Why Study the Gospel of Thomas?
You might be wondering why Shin Buddhists should even bother to study the early teachings of Jesus? Our interest in learning about the early teachings of Jesus is not to discredit Christianity but because this Gospel shares similar mystical content with the Shin and Zen Buddhist traditions, we 21st century Buddhists can learn a lot from this ancient mystic, called Jesus of Nazareth. So, by studying the teachings of the Gospel of Thomas through the lenses of Buddhist thought and religious experience, we can further deepen our spiritual path and awaken to our True Nature, our universal Buddha-nature, which ultimately has no name but is experienced as faith, compassion and wisdom. In addition, as Western Buddhists, we must deal with Christianity as a political, social and religious power. How shall we perceive the teachings of Jesus? Must we cave into the dogma of the traditional and evangelical Christian parlance? Or can we reinterpret the teachings (dharma) of Jesus? Must Jesus be an ad
