This 5th Doctor story is filled with Buddhist concepts, references to Eden, and analogies to British colonianism that Jimmy Akin, Dom Bettinelli, and Fr. Cory Sticha discuss along with Adric’s wavering loyalty and the other companions’ sleepiness.
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A reader writes:
I am emailing you about a question concerning
Catholicism and Buddhism. I am aware that several Buddhist
beliefs cannot be reconciled with the teachings of the
Catholic Church, Christ’s true Church. And, I am aware that
Buddhism holds somethings as truths in common with the
Church. It appears to me, at least on my college campus, is
that Buddhism (as a class) is very popular mainly because of
the meditations (zazen). What is the Church’s teaching on
incorporating such meditation ways (not what is meditated
on, but the way it is done)with the Faith?It seems to me that there is something "not-right"
about expecting all people to become catholics AND to
forsake their own culture so as to replace it with a heavily
European influenced Catholicism. If there is nothing wrong
about how buddhists or hindu meditate or pray, can that also
be carried over into one’s faith life? It seems that it has
been done so in the past such as the rosary, aristotle,
plato, etc. Of course the process by which this would be
done would be that anything that is contrary to the True
Faith would be tossed out, but those things that are merely
ways of meditation/prayer, could be adapted into the Faith.I hope you are able to answer the question that I am
asking and I hope that I did not ask it in too confusing of
a manner. I do not want for you to doubt my faith in Christ
and the Catholic Church because of my interest in how other
religions practice their faith. I hope to hear back from
you!
You are correct that Buddhism, or what people regard as Buddhism, is popular today, but I don’t think it’s simply the fact that Buddhism has meditation that is what makes it attractive. Christianity also has a tradition of meditation. I think Buddhism in significant measure is a cultural fad. Buddhism seems mystical and exotic to Westerners, who then get caught up in a spiritual analog to the saying "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence."
That being said, the Church does recognize that there are ways in which the practices of other cultures can be harmonized with the Christian faith. The process of doing this is known as "inculturation." As you indicate, elements of other cultures that are in conflict with the Christian faith have to be weeded out, but parts that are not in conflict can be retained.
This is similar to the Christian assimilation of elements of Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy. (I’m not sure why you put the Rosary in that list, though.)
Meditation tends to be a religious practice, and it is especially difficult to harmonize anything coming from another religion with the Christian faith since there is a danger of indifferentism or syncretism. Attempted fusions of that nature can even result in people sliding into the other relgion. Thus assimilating elements of the practices of other religions is much more dangerous than assimilating non-religious cultural practices.
In regard to meditation in particular, I suggest that you read the document
INSTRUCTION ON SOME ASPECTS OF CHRISTIAN MEDITATION,
which was released in 1989 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI).
A Mahayana Buddhist community recently issued a revised Pratimoksha (Buddhist Monk Code), equivalent to a rule governing Christian religious order. The list is strikingly up-to-date in some ways. Among other offenses, it lists:
15. A bhikshu who keeps in his possession toxic cultural items such as worldly films, video tapes, music and electronic games commits an offence which involves Release and Expression of Regret.
16. A bhikshu who keeps a television, video player, karaoke player, electronic games machine and any other kind of equipment used for showing worldly films, listening to worldly music and playing electronic games commits an offence which involves Release and Expression of Regret.
18. A bhikshu, who invests money, or buys stocks and shares, commits an offence which involves Release and Expression of Regret.
[From a later list of lesser offenses:]
39. A bhikshu who goes as a spectator to sporting events, worldly cinema or worldly concerts commits an offence for which he must express regret.
41. A bhikshu who watches television programs whose content is toxic because it waters the seeds of fear, violence, anger, hatred, killing and craving commits an offence for which he must express regret.
42. A bhikshu who uses the internet without another fellow-practitioner sitting beside him as a protection against losing himself in toxic programs, commits an offence for which he must express regret.
43. A bhikshu who makes use of or consumes images or sounds which excite sexual desire, from the internet or the telephone [NOTE: That’s apparently a reference to phone sex] commits an offence for which he must express regret.
44. A bhikshu who has his private e-mail account with the result that he spends an inordinate amount of time in making unnecessary communications or communications which foster attachment commits an offence for which he must express regret.
46. A bhikshu who plays electronic games including those on the computer, commits an offence for which he must express regret.
47. A bhikshu who gambles or bets on football matches, horse races or car races and so on, commits an offence for which he must express regret.
48. A bhikshu, who plays the lottery commits an offence for which he must express regret.
49. A bhikshu, who drives in a careless and negligent manner, swerving on corners, shooting forward or racing with another car, commits an offence for which he must express regret.
50. A bhikshu who uses an expensive and flashy car which draws the attention of people, commits an offence for which he must express regret.
52. A bhikshu, who has cosmetic surgery in order to improve his appearance, commits an offence for which he must express regret.
It’s interesting to read the Pratimoksha because, like the law of any group, it expresses what the group considers important–as well as what they as a group have problems with. It’s also interesting to read it from a canonical perspective, as this kind of rule is functions basically as the Buddhist equilvalent of canon law (as well as the equivalent of a monastic rule). It has a variety of offenses of various grades with various punishments (including permanent expulsion from the monastery) as remedies.
Human nature is much the same everywhere, and so it is not surprising to find rules about managing the order’s financial resources, modesty, anger management, and sexual offenses. There are even regulations against the Buddhist equivalent of doffing your clericals and dressing as a layman:
63. A bhikshu who when going into a town, village or market puts on lay dress or wears a wig, commits an offence for which he must express regret.
Some of the items could be found with only slight variation in the rule of a Christian order. Others, from a Christian perspective, are extreme or simply incomprehensible, for example:
60. A bhikshu who enters a wine or coffee bar where the lighting is dim in order to quench his thirst or to sit and watch people coming and going, commits an offence for which he must express regret.
61. A bhikshu who goes to a lay person’s house or a restaurant to attend a birthday party or a wedding reception, commits an offence for which he must express regret.
Apparently there’s a Japanese analog to all those Western ads offensively playing off Christianity.
This is a picture of a person suffering in hell. He (?) is swimming in a pond of blood. The surprising thing is, this is an exhibit that you can go see in a museum. A whole museum full of images of people suffering in hell. Children go to this museum with their parents.
You might be thinking, “What kind of sick-o Fundamentalist thing is this? This is like what Jack Chick would do if he decided to turn one of his comic tracts into a museum! Such a bizarre ‘educational effort’ could only contemplated by the most hardcore Fundamentalist!”
Wrong! It isn’t Fundamentalist at all.
It’s Buddhist.
Yes, that’s right. I know that the media loves to portray Buddhists as peaceful and calm and serene and enlightened, the kind of people whose faith would never believe in something as offensive as hell, but those media reports give you about as much of a sense of what Buddhism is actually like as Taco Bell gives you a sense of Mexican food is like.
In reality, Buddhists have all kinds of ideas about what hell is like, who goes there, what specific punishments are meted out for what sins, etc. To be fair, Buddhist hell is more like purgatory since you can get reincarnated and try again after suffering in hell. It’s still gruesome as anything, though.
What is fascinating is that Buddhists would build museums and theme parks with hell exhibits. If that were done here in America, it’s would be regarded as kitchy at best and offensively revolting in all likelihood. Yet it’s something apparently is an established trend over there. The photo above is from this hell museum in Singapore. There’s also an amusement park with a hell exhibit in Vietnam. And yet another hell museum in Japan. WARNING: Not for the faint of heart! Some material definitely offensive to Western sensibilities.