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Can a person be a Christian and a Buddhist at the same time?
htuason622154nb
Tagaytay City Cavite Philippines. New
Good day to anyone reading this.
I was baptized a Roman Catholic, but recently I have been attending dharma and practiced chanting and meditation with various Buddhist groups. Albeit I still practice in taking refuge in the Buddha, the dharma and the sangha, still, I still wish to remain Christian, thus, my foregoing discussion title.
If my question may be answered in the affirmative, may I please know if there are any groups that are practicing Buddhism and Christianity at the same time, thank you for your consideration.
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Comments
Welcome aboard, htuason. There are those here who are doing that type of dance, and they'll be better equipped to answer you than I, but I will say that you're likely to get more flack from Christianity for such a move than Buddhism. Personally, and of course this is just an opinion, I think practicing Buddhism can actually make you a better Christian.
Mostly I just wanted to say welcome.
If say it depends on your beliefs of the dhamma and of God.
If you cling tightly to one and embrace it fully I think you may find a clash. But if you don't cling too rightly to your beliefs as fact ver batim I don't see why they can't gel.
Many Buddhists don't believe in a heaven or hell in a Christian sense but believe in different areas of hell and states of heaven.
Some believe these are metaphors for psychological states.
Many Buddhists also believe in Karma and rebirth.
I think all religions can have a meeting ground but we need to put the books down and talk from experience rather than what XYZ say.
Good luck! We have Jewish Buddhists here don't we?! XD
Hello. The answer to your question is a touch complicated, but that's Buddhism for you. There are Buddhists who will say belief in a creator God is incompatible with some basic Buddhist doctrines like dependent origination. And some Western Buddhists embraced this religion because we had bad experiences or huge differences with Christianity in the first place. So you will get a range of answers.
But it really boils down to, Buddhism has no problem with you being a Christian Buddhist, or a Hindu Buddhist, or a Muslim Buddhist, or an Atheist Buddhist. There is nothing in Buddhism that says you can't worship whatever God you want. What matters in Buddhism is how you deal with the causes of suffering in your mind. Most cultures of the world that early Buddhist monks traveled to and set up temples continued to practice their existing religion alongside Buddhism.
Having said that, the problem you will face is not from Buddhists, but Christians. To mainstream Christian belief, we are pagans and they don't want to hear about the benefits. That will be your cross to bear, if you openly practice both. I wish you all the best.
Oh, and while I've heard of occasional Christian-Buddhist groups, I don't know of any off the bat. However, you can try the local Unitarian Universalist church. It's where I discovered Buddhism, and they are a humanist denomination that sees all world religions as an expression of our search for spirituality. A great bunch.
In my view, it depends on whether you want others to put you in a box, or whether you can think for yourself. Too many people in this world think everything has to be "either or". Either you are a Buddhist OR you are a Christian... In reality, an open-minded Buddhist could read the New Testament and admire and practice some principles found there. An open-minded Christian could read some Buddhist scriptures and admire and practice some principles found there. And then, of course, there are dullards who can't comprehend more than one viewpoint.
I suggest you read the book "Living Buddha, Living Christ".
Hello and welcome to this forum. One of our moderators is a practicing Christian, so that is an example ...
As you know it is possible to be Christian but not very Christian. So the important thing is will being slightly Buddhist make you a better Catholic and vice versa ...
http://livingdharma.org/Real.World.Buddhism/DharmaInChristianity-Brenion.html
Love seeks one thing only: the good of the one loved. It leaves all the other secondary effects to take care of themselves. Love, therefore, is its own reward.
Thomas Merton (a Catholic Trappist Contemplative - or was he?)
http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/can-you-trust-thomas-merton
I would suggest you put both Buddhism and Christianity into fervent, dedicated, serious and constant practice. Devote your attention to both, in equal measures, and research, study and embrace every good, moral, positive ideal in each calling.
Devote yourself wholeheartedly to following each teaching, providing it sits comfortably in your heart and mind.
Rather like putting equal parts of oil and vinegar into a bottle, shake vigorously to combine the two.
In time, one will rise and sit on top of the other.....
^^^ Well said.
To celebrate here is my Christian page. I would post something on Islam too but when mixing ones salad ... first the dressing. Too much heresy for one day could get one excommunicated unrobed dancing down the Middle Way ...
http://web.archive.org/web/20031021103148/http://pages.britishlibrary.net/edjason/christian/
Dharma, Christianity, Humanism, common sense? [shrug]
Indeed
Welcome @htuason622154nb . I think @federica summed it up best - Devote yourself wholeheartedly to following each teaching, providing it sits comfortably in your heart and mind.
