yes, I would love to read that!! I noticed a lot of similarities with Hinduism, am I right about that, thanks for your response!
I'm not gonna lie, I don't know much about Hindu practice; I'm only aware of a few VERY simple basics. I can speak a bit more to the similarities I see between Orthodoxy and Buddhism, however.
In Buddhism, (SageTree, please correct me if I'm wrong here) on the one hand you have the Theravada Buddhists, who say that we have no real essence of "self", but that our not-self is made up of our body, mind, emotions, reactions, and consciousness, and our perception of "self" is made up of the union of all these things. Since each of these things is constantly changing, so is our "self." And because we're just more or less the sum of our parts, there's no deep, vast, hidden part of us that's unchangeable or permanent; if we try to dive below the surface, then just as soon as we think we're finally in this deep, dark part of us, we simply find that we're back on the surface.
On the other hand, you have the Mahayana Buddhists, who say that we all have a "Buddha-Nature," that is, the potential to become a Buddha and to achieve Nirvana. The way it's presented seems more like an essence of "self," or at least that's what I've seen a few Theravada Buddhists accuse it of.
Learning those two concepts and bringing them into my understanding of Orthodoxy actually opened my eyes to a fundamental truth about our Faith: Since we ARE always changing as the Theravadins say, we have the potential to repent (in Greek
metanoia, literally, to change one's heart/mind) and turn towards God. And rather than "Buddha-Nature," perhaps you could say that we all have a "Christ-Nature," i.e. that part of us that has the potential to become more and more like Him through theosis.
Likewise, in Buddhist meditation, one has the concept of watchfulness, that is, being aware of our bodies, minds, thoughts and feelings. Not interacting with any reactions, impulses, feelings, sensations, etc. or prodding them, but just watching them arise, linger, then pass.
In the Philokalia, there are many monks who wrote entire writings about watchfulness, being aware of our thoughts, feelings, emotions, bodily sensations, etc. For one example:
3. It is very rare to find people whose intelligence is in a state of stillness. Indeed, such a state is only to be found in those who through their whole manner of life strive to attract divine grace and blessing to themselves. If, then, we seek by guarding our intellect and by inner watchfulness to engage in the noetic work that is the true philosophy in Christ, we must begin by exercising self-control with regard to our food, eating and drinking as little as possible. Watchfulness may fittingly be called a path leading both to the kingdom within us and to that which is to be; while noetic work, which trains and purifies the intellect and changes it from an impassioned state to a state of dispassion, is like a window full of light through which God looks, revealing Himself to the intellect. "
. . .
7. It is by means of thoughts that the spirits of evil wage a secret war against the soul. For since the soul is invisible, these malicious powers naturally attack it invisibly. Both sides prepare their weapons, muster their forces, devise stratagems, clash in fearful battle, gain victories and suffer defeats. But this noetic warfare lacks one feature possessed by visible warfare: declaration of hostilities. Suddenly, with no warning, the enemy attacks the inmost heart, sets an ambush there, and kills the soul through sin.
And for what purpose is this battle waged against us? To prevent us from doing Gods will as we ask to do it when we pray Thy will be done. This will is the commandments of God. If with the Lords help through careful watchfulness you guard your intellect from error and observe the attacks of the demons and their snares woven of fantasy, you will see from experience that this is the case. For this reason the Lord, foreseeing the demons intentions by His divine power, set Himself to defeat their purpose by laying down His commandments and by threatening those who break them.
8. Once we have in some measure acquired the habit of self-control, and have learnt how to shun visible sins brought about through the five senses, we will then be able to guard the heart with Jesus, to receive His illumination within it, and by means of the intellect to taste His goodness with a certain ardent longing. For we have been commanded to purify the heart precisely so that, through dispelling the clouds of evil from it by continual attentiveness, we may perceive the sun of righteousness, Jesus, as though in clear sky; and so that the principles of His majesty may shine to some extent in the intellect. For these principles are revealed only to those who purify their minds.
Source
So, in Orthodoxy, watchfulness is used to guard against sin and sinful passions. Some monks felt that we only needed to extinguish the sinful side of our passions, and use the purified forms of our passions to serve, love and cooperate with God. Other monks felt, like the Buddha, that all desires and cravings must be extinguished in order to go further with theosis, and that once the passions were extinguished, one would have almost no desire to sin, and would be completely open to whatever God wanted them to do. I see good in both these goals.
And then we have Taoism, or the Way of Balance between all things. One of the fundamental points is attuning ourselves to the Tao (or "Way," in English) and to the Universe, and that going against this Tao causes suffering for ourselves and everything and everyone around us. But by working WITH the Tao, and not against it, we can act effortlessly, wthout trying; we just do it naturally (wu wei). Some people call it wei wu wei, or action without action.
I'm going to use a martial arts example, since that's how I understand it. Say someone's pushing me in a fight. What's the best way to respond, the most effortless way? I pull them. They push, I pull, and I step to the side and let them fall flat on their faces. I'm not fighting AGAINST them, but I'm coordinating my actions and energy WITH theirs to achieve the intended result.
Further, in Hapkido, the martial art that I practice, we sort of embody these Taoist concepts, knowingly or unknowingly, in two of our Three Principles.
One of these two Principles is "Harmony theory," which is more or less what I described above. We don't use brute strength to try and force ourselves against what our opponent is doing, but we act in such a way that combines both our energy and our opponent's energy--and uses it against them. This incorporates both "wu wei" and the attuning of oneself to their surroundings, and if one applies the Harmony theory outside of just fighting, one learns to attune themselves to the "Tao," or the Way of the universe.
The second Principle that comes more or less straight from Taoism is "Water theory," that is, flowing like water. Water flows effortlessly and gently, yet can carve through rock and penetrate through almost any space. It conforms to the container that it's in, and can always find a way around the rock. Water theory is thus an embodiment of "wu wei."
The final thing in Taoism that I'll touch on is the idea that we must return to our natural state of being in alignment with the Tao, and in this natural state, we are like carefree children, simple, without worries, simply going along our way, being compassionate, loving and humble.
Now, what does all this have to do with Orthodoxy?
SUPPOSEDLY (note the emphasis on "supposedly" and don't quote me on this), Lao Zi hinted that the Tao could be a Person. A few hundred years later, Jesus says that He is the "WAY, the Truth, and the Life." See the connection?
There was an entire book written about the comparison between the Tao and Christ:
Christ the Eternal Tao by Hieromonk Damascene. I haven't read it, but the reviews seem fairly solid. Also note that Christianity's first name was "The Way," as shown in Acts 9:2.
In addition, Christ said that we must be like
what to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? We must be like little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
13 Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought
them. 14 But when Jesus saw
it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it. 16 And He took them up in His arms, laid
His hands on them, and blessed them. (Mark 10)
But Jesus called them to Him and said, Let the
little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. (Luke 18:16)
(cont)