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Unlike
the Hindu religion, Buddhism can point to an individual founder
and can look back to a date for its beginnings. The man who
formulated Buddhism was Siddhartha Gautama, who was born a Hindu
about 560 B.C., at Lumbini near the border of India in what is now
Nepal.
Tradition says that when Gautama was born, a seer prophesied that
he would become the greatest ruler in human history. The seer
added that if Gautama ever saw four things ‑ sickness, old age,
death and a monk who had renounced the world ‑ the boy would give
up his earthly rule and discover a way of salvation for all
mankind.
To refute the prophecy, Gautama's father built a palace for his
son, giving orders that neither the sick, the old, a dead body nor
a monk be allowed near the palace. Gautama grew up in this way,
protected from the world. He later married a beautiful girl named
Yasodhara, who bore him a son.
But the "gods" had other plans for Gautama. One day, as he rode
though the park that surrounded his palace, he saw a man who was
covered with terrible sores, a man who tottered with age, a corpse
being carried to its grave and a begging monk who appeared to be
peaceful and happy.
That night, as Gautama reported later, he began to think about the
look of peace on the face of the monk. He began to wonder if there
was more to life than the luxuries of his palace. Late that night
he took a last look at his sleeping wife and child, then left the
palace forever.
Gautama, 29 years old, was determined to solve the riddle of life.
He shaved his head, put on a yellow robe and wandered the
countryside as a beggar monk. First he studied the Upanishads with
the finest teachers, but he could find no satisfaction in these
writings. Then he tried to find salvation through self‑denial. He
starved himself until he was a walking skeleton, but this brought
him no happiness either.
Gautama becomes the "enlightened one"
Finally, he sat under a tree for 40 days and nights(1).
He swore that he would not move until he found what he was
searching for. During this time, Mara, the evil one, tried to make
him give up his quest. At the end of the 40 days(1), he
experienced the highest degree of
God-consciousness‑nirvana‑literally(2), the "blowing out" of
the flame of desire and the negation of suffering. Through this
experience, Gautama felt he had found "salvation(3)." From
then on, he was known as Buddha or the "enlightened one."
1)
Traditionally, the Bodhisattva attained enlightenment within the
three watches of one night. After which he stayed in the vicinity
of the Bodhi tree for a further 49 days.
2) He attained Enlightenment or Nirvana ¡V which has nothing to do
with any G/god and has never been described as ¡¥God-consciousness¡¦
in any sutras or by any traditions
3) In his enlightenment, the Buddha saw clearly the cause of
suffering and the path leading one out of suffering.
After his
life‑changing experience, Gautama Buddha went back to the world of
man. He began to preach and teach about the meaning of life and
his way to nirvana. Soon he founded the Sangha, an order of monks.
By the time Gautama Buddha died, 4S years later, many thousands
had adopted his teachings.'
In some ways, Buddhism is similar to the Hinduism from which it
evolved. In other ways, it is quite different, and many of
Buddha's teachings were rejected as heresies by the dominant
teachers of Hinduism, the Brahmin priests. For example, Buddha
denied that the Vedas and the Upanishads were divine writings,
saying they were of no help in finding the way to nirvana. He also
denied that man has an atman (soul), which is part of the Brahman
(world soul), and that the present world is maya (unreal).
Other Hindu concepts Buddha rejected included the Brahmin
priesthood and the entire Hindu sacrificial system; instead, he
emphasized ethics over ritual. He rejected the caste system and
taught that enlightenment was open to anyone‑including women‑not
just Brahmin males. Finally, Buddha radically challenged all the
indifferent Hindu gods and goddesses, saying they were essentially
unimportant in the quest for enlightenment.
Buddha did accept the Hindu teachings on reincarnation, along with
karma(4) (the soul gains merits or demerits according to
how one lives his life) and dharma(5, 6) (the duty one has
to perform according to his station in life). Buddha taught that
one could be reborn as a human, an animal, a hungry ghost, a demon
or even as a Hindu god(7). He also incorporated yoga and
meditation, which were highly developed skills in Hinduism, into
his teachings
4) The Buddhist concept of karma is not a close system of
inevitable predestination, where one is nothing but a 100% passive
recipient of his/her previous karma.
