A few years ago, when we first moved into the Abbey, the Mennonite church around the corner was having an open house or a fair, and we went. I was talking to the minister’s wife and she said, “What’s your image of god? Do you believe in god?” I was not going to say “No.” That would stop the relationship and would not help in anything. So, I did not answer that question. I said, “Just like you, we find that ethical conduct is really important, so we teach about not killing, not lying, etc. We teach about forgiveness. We teach about love and compassion. So many of our teachings and our values correspond with yours.” She was very happy with that answer.

What I said was completely true. I just did not answer her question because I do not think it would have been skilful to give a direct answer to that question. It would have unnecessarily harmed a relationship.

If she had really pressed on I would have said, “You know, there are a lot of different definitions of ‘god’. If you see god as a holy being who has knowledge and abilities that human beings do not have, then yes, Buddhists believe that there are holy beings like that. We call them ‘Buddhas’, not gods. If you believe that god is the principle of love — not even a creator or anything, just the principle of love — definitely Buddhists assert that. If you think of god as a creator, then that’s where we have a little bit of a difference.” I would put that at the very end, showing a little difference, and then go back to something we all agree on.

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