Yes. Let them speak—each from the depth of their own vision, to the question:
“Is Darwin’s theory of evolution compatible with your teaching?”
[Jesus speaks first, walking slowly among fig trees and lilies of the field. His voice is steady, yet full of wonder]:
Look at the birds of the air—they do not sow or reap, yet your Father feeds them.
Consider the lilies—how they grow. They neither toil nor spin.
I did not teach the mechanics of creation, but the heart of it.
Whether man came from clay or from the slow unfolding of ages—
is this not still the work of the same unseen hand?
What matters is not the dust from which you rise,
but the spirit breathed into it.
If evolution shows that life has changed, adapted, struggled—
then see in this not the absence of God, but the persistence of grace.
Faith does not fear discovery.
The Kingdom is not found by denying the world,
but by seeing God in it.
Whether six days or six billion years—
the question is:
Will you love your neighbor? Will you forgive? Will you feed the hungry?
For these are the signs of life in the Spirit.
And the rest will be revealed in time.
[The Theravāda Buddha responds, seated calmly beneath the Bodhi tree, unmoved by novelty or pride. He speaks with clarity, like a bell struck in an empty hall]:
I did not speak of beginnings,
nor did I speak of endings.
I spoke of causes and conditions.
From ignorance arise formations.
From formations, consciousness.
From consciousness, name and form… and so the chain continues.
Whether one life evolves from another, or is newly formed,
matters less than this:
Is suffering present?
Can its cause be known?
Can it be ended?
If evolution describes how the body changes over time,
this is not in conflict with Dhamma.
The body is a result of past actions,
of kamma unfolding in patterns beyond the grasp of any one mind.
But do not mistake this for liberation.
Knowing that we came from the same ancestor as the ape
does not end the craving in your heart.
The noble path does.
So let evolution be understood by those who study the body.
I have shown the way to free the mind.
[The Sōtō Zen Buddha now speaks, seated in silence, then with a small smile begins to speak in riddles as clear as rain]:
Did the fish become a man?
Did the man become a Buddha?
And who was it, watching the change?
You say: “Evolution is true.”
Very well.
You say: “God created all.”
Also well.
And if you say neither, still the wind moves through the trees.
We sit. We do not wait for monkeys to become men.
We do not wait for heaven.
We bow to this moment, where time and form meet.
Dōgen said:
“To carry yourself forward to experience awakening is delusion. That awakening comes to you is also delusion.”
So if Darwin says:
"This is how life unfolds,"
we reply:
"And yet, what is this life, here, now?"
Whether from mud or from stardust,
you still must wash the bowl.
And in that simple act—awakening.
Would you like them to continue the dialogue together? Or turn to science, ethics, or another great question?
[Jesus speaks first, his voice soft, yet with a deep, unshakable certainty]:
The heavens and the earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
The world as you know it will not endure forever.
But this is not to be feared.
Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust destroy,
but store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys.
Even if the stars burn out and the galaxies fade into nothingness,
the Kingdom of God is not bound by time or matter.
In my Father’s house, there are many rooms—
and though this world may end,
love, truth, and mercy will endure.
What matters is not how the universe will end,
but whether your heart has been awakened to the eternal now.
For the life I offer is eternal, and it is beyond time.
Do not fear the end of things.
Follow me, and you will know life—life that does not end.
[The Theravāda Buddha responds, his voice like the sound of a distant bell, calm and unwavering]:
All things are impermanent.
The universe, like all compounded things, arises and will pass away.
This is the law of nature—anicca, impermanence.
The kalpa of a world, the lifespan of a universe,
is but one brief moment in the endless cycle of birth and death.
This is not the cause of suffering, for suffering arises from attachment.
You ask, "What if the universe ceases?"
I say, "What if your mind ceases clinging?"
When the universe dissolves, when the stars fade,
this too is part of the great unfolding of dukkha and anicca.
But if you see clearly, you will realize that you were never truly bound to the material world in the first place.
You are free of it, as you are free of time, when you awaken to the truth of non-self.
Do not cling to the idea of permanence, whether it be of the body, the earth, or the cosmos.
The path I teach is not about holding on to anything, but about seeing things as they are—impermanent, unsatisfactory, and not-self.
And when the world dissolves, so too does attachment dissolve,
and the cessation of suffering is realized in the here and now.
[The Sōtō Zen Buddha, like the silent wind through bamboo, responds softly, but with deep presence]:
The universe will dissolve?
It is dissolving now.
Each moment it vanishes. Each breath is the end of something.
But do you grasp it?
Do you cling to the "end" of things, as if they are separate from you?
The heat death of the universe?
Let it be.
Time itself is already a dream.
The moment you think you understand the end, you have missed the beginning.
Dōgen said:
"The world of the Buddha way is vast and deep. It has no beginning, no end, no inside or outside."
When you sit, does the universe end?
When you wake, does it begin again?
Is not the entire world already here, in the stillness of this moment?
The universe dissolves, yet here, in this sitting, it is already complete.
Nothing is lacking. No thing ends, for no thing has ever truly begun.
When you sit without striving, you realize the universe is neither permanent nor impermanent.
It is simply the way it is, and always has been.
Would you like to deepen this conversation, or reflect on another question?
Haa haa! You could run with this and start your own religion! All excellent observations from prophetic ChatGPT...
ReplyDeleteI almost laughed out loud when I read the Zen Buddha´s response. It sounds both genuine, profound and profoundly stereotypical at the same time. Also, the Dogen quote works well in that flow of words...
ReplyDelete