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Christian Buddhist
Is it possible to be Christian and Buddhist? What do you think?
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'm confused.
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My post currently states 10.51pm and I actually posted this at 6:45pm...... nobody's changed the timezone preference....
I suppose it's all in how you define what Buddhism and Christianity are.
There are those in Buddhist circles who see Buddhism as a unified religion that you must take all or nothing at all. And, of course, there are Christians who see Christianity the same way. If that's how a person looks at it, then I suppose you can't be both.
I don't look at it that way. Wisdom is wisdom, wherever it comes from. There's a lot of Buddhist wisdom I admire and relate to...and some I don't (although much of that which I don't relate to may not be incorrect, but I've yet to see the evidence). There's a lot of Christian wisdom I admire and relate to...and some I don't). And there's a lot of wisdom outside of Buddhism and Christianity that's still wisdom, and we ought to be open to that, also.
I can also tell you that when I first began having an interest in Buddhism, I found a number of English-language publications distributed by official Thai Buddhist organizations that said yes, you can be both. And I have talked personally to monks who agreed with that position. I suppose there are those who would disagree.
But remember this -- no one is going to kick you out of Buddhism if you also practice some Christian principles, and no one is going to kick you out of Christianity if you also practice some Buddhist principles. Either religion is within you, not within a formal church or temple.
Of course this isn't taking Christianity literally. It's easier to find a union between Christianity and Buddhism if you think there's one driving force (the Holy Spirit or Buddha-Nature) that is moving us toward harmony with reality as-it-is (God or Emptiness) for the simple reason that because reality *is* this way it must eventually be seen and understood this way by the mind. That it's the same for Siddhartha Gautama and Jesus, just expressed in different contexts and using skillful means for people of different existing belief structures. Suffering is a by-product of ignorance, peace is a by-product of wisdom (of seeing reality clearly). It takes a kind of philosophical compromise to do this though; it's not easy to be a Buddhist Christian (Christian Buddhist) if you take things too literally and can't find possible common ground.
That's just my opinion though, I'm neither religious nor non-religious.
I don't know what aspects of Buddhism strike you as sensible or touch your heart, but I think you can take what you find sensible in Buddhism and leave the rest. Or you can give it a try. Buddhism may be important, but it's not that important.
Roughly, and without criticism, Christianity separates things ... as for example man from God. Christianity posits something else. It also contains what might roughly might be described as promises and threats. All of this and more like are par for the course and are OK if a belief system is what anyone is after.
But beliefs only reach so far. They are limited. And this limitation -- no matter how many books are written or how many sweet words are spoken -- will always leave an uncertainty in the believer's life. Buddhism sets out, in quite concrete ways, to put uncertainty to rest. It takes patience and courage and doubt. You won't go to heaven if you practice Buddhism and you won't go to hell if you don't. What you may get -- depending on your determination -- is some release from the doubt that belief inherently implies.
Take your time. It's your life and your choice. Being 'right' is not the point. Being happy is.
But I use that in the sense of jokingly describing my own condition, which is former-Christian-now-Buddhist.
Can you be a Buddhist and believe in a permenantly abididing god-man?
While there are things from both faiths that can happily support or buttress one another when it's a matter of core tenets or ideas they are conflicting. I can be a Buddhist and study the writings of Christians, Sufis, and those of Judaism and find great inspiration, in fact I just bought two books on Rumi, but in the end my path is predicated on the path the Buddha outlined. I guess it's how one defines what a Christian or Buddhist is.
I would take the practical approach. Use what works in both. What works is a personal matter found through experimentation and living life. Because its experience over theory/belief you will then find the essence. Once you find that then you can see the unifying message.
Good luck.
I don't think it is possible to be a Christian-Buddhist. The two belief systems are a very long way apart, and have a very different approach to dealing with life's issues. I was raised in the Catholic tradition, and I can now see how the most helpful aspects of that faith are actually similar to Buddhist practices (the Holy Rosary, the comforting feeling you get from saying the Lord's Prayer... these are mantras and it's all a bit like meditation!)
However, the approach of Christianity is to live life by a set of rules in the hope of salvation in a later life. These rules (like most religions) also give some justification for violence and intolerance, depending on your interpretation. Buddhism is pretty much free from all that. Buddhism also considers the questions of 'God' and the eternal nature of the universe to be pointless as they are essentially un-answerable, and, from my perspective, anybody who tells you that they can give you answers is probably lying.
If you want to give Buddhism a try, do it whole-heartedly. Read up on the absence of any concrete idea of 'God' in Buddhist teachings and consider if this might be a better fit for you. I certainly found that it was for me. I personally find more peace in the idea that positive actions breed positive actions rather than making sure I follow ancient rules in the hope that the 'Big guy in the sky' doesn't catch me out and send me to the fires of Hell. It's a simpler philosophy and I find it easier to accept.
That is not to say that any one faith is particularly better. I don't believe you can fully practice Buddhism whilst attached to the idea of a Christian God, an omni-present being watching over everything you do. As with everything, what works for you is probably what's best for you. Just my two cents!
Peace my friend.
Buddha also taught about the dependent origination of all phenomena and it doesn't leave room for an all powerful creating god. Buddhist base their faith on observation, correct reasoning, practical experience and the clarity of Buddha's teachings.