5) The term 'Dharma' in Buddhism is used to describe reality and
the Buddha's teachings which lead to the realisation of reality.
It does not mean 'duties'.
6)
While the Buddha certainly encouraged us to fulfill our duties (as
parents or children etc), a distinction has to be made with
'duties' in Hinduism as the concept of "karma-duties" has been use
by some in Hinduism to justify the unfair caste system. The Buddha
totally rejected the caste system.
7) The term used in Buddhism is ¡¦deva¡¦ or ¡¦heavenly beings¡¦. Every
culture and religion speaks of encounters with ¡¥angels¡¦. These
¡¥angels¡¦ would all fall under the category of devas, not
specifically just referring to any Hindu god.
The middle
way and the eightfold path
One of Buddha's most important teachings was his theory of the
Middle Way. For Buddha, the Middle Way was a spiritual path of
salvation, winding between the extreme asceticism and the
unrestrained sensuality he had known while a Hindu. To describe
his Middle Way, Buddha offered four main principles, which have
come to be called the Four Noble Truths:
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Suffering is
universal.
Buddha taught that the very act of living involves suffering
from birth until death. Even death brings no relief, however,
because of the cycle of rebirth, suffering and death. Salvation
(nirvana) is to be released from this unending cycle of
suffering.
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The cause of
suffering is craving (selfish desire). People remain in this endless cycle, because they are
too attached to their health, wealth, status and physical
comfort. This is because they are ignorant of the nature of
reality and they fall victim to what Buddha called tanha
(attachment, desire).
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The cure for
suffering is to overcome ignorance and eliminate craving.
Since to live is to suffer and suffering is caused by craving,
if a person could remove craving from his or her life, suffering
would end.
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Suppress
craving by following the Middle Way(8)
‑ the Noble
Eightfold Path. First, Buddha isolated the cause, tanha,
humanity's inability to escape from the squirrel cage of death
and rebirth. Next he worked out a system called the Eightfold
Path by which a Buddhist could rid himself of tanha. The
Eightfold Path consists of eight ways of right living: (1) right
viewpoint, (2) right aspiration, (3) right speech, (4) right
behavior, (5) right occupation, (6) right effort, (7) right
mindfulness and (8) right meditation.
8) The 4th Noble
Truth is translated as "Path leading to the end of suffering". The
aim of Buddhism is not to suppress craving. Rather, it is to
eradicate ignorance through development of wisdom. When there is
wisdom, craving and clinging do not arise. To "suppress craving"
without wisdom is forceful and unhealthy.
Buddha claimed that whoever could follow
this Eightfold Path would eventually reach nirvana, a release from
the endless cycle of death and rebirth. When Buddha was asked
to define the state of nirvana, he replied that he had never tried
to solve this question(9). His mission was to show man the way
to escape the suffering of life, not to describe what he would
find once he had been liberated.
9) The Buddha did describe Nirvana as the ultimate happiness, the
highest and most noble happiness. But the Buddha also said that
Nirvana cannot be fully described using words or comprehended by
our unenlightened mind as Nirvana is beyond our normal paradigms
of deluded thought.
The Hinduism that Buddha rejected said that
life in this world is maya (illusion); thus, suffering, which is
part of this world, is also illusion. Buddha, however, proclaimed
that life in this world is quite real. It involves real suffering;
because of this suffering, the world must be escaped by following
Buddha's Eightfold Path(10).
10) It must be understood that the Buddhist path is not to escape
from suffering, but rather it is to fully understand suffering,
thus transcending it. Nor is the Buddhist path a selfish one where
everyone is ¡§for themselves¡¨. The Buddha, after his enlightenment,
dedicated the rest of the 45 years of his life to teaching the
Dharma. Even at the final moment just before his passing, he asked
his hundreds of present disciples if they still had any doubts.
Only when he was satisfied that there were none did the Buddha
pass into final Nirvana, which is beyond life and death. Many
subsequent enlightened teachers follow the Buddha¡¦s example,
dedicating their lives to teaching the Dharma to benefit the
masses.
Buddhism has always had great appeal for the
peoples of the East. Unlike the elitist ideas of Hinduism,
Buddhism offers a precise definition of man's problem, along with
an exact "plan of salvation" for everyone.
