--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, akasha_108 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "feste37" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Yep, you read the subject line correctly. It appears that our new > > Pope Ben has > > some odd views about Eastern religions. This is from an article by > > Rabbi > > Micheal Lerner in Tikkun, a Jewish, liberal, progressive paper and > > website. > > > > Published on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 by Tikkun.org > > The New Pope is a Disaster for the World and for the Jews > > Jewish Leader Denounces Selection of Cardinal Ratzinger as New Pope > > > > by Rabbi Michael Lerner > > > > [excerpt] > > > > While many of us agree with Ratzinger's critique of moral relativism, > > he > > extends that critique in illegitimate and dangerous ways, equating > > secularism > > with moral relativism and suggesting that secularism is now > > repressing > > religion. Ratzinger also publicly critiques all those inside the > > Church who are > > tolerant enough to think that other religions may have equal validity > > as a path > > to God. This is a slippery slope toward anti-Semitism and a return to > > the > > chauvinistic and triumphalist views that led the Church, when it had > > the power > > to do so, to develop its infamous crusades and inquisitions. In 1997 > > Ratzinger > > called Buddhism an "autoerotic spirituality" that offers > > "transcendence without > > imposing concrete religious obligations." Hindusim, he said, offers > > "false > > hope," in that it guarantees "purification" based on a "morally > > cruel" concept of > > reincarnation resembling "a continuous circle of hell." At the time, > > Cardinal > > Ratzinger predicted that Buddhism would replace Marxism as the > > Catholic > > church's main enemy. > > > > [end excerpt] > > > > So what do you think Pope Ben means by this "autoerotic > > spirituality'? Is he > > nuts? Webster's defines autoeroticism as masturbation. So it > > appears from > > our new font of wisdom in the Vatican that what Buddhism offers > > people is, > > well, just one long wank in the name of spirituality. Excuse me, I'm > > just off to > > meditate, Buddhist style . . . > > > I heard a newscast that said the new pope had said Buddhism was > "auto-robotic". T hat seems to fit the context of his words better. > I am guessing what you posted was a typo.
It appears that it was "auto-eroticism" not "auto-roboticism' http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:mfojIhYWKsMJ:monasticdialog.com/a.php%3Fid%3D577%26t%3Dp+Ratzinger+buddhism&hl=en&client=firefox-a Teasdale says that Ratzinger referred to Buddhism as a form of "mental autoeroticism." In fact, Ratzinger was not speaking about Buddhism as such, but about how Buddhism "appears" to those Europeans who are using it to obtain some type of self-satisfying spiritual experience. http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/register.cgi/tablet-00936 In March 1997 Ratzinger offered a similarly harsh judgement on Buddhism, calling it "an auto-erotic spirituality" in an interview with a leading French newspaper. Buddhism, said Ratzinger, "seeks transcendence without imposing concrete religious obligations". http://www.newint.org/issue327/worldbeaters.htm As if that weren't enough, the ever-busy Cardinal has used his privileged take on the Truth to set back inter-faith tolerance and religious pluralism a few decades. In 1997 Ratzinger annoyed Buddhists by calling their religion an `autoerotic spirituality' that offers `transcendence without imposing concrete religious obligations'. And Hinduism, he said, offers `false hope'; it guarantees `purification' based on a `morally cruel' concept of reincarnation resembling `a continuous circle of hell'. The Cardinal predicted Buddhism would replace Marxism as the Catholic Church's main enemy this century. On Eastern Meditation http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:o1Koot5mtyIJ:www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_n29_v113/ai_18792652+Ratzinger+buddhism&hl=en&client=firefox-a What is most striking from a broader historical perspective is not that Ratzinger expressed reservations about Christian-Buddhist interaction but that the cardinal prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith accepted many basic premises of Lassalle's practice. Ratzinger's primary aim was to safeguard the integrity of Christian prayer to the triune God through Jesus Christ. Although his tone toward Buddhist and other Asian methods of meditation was largely suspicious, Ratzinger expanded upon the principle of Vatican II: "Just as the Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions Vatican II, Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, n.2], neither should these ways be rejected out of hand simply because they are not Christian. On the contrary, one can take from them what is useful so long as the Christian conception of prayer, its logic and requirements are never obscured" ("Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some Aspects of Christian Meditation," n. Ratzinger's central concern was that the structure of Christian prayer not be compromised and that the natural effects of physical techniques not be mistaken for the signs of grace. While much of the ensuing discussion focused on the admonitory tone of the letter, Ratzinger explicitly accepted the legitimacy of Catholic Christians employing meditation practices from the great non-Christian religions. One can imagine his stern predecessor, Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, turning over in his grave at this. The questions that surrounded Lassalle's practice hover around the recent works by a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk and an Irish Catholic jesuit priest. Thich Nhat Hanh and William Johnston, S.J., have examined the resources of the other tradition and consider themselves enriched by the experience. Moreover, each author moved from his native land to live for decades in a culture shaped by the other religious tradition. http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:Et9Hu-GZJd4J:www.workersliberty.org/node/view/2257+Ratzinger+buddhism&hl=en&client=firefox-a Actually love is the ego-killer, the opener of the doors of perception, and must lead to seeing people as they are not as you think they are. Actually he is arrogant and egocentric, which is why Cardinal Ratzinger is bad not mad when he says Buddhism is the new threat to the Church. March 1997: Ratzinger describes Buddhism as "an auto-erotic spirituality" in an interview with a French newspaper. Ratzinger said, "In the 1950s someone said that the undoing of the Catholic church in the 20th century wouldn't come from Marxism but from Buddhism. They were right." Some insights into his level of compassion: In 1986 Ratzinger issued a letter to the Catholic Bishops in which he wrote that homosexuality was a `tendency' towards an `intrinsic moral evil'. A few years later, in 1992, he rejected the notion of human rights for gays, stressing that their civil liberties could be `legitimately limited'. He followed up by remarking that `neither the church nor society should be surprised' if `irrational and violent reactions increase' when gays demand civil rights. Not a man to mince his words, Ratzinger urgently set to work to ferret out gay-sensitive clergy. The good Cardinal also extended the Papal principle of `infallibility' by declaring that the ordination of women was impossible because John Paul II said it was so. Ditto for the use of the word `priest' by the Anglican Church: not on, said Joe, because Leo XIII in 1896 said it wasn't allowed. 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