Language That Resonates With All

In this dialogue Father Thomas Keating, a contemplative Christian, suggests finding a term to replace the Eastern word, "nondual" because it does not speak to the Christian experience of a personal, loving God, and therefore many Christians may not relate to it. Before we dive into this discussion and offer alternatives, let's take a step back and frame this discussion from an Integral perspective. As a contemplative Christian, Father Thomas has a second-person relationship with God, a devotional relationship, an "I-Thou" relationship, as do most Christians. Buddhism on the other hand primarily cultivates a first- and third-person perspective with God (or the absolute). Buddhists usually refer to realization as "I am" (first person) or "Suchness / It Is." So the question behind this discussion then is, can Buddhism begin to cultivate a stronger second-person practice, a second-person perspective, and can Christianity begin to develop a stronger first- and second-person perspective? Interesting isn't it, that these perspectives end up defining the ways we talk about God and realization?