Major
branches of Buddhism
Buddhism was popular in India for several centuries until it was
absorbed by Hinduism. The Brahmin priests even promoted the Buddha
to an incarnation of Vishnu. During the first thousand years of
Christianity, while the gospel was being carried all over Europe,
Buddhist monks spread their religion throughout the Orient. Today,
from Ceylon to Japan, over 350 million people follow the teachings
of Buddha.
Buddhism takes a wide variety of forms, but the three main kinds
are Hinayana(11), Mahayana and Tantrism(13).
Hinayana(11) means "the doctrine of the lesser way,"
referring to the belief that, for all intents and purposes, only a
fortunate few lifelong monks can find nirvana by absolutely
following the way to Buddha(12). Since the term "lesser
way" was a derogatory name given by critics, proponents of this
path later changed the name to Theravada Buddhism ("way of the
elders")(11). The best that laypeople can hope for in
Theravada Buddhism is to rise to a higher level when reborn in
their next life so they may become monks(12). The Theravada
branch of Buddhism has become very wealthy through gifts of land
and money for monasteries and is dominant today in Sri Lanka,
Thailand, Laos and Kampuchea.'
11)
Theravada Buddhism is actually the oldest of the 3 traditions
mentioned above. It existed before the term ¡§Hinayana¡¨ came into
existence. Theravada Buddhist follows the Buddha¡¦s teachings as
recorded in the Pali canon. ¡§Hinayana¡¨ is indeed a derogatory
term, but many modern scholars agree that Hinayana does not refer
to Theravada, but to those with selfish mindstates, which even the
Theravada does not encourage.
12) This is not true. Even in the Pali canon, there are many
examples of laypeople attaining high levels of understanding of
the Dharma. Even in modern times, many Theravada lay Buddhists
dedicate a large part of their time to learning and understanding
the Dharma and to practice meditation.
13) The more commonly used term is ¡§Vajrayana¡¨
Mahayana Buddhism, the doctrine of the "greater way," teaches that
Buddha believed that nirvana is available to all people. Buddha
originally taught that the only person who can save you is you,
but Mahayana developed the idea of savior gods or
Bodhisattvas(14, 15).
14) The term ¡§Bodhisattva¡¨ exist in Theravada Buddhism and in all
three traditions, and is also used to describe the future-Buddha
in the 6 years of search for Enlightenment, and his previous
lifetimes after he awakened the thought to be a Bodhisattva. In
all three traditions, Bodhisattvas also refers to practitioners
who aspire to become Buddhas. It is a worthy goal as to become a
Buddha is to attain the full potential and capacity of perfect
compassion and wisdom to teach and guide.
15) It has to be understood that even Bodhisattvas cannot ¡§save¡¨
another being literally. They aim to serve, aspire and guide all
beings to Enlightenment.
Followers of Mahayana reasoned that Buddha had remained on the
earth for 45 years when he could have gone straight to nirvana. He
decided, however, to stay to save mankind and became the first
and supreme Bodhisattva(16), a savior to mankind who can be called
on by the faithful(17). Other Buddhist monks who achieve
nirvana and become enlightened as Buddha did are also Bodhisattvas
16)
This is not true. Our historical Buddha did not become ¡§the first
and supreme Bodhisattva¡¨. This idea is not found in all three
traditions.
17) Perhaps there is a mix-up of the historical Buddha with Guan
Yin Bodhisattva or Amitabha Buddha.
From all
this, you can gather that Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism differ
radically in their opinion of Buddha. To Theravada, Buddha was
only a teacher (as Buddha himself claimed), but Mahayana has
raised him to the position of a savior‑god for all people(18).
Because of this, Mahayana Buddhism is by far the more popular. It
is influential in Nepal, China, Tibet, Japan, Vietnam and Korea.
18)
In all three traditions, the Buddha described himself as the
¡§Awakened One¡¨, ¡§Teacher of men and gods¡¨.. etc. He was not seen
as a mere human being. He even denied it personally, proclaiming
he is a Buddha instead.
A popular
form of Mahayana Buddhism in the West is Zen, a discipline with
the primary goal of experiencing enlightenment through meditation
(reaching satori)(19). Zen teachers emphasize the saying of
the Buddha: "Look within, you are the Buddha.
19)
While specific practices may vary, all traditions in Buddhism
emphasise the practice of keeping precepts, developing virtues,
understanding the Dharma and meditation. Meditation is certainly
very important practice in all traditions. Chanting is also
practiced. In certain traditions, chanting is the main form of
meditation practice.
After World War II, Zen made significant inroads in the West
through the influence of the Japanese scholar D. T. Suzuki
(1870-1966), as well as through influential artists, philosophers
and psychologists. Hundreds of thousands of Americans converted to
Buddhism, including notable entertainers and film stars such as
Joan Baez, Tina Turner, Richard Gere, Larry Hagman and Harrison
Ford.
The third major division of Buddhism is called Tantrism, a
blending of Mahayana Buddhism with the ancient occult practices of
Tibet. Tantric Buddhism uses incantations and occult signs. It
contains strong elements of animism (attributing conscious life to
inanimate objects or objects in nature) and is one of many
false religions that can leave its followers open to demonic
activity(20). Tantrism is considered the official religion of
Tibet and is practiced extensively in Nepal
20)
This statement is dangerous and totally unfounded. The 14th
Dalai Lama, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and the best known
Buddhist in the world, practices Vajrayana Buddhism. He displays
deep compassion and wisdom to all who met him. Vajrayana Buddhism
may contain many rituals and appear complex to outsiders. One
needs to fully understand Vajrayana practice from one who has
studied and practised it for many years.
Comparing Buddha's teachings with the Bible
Five hundred and twenty
years after the death of Buddha, Jesus came to bring full and
abundant life, not only in the world to come but also in this
world.
Buddha claimed to have found a way, but Jesus claimed that He is
the way. How do these two claims compare?
Buddha said that "to live is to suffer," and he said that the
reasons for suffering were ignorance and craving. The Bible agrees
that suffering is everywhere and that a good deal of suffering is
due to misplaced desire, but at the core, the Bible provides a
very different explanation for suffering. The Bible explains that
the entire world "groans" and that all men suffer because of sin
(see Romans 8:18‑23). All of us have put our own personal desires
ahead of God's. All of us are sinners by choice. We decide to live
our lives independently of God and His laws (see Isaiah. 53:6).
Buddha observed that suffering comes from craving‑desire or
attachment of any kind. For Buddha, all desire was bad and had
to be eradicated.(21) The Bible, however, teaches that, while
there are bad desires, there are also good ones. For example, we
are encouraged to have great desire for God, His glory in our
lives and for His kingdom (see Ps. 27:4; Matt. 6:33).
21)
Re-emphasis is needed here that the ultimate goal of Buddhism is
not for us to become like a cold piece of rock. ¡§Desire¡¨ means
different things to different people. Buddhists understood the
limitation of words¡¦ abilities to carry the meaning they want to
express.
The Buddha uses more specific terms like ¡§craving for sense
pleasures¡¨ or ¡§clinging to fixed views¡¨. These are unskilful, the
Buddha would say. We do aim to eradicate them. However there are
some desires that are skilful. The desire for enlightenment for
example, or the desire for happiness. This motivation is what
makes the practice of the Buddhist path possible. However even
these desires have to be let go at the end because these desires,
while skilful initially, can becomes an obstruction to the
practice at advanced stages.
And at the end of the practice, when all ignorance has been
eradicated, what¡¦s left is a deep peace and purity of mind, from
which all the noble emotions like compassion and loving-kindness
spring from.
As for bad desires, James 1:13‑15 points out that a man is enticed
from within by "lusts" ‑ passions or appetites that tend to get
out of control. When a person yields to these temptations, he
sins. The result of sin is spiritual suffering, and death (see
Romans 6:23). Christians agree that the cause of much suffering is
selfish desire, but they disagree with Buddhism's way of removing
this desire.
Buddha taught that the only way to rid oneself of selfish desire
was through self‑effort(22). For centuries his followers have
tried to stay on the Eightfold Path, but many have found that "the
heart is deceitful above all things" and will sabotage the best of
human intentions(23) (Jer. 17:9).
