by Jan Markell
Olive Tree Ministries

“When Students Are Left for the Wolves”

I wasn’t prepared for what I was about to hear the evening of November 3. My alma mater, Bethel University in St. Paul, MN, sponsored an Interreligious Symposium promoting some kind of “common ground” between Buddhism and Christianity. One would think if a Christian had an ounce of discernment, they would deduce that Christianity has nothing to do with Buddhism and such unions are playing with fire. But a panel concluded that there was “common ground” when it came to “meditation.”  Granted, this kind of meditation could put one in a dangerous altered state of consciousness, but maybe that’s ok as long as we can find a bit of unity here! Some would call this common bond of meditation “contemplative prayer.”
 
About 200 students and a few adults were crammed into the symposium auditorium. Attendance by the students was mandatory. The three main presenters were Buddhist monk Witiyala Seewalie from Sri Lanka, Bethel professor Paul Reasoner who is a part of the “Christian Zen” movement, and Ted Meissner, an active Buddhist layman and meditator in Zen, although he grew up in a Christian home.  Please click here to read this entire article.

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