(Response to 2.C.1 From the Gospel of John, Chapter 3, presented by Piotr Sikora)
“To die to one’s old self and be reborn to one’s new self” is also a recurrent Buddhist theme. The “old self” is that mode of being centered on the I-me-mine, whereby one sees and judges everything from this point of view and is thereby prevented from “seeing things as they are.” Seeing with the eyes of wisdom entails a a way of perceiving things without the obstacle of this “I-me-mine,” a shift in perspective that is a veritable rebirth. Referring to the Zen koan on Joshu’s dog, it is the transformation of one’s perspective from “I am considering the dog. The dog either has Buddha nature or does not have Buddha nature” to one whereby “Mu is considering Mu. Mu is beyond “has” or “has not,” but simply is “just as it is.” This way of seeing “just as it is” is an overcoming of the subject-object divide, and entry into a realm whereby I, dog, tree, mountains, rivers, rocks, worms and snakes, as “seen” in pristine glory. The question of Nicodemus looms large here: what is this “new birth”? How can one reenter a mother’s womb and be reborn again? How can one strip away this “I-me-mine” and see things in a new light, “just as they are”?