Buddha taught there is no Soul, only mind and an imputation of Self based upon the 5 aggregates which are subject to Becoming and dissolution.
Buddha also taught about the abandonment of wrong views in the pursuit of wisdom and that holding onto wrong views obstructions correct view which hinders release from suffering.
Many of the things Buddha taught completely destroy the basis of having faith in Christianity.
So it is not possible to be both at the same time they are contradictory not complementary.
This seems to be a question of what people want, not what Christianity & Buddhism can offer.
Many folks are content with the middle ground they find between Buddhism & Christianity. Their lives improve, they find focus & direction & meaning & are happy with their lot. Good for them.
Buddhism's end goal however is to go beyond happiness to suffering's extinguishment and those seeking such a practise will eventually find fence straddling between those two religions an obstructive hindrance.
Just comes down to what you want and why some folks can & others can't.
"Look at this world:
Beings, afflicted with thick ignorance,
are unreleased
from passion for what has come to be.
All levels of becoming,
anywhere,
in any way,
are inconstant, stressful, subject to change.
Seeing this—as it has come to be—
with right discernment,
one abandons craving for becoming,
without delighting in non-becoming.
From the total ending of craving
comes dispassion & cessation without remainder:
Unbinding.
For the monk unbound,
through lack of clinging/sustenance,
there is no renewed becoming.
He has conquered Mara,
won the battle,
gone beyond all becomings—
Such. — Ud 3:10
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/paradoxofbecoming.pdf
And No.
It's possible to be a Christian and practise all of Buddhism, but it's impossible to be Buddhist and practise all of Christianity.
I always remember Anwar Sadat, not long before his assassination, lamenting that people around the world tend to emphasize differences, rather than similarities.
:hrm:
We can choose to stand at the door and say that it is our destination but we are missing the point: a door is to go through and, on the other side, all distinctions, all differences and all labels disappear in the dynamism that Christians call kenosis and the Buddhists sunyatta. And 'it' (which is not even an 'it') is beyond words.
Perhaps, as Gurdjieff said, 'it' can only be danced.
I also know people who are very firm against any consideration of other religions -- like Born Again Christians who are so strict in exactly the principle you just stated that they firmly believe that if you don't believe what they believe, you are going to hell.
Although we don't talk about it much on this forum, on some forums, and throughout the Buddhist world, there are many, many people who discuss whether Buddhism is a religion or a philosophy. In fact, there are many who will tell you Buddhism is a philosophy that many Buddhists treat as a religion.
From your posts, you are clearly a person who believes Buddhism is a religion. That it is the only correct religion. It appears that you look at Buddhism in the same way that many Catholics look at their religion -- here is what you must believe.
And that's fine to have that belief. Just don't assume that we all believe in what you believe.
I know many confused people who meld doctrines and get no where as a result ! There are some who see Buddhism as a philosophy and take it merely as a Intellectual pursuit and achieve nothing mainly because they fail to put into practice what they learn about.
with regards to what I actually said its fairly simple and it is very easy to say as I am not under the assumption that every religion teaches the same thing, There are many differences as well as similarities however it is not possible to follow more then one path whole heartedly because of various contradictions even those who do practice Buddhism as a philosophy in addition to their religion such as Christianity have to wonder why they need to make such an extra addition if their God has provided them with the correct understanding of how things should be.
Jesus: An Historical Approximation by J. A.Pagola
and
The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins by Burton Mack
These are not some sort of way out, New Age, 'Gospel of Judas'. 'Da Vinci' code nonsense but serious studies. Mack, in particular, is considered of real importance in Gospel studies.
Isn't it time that those of us who are adults recognised that the stories we were told (miracles, angels, elephant dreams, etc.) are myths and fairy tales but that, behind them, there are two extraordinary teachers, Jesus and Gotama, who brought us messages of liberation and compassion.
We live at a time when we have moved beyond a universe of crystal spheres and mythic pasts into one of deep time and an expanding universe. Use the methods and discoveries of our scientists, palaeontologists, cosmologists, etc. to understand and liberate ourselves from pre-Enlightenment darkness. Study Gotama and his followers, Jesus and his words, Spinoza and his writings, Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche and so many others. Arriving at the truth is a matter of hard work and study.
To imagine that there is a single 'answer', be it 'Christian' or 'Buddhist', is to shut our minds to the vastness of Truth.
Although, on the second thought.. there have been cases of people experiencing a kind of awakening without much prior preparation. Jakob Böhme, a simple 16th century shoemaker, had such an experience, as I recall. Still, they were embedded in a particular culture of belief (Lutheran in Böhme's case) of their time.
Just thinking aloud here.
'belief and path' in this context are taken as the same in nature (or separable as distinct at least) - belief is the sum of the mental connections that one relates to (born of actual or metaphorical physical connections) - 'path' however is a more complex/abstract concept - on one level it assumes the existence of a unified theory as well as a logical framework - It may be considered something that is constant and consistent in life so it is the foundation of each moment of change (however that is experienced by the subject) - it is given form by the observer - belief attaches to that form.
It is arguable in this sense to consider path as all pervading, discovered in facets by appreciation of the balance of the connections within the context of human logic.
:thumbsup: