If you meet Jesus on the road, kill him

Image by Greg_Smith via Flickr

Anything, including God, that we can choose or lose, is not true Being. It is an illusion. An idol. It's like the saying about finding the Buddha on the road. You have to kill him. Otherwise you were just grasping at another idea. God must die to find God. Jesus must die to find Jesus. The Buddha must die to find the Buddha. We must die to find ourselves.

We must even learn to move beyond the road. Clinging to Jesus or the Buddha or the church or sangha: these are useful as we get to our feet and learn to walk and to run. Good spiritual therapy. Cling to Lao-Tsu or Moses or another if you like. But eventually we have to use that new-found freedom and go beyond our therapy sessions. Doesn't mean we have to reject any of it, but rather stop holding to it as if it were the end rather than the means.