From my general and native familiarity with Christianity and my scant knowledge of Buddhism, I see them as complementary.
James Atlas, a writer I’ve admired, wrote in New York Times Sunday Review about a retreat in northern Vermont, focussed on Sakong Mipham’s “Turning the mind into an ally.” Atlas summarizes Buddhist thought as follows: ”life consists of suffering, and suffering is caused by attachment to the self, which is in turn attached to the things of this world. Only by liberating ourselves from the tyranny of perpetual wanting can we be truly free.”
The temptations of Jesus in the wilderness had to do with “the things of this world.” Jesus’ liberation was expressed by the strong words, “Get out of my life, Satan.”
Often I recall Quaker John Wooman’s concerns about yielding to the “care and cumber” of life.
These thoughts feed my spirit on this day in mid June.