--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For Buddhists, to experience Awakening is…" description: "\"“For Buddhists, to experience Awakening is to experience the interconnectedness that makes us all one. For Christians, to experience the Divine as Love..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/paul-f-knitter-26875_brothers-and-sisters_for-buddhists-to-experience-awakening-is_1588684.jpg" --- # For Buddhists, to experience Awakening is to experience… ![“For Buddhists, to experience Awakening is to experience the interconnectedness that makes us all one. For Christians, to experience the Divine as Love is to experience the source that makes us all “children of God” and therefore brothers and sisters to one another.” quote by Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/paul-f-knitter-26875_brothers-and-sisters_for-buddhists-to-experience-awakening-is_1588684.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/paul-f-knitter-26875_brothers-and-sisters_for-buddhists-to-experience-awakening-is_1588684.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/paul-f-knitter-26875_brothers-and-sisters_for-buddhists-to-experience-awakening-is_1588684.jpg) > ““For Buddhists, to experience Awakening is to experience the interconnectedness that makes us all one. For Christians, to experience the Divine as Love is to experience the source that makes us all “children of God” and therefore brothers and sisters to one another.”” [Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote compares Buddhist awakening and Christian love, suggesting both traditions view ultimate reality as a shared, unifying experience. **In simple terms:** Both faiths see unity as divine love. Key Takeaway Seek common ground across religions. Themes interfaith unity spirituality Mood inspirational thoughtful Type theological philosophical When to use this quote - interfaith dialogue - community building - personal meditation Key Concepts theology comparative religion humanism Questions to Reflect On - How can shared experiences foster mutual respect? - What limits exist in equating distinct spiritual concepts? A Different Perspective It may oversimplify doctrinal differences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Awakening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awakening/) [Awakening Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awakening-experience-6016108/) [Brothers and sisters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brothers-and-sisters/) [Buddhism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buddhism/) [Buddhists Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buddhists-experience-6016107/) [Christians Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christians-experience-1900098/) [Experience Awakening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience-awakening-1675286/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [“A Christian who met a total stranger who also followed Christ would have an instant bond: We belong to the same spiritual family. Just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-groeschel/a-christian-who-met-a-total-stranger-who-also-followed-christ-would/) [Craig Groeschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-groeschel/) > [“Most Christians are satisfied living their entire lives as common Christians. They never experience the richness of what it truly means to be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-w-tozer/most-christians-are-satisfied-living-their-entire-lives-as-common/) [A.W. Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-w-tozer/) > [It is possible to experience an awakening in this life through realising just how precious each moment, each mental process, and each breath truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christy-turlington/it-is-possible-to-experience-an-awakening-in-this-life-through/) [Christy Turlington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christy-turlington/) > [The actual experience of awakening can only be in the present moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-actual-experience-of-awakening-can-only-be-in-the-present-moment/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [That you carry yourself forward and experience the myriad things is delusion. That the myriad things come forward and experience themselves is awakening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/that-you-carry-yourself-forward-and-experience-the-myriad-things-is/) [Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/) > [Underlying great doubt there is great satori, where there is thorough questioning there will be thoroughgoing experience of awakening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hakuin-ekaku/underlying-great-doubt-there-is-great-satori-where-there-is-thorough/) [Hakuin Ekaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hakuin-ekaku/) > [I have 10 brothers and sisters. My mother raised us because my father died when I was 8.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-kennedy/i-have-10-brothers-and-sisters-my-mother-raised-us-because-my-father/) [Kerry Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-kennedy/) > [How many years has it taken people to realize that we are all brothers and sisters and human beings in the human race? I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsha-p-johnson/how-many-years-has-it-taken-people-to-realize-that-we-are-all/) [Marsha P. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsha-p-johnson/) > [ What are you for? It may be, to a degree, consoling that white brothers and sisters did not vote for \[Donald\] Trump, and do… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/what-are-you-for-it-may-be-to-a-degree-consoling-that-white-brothers/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [Jeremiah Wright is one of the greatest prophetic preachers that black America has produced. What I find striking is that many white brothers and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/jeremiah-wright-is-one-of-the-greatest-prophetic-preachers-that-black/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [Mr. Peabody is this genetic anomaly. He does have brothers and sisters, all of them non-speaking, not super-smart dogs. He's an outcast, but has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-minkoff/mr-peabody-is-this-genetic-anomaly-he-does-have-brothers-and-sisters/) [Rob Minkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-minkoff/) > [Like a child exploring the attic of an old house on a rainy day, discovering a trunk full of treasure and then calling all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-h-peterson/like-a-child-exploring-the-attic-of-an-old-house-on-a-rainy-day/) [Eugene H. Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-h-peterson/) > [Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/brothers-and-sisters-i-bid-you-beware-of-giving-your-heart-to-a-dog/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [There's no publicist, no advertisements, and no one's pushing us. If people are buying our records, it's because big brothers and sisters or friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-moody/there-s-no-publicist-no-advertisements-and-no-one-s-pushing-us-if/) [Spencer Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-moody/) > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) ## More by Paul F. Knitter > [“If Christians insist that “if you want peace, work for justice,” the Buddhists would counter-insist, “if you want peace, be peace.