I identify as both Jewish and Buddhist. There are plenty of us that do, so much so we even have our own "label" - JuBu I have found that at times, my Buddhist path has made me a better Jew. At other times, not so much
But @vinlyn makes another good suggestion - Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh is an excellent book. I second his recommendation to read it.
Personally, I believe that by following both paths, you will find where you need to be. Most Buddhists don't care what you may or may not believe about God/dess/Creator - they'll debate it with you, if you so desire. But I don't know how many Christians would be ok with the dual path.
Hope you enjoy your time here.
_ /\ _
@htuason622154nb - I believe that it depends on how you put it in your practice- but in my experience buddhism will make you a better christian. You can do an exploration to see which one can lead you to LET GO. Good luck to your practice.
@htuason622154nb
Thus I have heard that the Buddha said ::
"I have taught one thing and one thing only, dukkha and the cessation of dukkha!"
It other words the Buddha was not interested in belief in gods, his focus was on ending suffering and a god or gods played no part in this...
You should read up on the Four Noble Truths & Eight Fold Path...( also look at the different Buddhist schools/traditions take on the 4NTs & 8FP)
Enjoy the journey
@htuason622154nb
Often the real answer lies in more questions.
Perhaps the question is not whether one can be a Christian and Buddhist at the same time but whether that combination is actually better for you than either one on it's own.
I do think one can ride two horses at the same time but usually see more limitations to such a straddle than advantages..
Each religion has their own spiritual checks and balances which have evolved over thousands of years to best aid their practitioners against in- house delusions.
If by choosing two religions, you are actually cherry picking some parts from each without accepting the rest, you are surely circumventing those evolved protections, and if so...why?
Is it the lack of one religion that has you look to another religion for that solution?
Do both lack, such that it takes you combining both to make them more whole?
So I guess my final question to you is.... can you tell us what parts of both practices do you wish to continue following?
PS.
Giving us your location might help folks here suggest the closest group that might fit your requirement.
Welcome @htuason622154nb -- hope you find something useful here.
To answer your specific question, yes, there are groups that practice some combination of Buddhism and Christianity. Using the Great God Google, I'm sure you can find them.
If I were to add a single caveat to the socially-acceptable mind set called "ecumenism," it is this: Buddhism is not about something else. Really, it's not.
Good luck in your travels.
I think you'll find that in Christianity you may find what you're looking for in Buddhism. I mean what is the 8fold path? It breaks down into living an ethical life, and the practise of compassion and the development of wisdom. Christians have all that.
I'm pretty sure HH Dalia Lama advises folk who seek to 'convert' to Buddhism to investigate their own cultural religion first.
Personally, I think a 'looking for the similarities rather than the differences' to be a spiritual practise too.
I'm neither a Christian or a Buddhist btw, for some very Buddhist reasons I think.
Which aspects of Christianity do you want to hang on to, and which aspects of Buddhism do you find appealing?
-Kennedy Roshi is a jesuit priest and Zen teacher of the White Plum Asanga lineage...
I think that the two support each other well. Fundamentalists will be fundamentalists, and you'll likely catch flak from them.. But, "peace comes from within, do not seek without."
If you have something that makes you a better you, stick with it.
May I ask why?
The Buddha did say to evaluate teachers and their teachings for oneself and not to go by hearsay or tradition alone. If you have evaluated Christianity and Buddhism and find that you accept both and require both for spiritual growth, then find a way to split your spiritual practice between both.
But take a good look at your reasons for Buddhist practice and your reasons for wishing to maintain Christian practice.
Personally, I think you can. If I had the time, I could go into more detail about how and my own experience as a practitioner in both traditions; but I highly recommend checking out the book Without Buddha I Could not be a Christian. I think it does a good job of showing what each can offer the other as well as highlighting some of the commonalities that are often overlooked.
@lobster - clicking awesome was insufficient for the joyous cry I just had watching that video. Thank you.
I just began the process of writing a moment ago and was scanning my notes I left for myself - random thoughts, partial scenes and the like, looking for something that is asking to be expanded upon when I came upon a random thought I thought germane to the topic...
^^^ Glad
Me too.
Of possible interest to @htuason622154nb
As @htuason622154nb has not returned to make further comment or respond to any members' posts, I shall close this thread until such a time as he returns and might wish it reopened, in which case, OP, you are welcome to send me a private message to seek re-opening. I will be very glad to help.
Thanks to all who contributed.