The historical Buddha taught 84,000 different methods for one to enter into the Dharma
This is the real Buddha... forsaking family, relationships, and even sustenance all while following very hard rituals. Jesus said to follow Him and your "Yoke" will be light all while being in the Body of Christ, that is, having relationships with family, friends, and a community of believers.
I wish to deepen this conversation by a letter I wrote to an acquaintance of mine many years ago to level the playing field a bit. It has to do with Buddhism being the hardest religion to attain salvation in (not using salvation in the Christian sense). She wrote about Buddhists not judging, and this being one reason she preferred it over Christianity. Then she mentioned how simple it was. As the quote above speaks volumes to this topic, it is NOT easy or simple.
Enjoy the following:
A) My mom was a Buddhist
A lot of people in all religions go to church because their parents did. Religion then, becomes a ritual and not one based on the o’ so important faith aspect. Enough said. Some will even reject rational discussion on what religion is closest to the truth (and mankind’s position in nature) for this ritualistic bond. Both religion A and B cannot be true at the same time.
B) It just seems very peaceful to me
Hindus are killing Buddhists and Buddhists are killing Hindus. Buddhists in the east are attacking, and killing men, women, and children. In Buddhist thought (their root philosophy), life is an illusion, therefore, killing is an illusion, or so these Buddhist killers contemplate. Christianity teaches that every life is special and that God even is sad when a baby sparrow falls from its nest. Let me explain it thus. Buddhism has a fundamental negative attitude toward life. All the schools (Theravada, Tendai, Pure Land, Zen, Vajrayana, Shingon) begin with a pessimistic approach to ordinary existence. Life lived on the level of the common, unenlightened individual, is frustrating, according to Buddhism. But then all religions (in fact, all people who have thought much about life) recognize the frustrations in life and are looking for some way out, whether it be technique, an attitude or the hope of a better world to come. What distinguishes the Buddhist understanding is that existence itself is the problem with life. As long as there is existence at all, there is suffering (the first noble truth). This creates a non-peaceful aspect of Buddhism that creates more pain about life than understanding.
C) not to judge others
Buddhism does judge others? They claim to be the purest way to salvation, or nirvana. (Actually, within Buddhism there are many schools of thought that battle with each other philosophically, as well as physically.) In fact, this is evident in B) above, they kill because of this (partly). When the three main statements of Buddhism are looked at:
- (1) existence is suffering; (2) desire causes suffering; and (3) ridding all desire ends suffering, the Buddhist thus says, we have the truth on reality, any other religious belief or personal opinion contrary to this is wrong… or partially wrong.
Again, Buddhism cannot be true at the same time as Hinduism or Sikhism. The Dalai Lama makes moral judgements all the time when he walks by people needing food, clothing, shelter, and judges that they do not in fact need those things.
D) I like the simplicity of it all
To the Western eye, Buddhism seems very simple. However, the West tends to simplify everything. Buddhism is known as one of the most complex of all Oriental faiths. In addition to the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, the following practices and doctrines are considered essential to attaining Buddhahood:
1) The state of Arahatship (being worthy) contains thirty-seven precepts to be followed by the devout Buddhist. Twenty-nine of these are in addition to the requirements of the Eightfold Path;
2) Five obstacles hinder one’s approach to enlightenment – sloth, pride, malice, lust, and doubt;
3) Three refuges must be affirmed by all who belong to the Shangha (brotherhood of monks): refuge in Buddha, the dharma, and the Shangha (these are an impossible task). They [the Buddhist] also must adhere to 227 regulations that, among other things, forbid them to touch a woman (even their mother) or drink unstrained water (lest they kill a living thing);
4) Man has no soul but rather exists in Five Conditions: body, feeling, ideas, will, and pure consciousness;
5) Ten Commandments are propagated. These “shalt nots” include: killing, stealing, adultery, lying, drinking intoxicating liquids, eating after mid-day, being present at any dramatic or musical performance, applying personal adornment or perfume, sleeping on a comfortable bed, and owning silver and gold;
6) Three Principles guide the Buddhist in his search for nirvana. The first principle designates thirty-one planes of existence, from Higher Spiritual Beings on down through humans and lower Beings-in-Torment (who endure an existence in purgatory). The second principle teaches that one’s karma determines his spiritual plane, though progression and retrogression are constant throughout successive transmissions. Finally, the third principle promises complete awareness by practicing contemplation. The one who achieves this state is supposed to become immune to all feeling and emotion, including hate and love (parents who join Buddhism and try to make it to the top plane destroy their family by being uninvolved).
7) Four progressive stages of awareness await the seeker: Sotapatti Magga, Sakadagami Magga, Anagami Magga, and Arahatta Magga can no longer kill [this includes ants, roaches, etc.]… seduce… utter falsehood, take drugs… make evil utterances or have bad thoughts. (The people in B, above, haven’t progressed I suppose.)
These people who harp on Christianity for being so dogmatic are outlandish!
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When a statement fails to satisfy itself (i.e., to conform to its own criteria of validity or acceptability), it is self-refuting…. Consider some examples. I cannot say a word in English is self-refuting when uttered in English. I do not exist is self-refuting, for one must exist to utter it. The claim there are no truths is self-refuting. If it is false, then it is false. But is it is true, then it is false as well, for in that case there would be no truths, including the statement itself.
Once the adherent of Theravada Buddhism has attained nirvana, he becomes an arahat (living enlightened one). His karma is considered extinct and at the time of his death he will cease to exist. However, from a Buddhist point of view, this perspective isnt horrifying at all, because it represents the cessation of an illusion. When human existence is blown out, nothing real disappears because life itself is an illusion. Nirvana is neither a re-absorption in an eternal Ultimate Reality, because such a thing isnt stated in the Scriptures, nor the annihilation of a self, because there is no self to annihilate. It is rather an annihilation of the illusion of an existing self.
But is an impersonal immortality truly meaningful when it extinguishes our personal existence forever? Is it even desirable? As Sri Lanken Ajith Fernando, who has spoken to hundreds of Buddhists and Hindus, illustrates:
When I asked a girl who converted from Buddhism to Christianity through our ministry what attracted her to Christianity, the first thing she told was, I did not want Nirvana. The prospect of having all her desires snuffed out after a long and dreary climb [toward liberation was not attractive to her.
(Ajith Fernando, The Supremacy of Christ, p. 241)
You see, I believe that when one compares all the worlds religions and cults, Christianity is the only philosophical construct that fits with what we actually experience. If one chooses Buddhism as a path, they have to spend a lifetime denying [this] reality, always desiring a desireless goal. That proposition (just stated) is self-refuting, and against our daily experiences and common intuitiveness.