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-knitter/if-christians-insist-that-if-you-want-peace-work-for-justice-the/) [Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) > [“Generalizing grossly, what Buddhists mean by practice is more interior and personal, while what Christians mean is more external and social. Or as Aloysius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-knitter/generalizing-grossly-what-buddhists-mean-by-practice-is-more-interior/) [Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) > [“But if there is an ongoing, nagging disconnect between, on the one hand, what I can and must affirm to be true and good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-knitter/but-if-there-is-an-ongoing-nagging-disconnect-between-on-the-one-hand/) [Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) > [“And this power in their teaching had to do, first of all, with the content of what they taught – that is, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-knitter/and-this-power-in-their-teaching-had-to-do-first-of-all-with-the/) [Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) > [“Salvation understood as a revelation of our being in Christ or of our Buddha-nature is not just a wonderful revealing of what we are;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-knitter/salvation-understood-as-a-revelation-of-our-being-in-christ-or-of-our/) [Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) > [“So contemplation – regular practices of spirituality – is necessary both to have a product to deliver and to have the energy to deliver it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-knitter/so-contemplation-regular-practices-of-spirituality-is-necessary-both/) [Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) > [“Buddhism also throws new, and I believe fuller, light on an oft-quoted passage from John’s Gospel: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-knitter/buddhism-also-throws-new-and-i-believe-fuller-light-on-an-oft-quoted/) [Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) > [“Jesus was such a powerful, “saving” Teacher because he was what he taught.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-knitter/jesus-was-such-a-powerful-saving-teacher-because-he-was-what-he-taught/) [Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) > [“The person I am with a seventy-year-old body (and all its accumulated experience) will not only look but will truly be different from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-knitter/the-person-i-am-with-a-seventy-year-old-body-and-all-its-accumulated/) [Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) > [“If Mystery is the goal and content of all religious experience, then Silence is a necessary means of letting Mystery speak.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-knitter/if-mystery-is-the-goal-and-content-of-all-religious-experience-then/) [Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) > [“Salvation, therefore, is not a transaction that takes place outside us, but rather an empowering awareness that explodes within and then pervades our entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-knitter/salvation-therefore-is-not-a-transaction-that-takes-place-outside-us/) [Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) > [“To put it bluntly but also imploringly: we Christians need more silence in our services and liturgies. Just how this might be realized, just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-knitter/to-put-it-bluntly-but-also-imploringly-we-christians-need-more/) [Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) > [“Christian prayer is generally too worshipful and therefore dualistic. And it is too wordy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-knitter/christian-prayer-is-generally-too-worshipful-and-therefore-dualistic/) [Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) > [“Thomas Merton once said that some of the most violent people he met were social activists, in what they did to themselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-knitter/thomas-merton-once-said-that-some-of-the-most-violent-people-he-met/) [Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) > [“By love alone is hatred dispelled.” Jesus would add: a love that must be ready to die rather than hate. Out of such love,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-knitter/by-love-alone-is-hatred-dispelled-jesus-would-add-a-love-that-must-be/) [Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) [Explore all 21 Paul F. Knitter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) ## More Awakening quotes > [It is natural that our minds replay old stories, because that is our own mechanism for trying to work out unresolved problems. Yet rerunning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-brach/it-is-natural-that-our-minds-replay-old-stories-because-that-is-our/) [Tara Brach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-brach/) > [Imitation is the first instinct of the awakening mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/imitation-is-the-first-instinct-of-the-awakening-mind/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [“It is not so much about fighting against the ego; it is more about harmonizing with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-sara/it-is-not-so-much-about-fighting-against-the-ego-it-is-more-about/) [Grace Sara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-sara/) > [Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/dawn-s-faint-breath-breathes-with-your-mouth-at-the-ends-of-empty/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [“Low states are a like a poison to the psyche. Millions of people throughout the world take tranquillizers each day to combat depression, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/belsebuub/low-states-are-a-like-a-poison-to-the-psyche-millions-of-people/) [Belsebuub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/belsebuub/) > [The awakening of the soul to its bondage and its effort to stand up and assert itself - this is called life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-awakening-of-the-soul-to-its-bondage-and-its-effort-to-stand-up/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [My political awakening, if I can be as grand as to call it that, was all about what was happening around me. It wasn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-sturgeon/my-political-awakening-if-i-can-be-as-grand-as-to-call-it-that-was/) [Nicola Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-sturgeon/) > [How often have you sailed in my dreams. And now you come in my awakening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-often-have-you-sailed-in-my-dreams-and-now-you-come-in-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“CWC (Church Women Concerned) enabled us as women in that part of South Africa, to see ourselves as ordinary citizens who found themselves in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sindiwe-magona/cwc-church-women-concerned-enabled-us-as-women-in-that-part-of-south/) [Sindiwe Magona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sindiwe-magona/) > [I feel there is a great spiritual awakening on the planet right now. More than any previous time, people are drawn to meditation, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agapi-stassinopoulos/i-feel-there-is-a-great-spiritual-awakening-on-the-planet-right-now/) [Agapi Stassinopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agapi-stassinopoulos/) > [When I was 20 years old, I got cast in 'Spring Awakening' and got swept up in this experience where it was kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-groff/when-i-was-20-years-old-i-got-cast-in-spring-awakening-and-got-swept/) [Jonathan Groff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-groff/) > [Motivation is awakening own mind and Inspiration is arising spirit in others to find their own with their heart and soul in all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj/motivation-is-awakening-own-mind-and-inspiration-is-arising-spirit-in/) [Anuj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj/) > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [Life is perhaps best regarded as a bad dream between two awakenings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/life-is-perhaps-best-regarded-as-a-bad-dream-between-two-awakenings/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [“The Illusion - The source of suffering can be linked back to a condition of the mind that creates the illusion of separation--the state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-blanchard/the-illusion-the-source-of-suffering-can-be-linked-back-to-a/) [L.M.Blanchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-blanchard/) [Browse all 1,440 Awakening quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awakening/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For Buddhists, to experience Awakening is to experience the interconnectedness that makes us all one. 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