Author: Kate Gurnett
Publication: www.timesunion.com/
Date: December 28, 2003
Berne - Pastor's letter warning
of a battle for souls provokes discussion in town of faith, tolerance
[Note from Hindu Vivek Kendra:
The same pastor would think nothing wrong in setting up a church in a Buddhist
country. In fact, if the locals protest he would go and cry to his
government saying that that country should have sanctions put against it,
etc.]
A proposed Buddhist retreat has
prompted a religious query previously unexplored in town planning: What
would Jesus do?
The question arose after an international
Tibetan group chose 350 acres here as a place to teach meditation and caregiving
for the terminally ill. The beauty of Berne, a remote Hilltown of 2,846
residents with no industry, drew Rigpa, which has centers in 11 countries,
project manager Judith Brown said. The group hopes to complete approvals
in April and begin revamping the former New School University's camp on
Game Farm Road. Rigpa looked at 40 sites throughout New England and the
Catskills.
"Everyone has just been so gracious
and welcoming and kind, it sort of seems like it's really meant to be here,"
Brown said.
Town leaders agreed. "We are very
lucky to have been chosen," said Supervisor Kevin Crosier, who thinks the
center will stimulate the local economy.
Then came the letters.
"The foundation of our heritage
in the Hilltowns is based on Christian beliefs and values," Pastor Jay
T. Francis of the Rock Road Chapel in Berne wrote in The Altamont Enterprise,
a local weekly, on Nov. 6. "The spiritual environment of our area and more
importantly the destiny of our souls is at stake."
The special-use permit didn't cover
souls.
Residents shot back, penning four
letters backing Buddha that ran in the next week's Enterprise.
"Would Pastor Francis have all of
us who currently live in the Hilltowns who don't accept Jesus as our savior
leave?" wrote Collie Goldstein of nearby Knox. "I would like to remind
Pastor Francis that our country was founded upon the principle of religious
freedom."
The hallmark of a well-adjusted
community is a tolerance for other beliefs, Berne Planning Board member
Gerry Chartier noted in his letter.
By Nov. 20, the Rev. C.W. Davis
of Altamont had written a three-column editorial in which he blamed Eastern
religions for leading him deeper into drug abuse in the 1960s. "I have
seen our God heal cancers, broken bones, all sorts of illnesses and mental
afflictions. I don't recall Buddha claiming that ability."
People who prefer traditional Christian
churches to Buddhist centers have a right to speak out, said Jonathan Francis,
the pastor's son and a failed Knox town justice candidate who also wrote
to the editor. The comments aren't meant to be intolerant, he said.
But they were, said Richard Ronconi,
a retired guidance counselor who wound up writing his own letter. "It was
a totally un-Christian thing to do," he said last week.
Pastor Francis said he's glad he
provoked the conversation. "I feel God himself is bringing the Hilltowns
to a decision-time: Is Jesus the way or is he not?"
He would greet anyone as a neighbor,
even if he disagrees with their theology, said Francis, who began his 100-member
congregation as a Bible study group in the 1960s. A fifth-generation Berne
farmer, Francis, 58, also runs an international missionary group and a
prayer center/health clinic on upper Clinton Avenue in Albany.
Buddhists, on the other hand, don't
proselytize, Brown said. Rigpa doesn't plan on being a "big, splashy organization
and attract a lot of attention to ourselves."
The proposed Center of Wisdom and
Compassion, off County Route 1, would feature small signs and ground lights
that meet the International Dark-Sky Association anti-light-pollution standards,
Brown said. It would contain its own waste-water treatment plant, a refurbished
residence and dining hall, a small monastery and temple and 40 tent sites.
A Planning Board hearing is scheduled
for Jan. 8 at Town Hall.
Rigpa founder Sogyal Rinpoche was
born in Tibet and wrote the "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying," which
has been printed in 27 languages and is used by health care professionals.
Rinpoche gave the name "Rigpa" (the innermost essence of the mind) to his
international network, which reaches from Australia to Canada.
Buddha (a Sanskrit word meaning
"the awakened one") was born Siddhartha Gautama around 560 B.C. in Nepal
and was raised a prince before leaving his kingdom to attain enlightenment.
Buddhism, which uses meditation and mindfulness to reach inner purity,
flourished throughout Asia and has gained millions of followers in the
West in the past century.
"No matter what you do, you're not
going to have everybody in agreement," Supervisor Crosier said. "Residents
(here) have a strong sense of community. That's why we were chosen. We
hold the same values as (Rigpa). We're open. Neighbors are free to share
their views."
Berne was settled by people from
many different walks of life, Crosier added. "Today that ancestry still
carries on."
Joanna Bull of Rensselaerville,
who is a student of Rinpoche and helped locate the Berne site for Rigpa,
says Buddhism and Christianity have many common beliefs.
"I think once (opponents) get to
know the community of people who are coming, they'll be really delighted
to have us and will see us as people who will only improve the land ...
and enrich the community.
Rigpa plans to "buy locally" when
it needs furniture, cushions, food and other goods. Like its predecessor,
the New School, Rigpa is a not-for-profit organization and as such will
not pay property taxes.
Rigpa will open its meditation and
training classes to the public, Brown said.
Whether Jesus would attend remains
open to discussion.
