I think you 're missing my point. You're avatar is not the real deal, just gave me a clue. I'm commenting on this:
I, as I have written elsewhere, also believe that if Buddha and the Bodhisattvas had lived AFTER Our Lord Christ, they would, without doubt, be Catholic Christians. I base this on a quotation from John Henry Cardinal Newman:"The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; votive offerings on recovery from illness; holy water; asylums; holy days and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessings on the fields, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images at a later date, perhaps the ecclesiastical chant, and the Kyrie Eleison, are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the Church." (Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, John Henry Newman, made a Cardinal by Pope Leo III in 1879).
I got way into zen for years. I've read and practiced. I think you are not getting the point of what Newman was saying.
I think eastern queitistic religions and practices are dangerous to the soul. No matter what 'good' they may present, they are relativistic and demon inspired. They lead many astray. They are not 'God' focused, but oddly despite what they say, they are 'self' focused. They have many things right, as do many so-called religious and philosophical systems, but in the end the are fatalistic and nihilistic. Even JP II saw that.
I used to love this stuff. I have to admit that I'm still very attracted to the whole ambiance of eastern thought. But I read enough Traditional Catholic literature, and enough of the Saints for it to sink in that it was dangerous.
I purge my library and dumped (yes dumped, not gave away, all my books on eastern thought, on the premise that
to study too deeply the arts of the enemy is a danger. It was definitely a danger for me, because I could feel the tug.
I think that if the Jesuit fathers had been allowed to really continue in the evangelization of India and China, they would have incorporated many aspects of the culture, as was done in Europe by the Early Christian missionaries. But they would not have condoned the existing religions. They stated from the beginning that they were demon inspired, and kept to it. They might have done something similar with the various systems similar to what St. Thomas Aquinas did with Aristotelian and Platonic thought, but it would have been done carefully, fully rejecting the errors and evil. They would have been qualified to do it. You and I are not. We have no guide, and therefore it is dangerous for us to try.
I do not wish to offend you. My blatherings are just that...
This could NEVER have been written by a military man or woman (or even a Christian) who's ever wanted to win the battle!
