I was raised a Christian in the Uniting Church of Australia.
For the last two years I have been reading everything I could find on Buddhism, discovering a new world of insight into compassion and wisdom and finding a new lease of life on Lord Jesus' and St Paul's teachings.
I have been wanting to visit a sangha (buddhist temple) for ages and have only gone once when it was empty.
Perhaps it's because it is for me a foreign faith, and I am happy to benefit from it's teachings as a Christian.
I believe in God which is hardly in line with Buddhist teachings, so I am concerned that I will not really relate to the Buddhist culture and worldview, despite appreciation for the teachings themselves.
Or perhaps I am best staying in my birth faith, drawing what is useful from the other faiths and applying it in the context of a Christian ethos?
Has anyone else had experiences crossing between two religions, or living in two different faiths at once? How do others find themselves influenced by multiple belief systems and faiths?
Warm regards,
Paul Bard.
For the last two years I have been reading everything I could find on Buddhism, discovering a new world of insight into compassion and wisdom and finding a new lease of life on Lord Jesus' and St Paul's teachings.
I have been wanting to visit a sangha (buddhist temple) for ages and have only gone once when it was empty.
Perhaps it's because it is for me a foreign faith, and I am happy to benefit from it's teachings as a Christian.
I believe in God which is hardly in line with Buddhist teachings, so I am concerned that I will not really relate to the Buddhist culture and worldview, despite appreciation for the teachings themselves.
Or perhaps I am best staying in my birth faith, drawing what is useful from the other faiths and applying it in the context of a Christian ethos?
Has anyone else had experiences crossing between two religions, or living in two different faiths at once? How do others find themselves influenced by multiple belief systems and faiths?
Warm regards,
Paul Bard.
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Australia
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Re: Christianity Vs Buddhadharma
Mon, June 13, 2005 - 9:30 AMHi Paul - thanks for sharing your questions with us.
This is such a complex question, but I think basically one can honor multiple religious traditions, and one must honor the traditions that call to one's heart. The question of what degree you must incorporate different religious traditions into your spiritual vocabulary is probably a function of the degree that you respond deeply to their symbols. A lot of Taoist teachings resonate for me, but I don't feel called to integrate Taoism into my path because I don't respond to Taoist symbols from that deep soul level, so I can just appreciate Taoism and not worry about it.
I can't help but approach spirituality in both Buddhist and Christian terms - they are both part of who I am, though I do not think of myself as either Christian or Buddhist. From Buddhism, I draw the basic vocabulary of the formed, formless, and causal world of pure awareness/being, and the relationship of those states to personal transformation. From Christianity, I draw a deeper, more narrative, more personal sense of the existential nature of spritual commitment. The gospels to me speak of what it's like to actually go through this process, and what the outcome is like.
>I believe in God which is hardly in line with Buddhist teachings, so I am concerned that
> I will not really relate to the Buddhist culture and worldview, despite appreciation for the teachings themselves.
Interesting, because I find it easier to relate to Buddhist centers than I do to churches, despite having an unantagonistic upbringing as a Christian. Do you relate to the Christian culture and worldview of our your country?
I believe Buddhism includes most of the same ingredients as Christianity, they just receive different emphasis.
Possible synonyms for God to be on the watch for: Buddha-mind, Dharmakaya, Adibuddha, alaya-vijnana, tathagatha-gharba, clear light mind, Samatabhadra, buddha nature. These things are not identical to God, but they are often used in a very similar way.
