consideration, hoping that it may serve as a catalyst for
reassessing and reinventing our theology:
1) Western theology
emphasizes God’s transcendence, while in the East God is generally assumed
to be immanent. “The Lamp of Light is inside of you,” taught the Buddha.
2) Western thought has a
propensity toward “either-or” polarization, while the Eastern counterpart
seeks “both-and” integration.
3) Western, particularly
American, theology views ideal human being as an independent, self-reliant
individual, while the Eastern philosophy sees it as part of a web of
interdependence and mutual-identity.
4) Western attitude toward
nature tends to be one of subjugation and control, while traditional Eastern
attitude is living in harmony with it.
5) Western theology is based
on God’s exclusive self-revelation in Christ and its proclamation by the
Church, while Eastern philosophy seeks awakening to a deeper and more
authentic “self.”
6) While Western theology
seems to be preoccupied with sin and guilt, the religious philosophies of
the East are more concerned about finding a spiritual peace, from which
compassion and justice are to flow naturally.
7) Because their belief system includes
karma, those of the East tend to be more passive and deterministic,
while those in the West tend to be more optimistic about desired changes.
(What you see in the world has no permanence and all things are fleeting
anyway, why fight them? Shikataga nai -- It can’t be helped.)
8) Prophetic passion for
justice is an important part of the biblical religion, but Buddhist passion
seems to be more about individual inner peace.
9) The religion of the Bible
often talks about love, while Buddhism talks more about compassion. Love
refers to a commitment to relationships, while compassion is a state of
mind.
10) While the Buddha taught
renunciation of the world as he considered it a fleeting illusion, God, as
seen in John’s Gospel, loved the world enough to give the Son for it.
The West has long been
mesmerized by the glorious image of God’s absolute transcendence. In the
biblical literature, however, the transcendent God is immanent as well. In
other words, God’s transcendence and immanence are not necessarily mutually
exclusive. The “Imago Dei” (the image of God in which humanity was created)
and God’s Breath (Ruah/Spirit) breathed into Adam’s nostrils in the Book of
Genesis, the theology of incarnation and the indwelling presence of the
Advocate/Spirit in John’s Gospel, and the assertion that “The kingdom of the
father is spread out upon the earth, but humans do not see it,” in the
concluding section of the (Gnostic) Gospel of Thomas all suggest God’s
immanence in the world. The Western Church did not reject the idea of God’s
immanence entirely, but minimized its role in theology when it rejected
Gnosticism as heresy. Subsequent theologians, such as Thomas Aquinas,
assumed God’s immanence as logical inevitability, but they tried to limit it
in favor of making the revelation of God in Christ exclusive. Many
Protestant theologians, Karl Barth, for instance, have since challenged
everything that could be construed as “natural theology,” such as Imago Dei,
in order to invalidate all revelations other than Christ himself. Having
just witnessed the immense evil of Nazism, their task was naturally to
acknowledge and indict humanity’s great evil and to proclaim Christ as the
only Revealer of divine truth. It was a radical corrective course deemed
necessary at the time. However, an outcome of this lopsided emphasis on
transcendence is the traditional belief that no human, except Jesus, and no
institution, except the Church, holds eternal truth. It has thus eliminated
the possibility of God’s revelation elsewhere and justified the
monopolization of salvation.
I believe that the
transcendent God is also immanent in the world, affirming the dignity and
sanctity of all beings from within. That, I believe, is the paradox of
divinity. As I watch Buddhists in Asia put their palms together to worship
the divine in each other whenever their paths cross, I stand in awe of the
beauty of their spirituality. We Christians may know how to worship and
glorify the transcendent God with solemn liturgies, but we must also learn
to worship the God who is immanent in humanity and in nature.
In the age of
globalization and pluralism, the Western mode of “either-or” polarity poses
a threat to the fragile peace of the world today, as we have witnessed it in
Iraq and elsewhere. I believe, therefore, that the Eastern integrative
pattern of “both-and” must be considered as our new model. As seen in the
Yin and Yang symbol, the opposites are actually intertwined with each other
and together they complete a perfect circle. Therefore, to achieve
wholeness/holiness/health, according to the wisdom of the East, we must be
able to embrace and integrate both Yin and Yang, good and evil, right and
wrong, femininity and masculinity, etc. Our Scripture, however, reminds us
that when Adam and Eve ate from “the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil,” we humans began to live in the world of polarities -- good vs. evil,
right vs. wrong, black vs. white, etc. Our “Original Sin” was not so much
our disobedience to God as it was living in duality itself, because, by so
doing, we alienated ourselves from the primordial union with God and with
one another. It is interesting to note that the story of the genesis of
duality was followed by Cain’s murder of his own brother Abel. The rest of
Old Testament history was an incident after another of alienation,
discrimination and separation. The Christian message, on the other hand, is
that we have been liberated once and for all from the curse of
polarity/alienation as Christ died on the cross to achieve at-one-ment. The
curtain of the temple (of separation) has been torn from top to bottom. If
that is what we believe, our theology must be of integration and wholeness,
rather than of polarization and discrimination.
If post-modernity is
marked by globalization, pluralism, universal accessibility of
information/knowledge, and the fragmentation of authority, we are in the
middle of it now, and it challenges us to reconsider 1) the idea of the
non-immanent God, 2) the church’s self-absolute doctrines and self-serving
institutions, 3) the imperialistic practices of the church’s mission, and 4)
the polarizing “either-or” mentality of the church culture. The
understanding of God’s immanence in the world enables the church to seek
meaningful dialogue with the East and draw inspiration from it. It also
enables us to adopt and embrace the integrative thinking of the East.
Also, in light of global
warming and disappearing rain forests, it is imperative that we begin to
cultivate the kind of spirituality that is both ecologically sound and
spiritually fulfilling. As we develop a new theology of nature, we need to
be reminded that the spiritual resources of the East, such as Chuang Tzu and
Ryokan, are readily available to us. In fact, many of us grew up with their
wisdom, although we most likely buried it when it came in conflict with the
idea that the Westernized Christianity was the only valid Christianity.
The time is indeed ripe
for us to use our “cultural disparities” as catalyst for critical assessment
and creative reinvention of our theology and ministry.
