Narrow is this path my lord
Stay near me as I walk into the darkness of this world
For you are the light of the world
May I drink with you at your well
The everlasting source of love within my own heart
May I eat with you
For you are the bread of life
O’ Christ
My soul only strives to be with you
And rest within your love
Jesus’s one commandment to his disciples was to love your neighbor
What is your neighbor?
Your neighbor is the poor, sick, and homeless
Your neighbor is the immigrant
Your neighbor is the LGBTQ community
Your neighbor is the pig, chicken, cow, and sheep
Your neighbor is the rainforest and it’s many wildlife
Your neighbor is the Earth
Love them with all your heart and soul
Don’t let fear, hatred or greed keep you from expanding your circle of love and compassion
To me Buddhism is studying how Jesus became Jesus and how we can become like him too through the holy spirit, similar to enlightenment or nirvana in Buddhism. It’s core belief is that we all can awaken and become a Buddha; actually we already are a Buddha but are lost in our attachments to worldly things and are consumed by our fear, greed, and hatred (sin in Christianity).
Buddha just means awakened one, similar to the title Christ in Christianity. We should not be scared of other spiritual traditions but our own fear, hatred and religious dogma that can blind us from seeing the truth and goodness in all religions. Be curious and open minded. This type of mindset is what Jesus and Buddha had in their times. This is not to assimilate or convert but to build brotherhood and sisterhood.
I found Jesus through a Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh who wrote a book called “Living Buddha, Living Christ” that changed my life 10 years ago.
He dedicated a lot of his life trying to bridge the two religions and fostering brotherhood and sisterhood.
When my mind is still through meditation I repeat Jesus’s words and the holy spirit is drawn to me and transforms me into Christ in that moment.
No words can describe this spiritual experience of deep love for all beings.
In those moments you are fully liberated from all fear, hatred, and greed.
You are truly alive.
When the holy spirit is within you, everyone is your brother or sister and you feel a deep river of joy rush through your body. ❤️🙏🏻
Just as the Earth rotates around the Sun
Our heart and soul must rotate around Jesus and his unconditional love
Every time our eyes drift to anything else
No matter how good it may seems
We lose all peace and joy
We must remain in his vine
And we shall bear much fruit
Why is God merciful to us?
Because we are his children.
Born in the image of love.
No matter how lost we are in the darkness of greed, fear, or hatred.
Our essence is his essence.
Our essence is love.
We all have the capacity to walk as Christ did. It’s our true nature that is buried under years of fear.
This is what God sees within us and when his spirit touches us deeply we see the divinity in others and become more peaceful and merciful. ❤️🙏🏻
Be like a mountain
Solid in any storm
Be like water
Formless and adaptable
Be like a flower
Fresh and bloom with the light of love
Be like the blue sky
Clear and free
Be like the sun
Shine your light into the darkness
When you practice the way
Cosmic truths will be revealed
And you will be liberated from all greed, hatred and fear
But what is the way?
Mercy for our enemies
Both inside and out
Radical non-violence
Turning our cheek to all violence
A complete surrender to unconditional love is required moment by moment
Our heart must be as light as a feather to walk the way
A complete faith in the power of love to guide us
In this moment
I feel God’s infinite love healing me from the inside
In this moment, there is a deep joy and peace within my heart
A serenity and calming presence within my soul
All I had to do was surrender everything to God
Surrender my fears and doubts
Surrender alcohol and binge eating
Surrender my pride and arrogance
And he gives the gifts of unconditional love and heals my suffering
Bringing me liberation and joy
With gratitude,
Johnny
You have heard that the good fights the evil
But I say the compassionate, merciful and loving take good care of those who are suffering from hatred, fear and greed
Like a big brother taking good care of a younger brother
Many religious people do not understand the ultimate reality
That good doesn’t fight evil
For fighting hatred only causes more hatred
The ultimate reality is non duality
The light transforms the darkness within us and the world around us
In Christian terms, God with his infinite mercy takes good care of Satan like a doctor taking care of a sick patient. If you imagine a war between these two forces, you have lost everything Jesus taught. Jesus said “love your enemies and pray for those who spite you for you will be children of God.”
This is non-dualism at its highest.
The only cure for the sickness of hatred and fear is unconditional love
If you don’t see the world through dualism; violence, war, and confusion will be inevitable
But if you see the world through non-duality; peace, love and forgiveness is possible right here and now.
Your brother,
Johnny
The Narrow Path 