22)
Self-effort is a must in Buddhism, just as you need to make effort
not to allow selfish desires to overcome you or to urge you to do
bad deeds. However, it must be emphasised that in Buddhism, we
also talk about the need to have spiritual friends. The Buddha
said that spiritual friends is the whole of the spiritual life.
Having a good teacher who can inspire you is also very important.
The Buddha practised the Bodhisattva path for a very long time to
become that perfect teacher who could teach, guide and inspire.
23) Many of the Buddha¡¦s disciples, both then and now, have also
attained enlightenment. The Buddha said that the benefit of
putting his teachings into practice is visible here and now. All
Buddhists who practice the Noble Eightfold Path will experience
greater peace and happiness even if they do not attain
enlightenment. I daresay that any good Buddhist who practices the
Dharma is as happy as one of any other religion.
For a
person to master himself, he must have a higher source of
strength. But Buddha was agnostic. He ignored the possibility of
help from God. The apostle Paul (see Titus 3:3‑8) reminds us that
every Christian was once a slave to desire and selfish hungers but
that Christ came into the world as God and as man to supply the
strength to overcome these desires. Without the help of God, the
only way to end desire is to die. But with God, we can become "new
creatures" who die (figuratively) to selfish desires (see John
3:5; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 2:20).
Christianity goes beyond Buddhism
Buddha said that to end desire one must follow the Eightfold
Path ‑ a noble goal that must be pursued solely through one's own
determination and resources. Jesus gave a similar set of standards
in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matt. 5), but He also promised to
give us His personal strength through the Holy Spirit so that we
might live this kind of God ‑ pleasing life (see John 16:7‑15;
Romans 8; Galatians 5).
Christ shares in the life of the true believer and gives His
followers two vital ingredients for effective living: power and
authority. The Christian increases or limits that power in direct
proportion to how much of his life he really shares with and
submits to his Lord (see John 15: 1‑8).
The choice everyone must make
The Theravada Buddhist has eight guidelines for the right way to
live, but Buddha promised him no power to live that way(24). Also,
the Buddha had no authority for saying these eight steps are
right(25), as noble as they may sound. Mahayana Buddhists find the
Eightfold Path a lonely one and look to the Bodhisattvas for
help.(26)
24) The need for everyone to make effort had been mentioned
previously. The virtues of having spiritual friends and inspiring
teachers were also mentioned.
25) If the Buddha said that the Noble Eightfold Path leads one to
Enlightenment and many have gained Enlightenment through that
practice, then it has to be right. Ultimately right or wrong, one
has to put it into practice to find out for personally. In
Buddhism, we say direct knowledge is superior to blind faith.
26) The Noble Eightfold Path is practised by all three traditions.
Where it is found, Buddhism is to be found. The roles and meanings
of Bodhisattvas had been mentioned.
Buddha taught that you yourself must make the effort. Christ
teaches us to turn ourselves over to Him and He will give us power
to live successfully. Christ does not simply give the Christian a
list of commandments and orders to obey. He promises to help the
Christian grow, change and develop.
Every person, Christian or otherwise, faces a choice: self‑effort
or yielding everything to Christ as Savior and Lord [...].
Summing up major differences between Buddhists and Christians
Regarding God and Jesus Christ:
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Buddhists deny
the existence of a personal God or say that God's existence is
irrelevant;
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Christians say
that God is personal, omniscient and omnipotent (see job 42:1‑6;
Ps. 1 1S:3; Matt. 19:26);
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Buddhists
identify Christ as a good teacher but less important than
Buddha;
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Christians
believe that Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God who died for
mankind's sin (see Matt. 14:33;john 1:34; Rom. 5:6‑8).
Regarding Sin
and Salvation:
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Buddhists
believe that sin is the lust that arises in one's life, and they
seek to rid themselves of lustful desires by self‑effort or by
calling on Bodhisattvas for help;
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Christians
believe that sin is any thought, deed or desire contrary to
God's will, and that salvation comes only through faith in what
Christ has done for us (see Acts 4:12; Rom. 3:10, 23; Eph.
2:8‑10). Through faith and the gracious working of the Holy
Spirit, God transforms our desires to be more and more in
conformity with God's desires (see Rom. 12:1,2).
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