This
morning on face book I was asked a couple of questions by a Thai person, who
was showing some interest in the Christian celebration of Easter and seemed a
little surprised that instead of being a western Christian I was in fact a
Buddhist monk. He wanted to know why I had decided to ordain as a Buddhist
monk and what the basic differences were between Christianity and Buddhism.
I was going to PM my answer as I knew it would be too long for an FB comment and also wished to be transparent with my answer, therefore I have decided to answer here instead and any comments that you wish to make, you may also put here if you so desire. It is not my intention to be confrontational and any comments made I hope will be in the same spirit.
I think it would be best to answer the second question first as it may start to give the answer to the first question. What is the principle difference between the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of Buddha?
Today many people talk about how all religions are basically the same. To a degree there is some truth in this. All religions point out that we need to be good, for the sake of all man kind. In this we can agree. I am not talking about fundamentalists of this religion or that religion who would distort the teachings for their own benefit or agendas. However there are major differences in most of the world religions that cannot be reconciled. This does not mean we have to hate and denigrate one another (as too often happens) but the fact that they exist cannot be denied.
I was going to PM my answer as I knew it would be too long for an FB comment and also wished to be transparent with my answer, therefore I have decided to answer here instead and any comments that you wish to make, you may also put here if you so desire. It is not my intention to be confrontational and any comments made I hope will be in the same spirit.
I think it would be best to answer the second question first as it may start to give the answer to the first question. What is the principle difference between the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of Buddha?
Today many people talk about how all religions are basically the same. To a degree there is some truth in this. All religions point out that we need to be good, for the sake of all man kind. In this we can agree. I am not talking about fundamentalists of this religion or that religion who would distort the teachings for their own benefit or agendas. However there are major differences in most of the world religions that cannot be reconciled. This does not mean we have to hate and denigrate one another (as too often happens) but the fact that they exist cannot be denied.
So what does Christianity teach that
Buddhism does not?
1- Christianity teaches a
creator god.
Buddhism does not.
2- Christianity teaches that Jesus is the son of god
Buddhism teaches that Buddha was a man, who through his own exertions came to know the truth. Buddha is not a god, the son of a god nor the divine messenger of a god.
3- Christianity teaches that we have an eternal soul.
Buddhism would refute this. All conditioned phenomena arise and cease.
4- Christianity teaches that we have 1 life, after which depending on our belief in a savior or not will lead to spending an eternity in heaven, or an eternity in hell.
Buddhism teaches that we have already had countless past lives in many different realms and will continue on the cycle of samsara until we cut off all of our defilements and attain Arahatship. We have no outside savior that we can pray to and ask to forgive us for our non virtuous actions. It is up to us.
5- Christianity believes that only human beings will be saved (go to heaven) and that animals have no souls.
Buddhism believes that all living beings have sentience and therefore have the right to be free from suffering.
6- Christianity believes that we can be held responsible for the sins (non virtuous actions) of our fathers, to the 7th generation.
Buddhism says I am the owner of my Kamma, heir to my kamma. I am not responsible for the non virtuous kamma of others.
So here we see a few major differences between Christianity and Buddhism, which leads to the first question. Why is it that I decided to become a Buddhist monk?
Having been brought up in the west, naturally I was exposed to Christianity in its various forms, however there were aspects of Christianity that I found hard to come to grips with.
1. I was told that the most evil person I could possibly imagine, if at the point of death, proclaimed Jesus as their savior and asked for forgiveness would go and spend eternity in heaven, and yet a new born baby, that died as soon as it was born would go to hell for an eternity as it had not accepted Jesus as its Lord and savior.
2. I was told that every human being, born before the time of Jesus would spend all eternity in hell because they had not accepted him as their Lord and savior. This seemed somewhat harsh to me.
3. The other thing was, if I was guilty of the sins of my father, then what chance did I have of obtaining a place in heaven. Might as well just do as I please, if my destiny has been pre-ordained.
4. The other problem was that in the last book of the Bible it states that 144,000 people get to go to heaven. I guess that leaves a lot of people out in the cold.
About 10 years ago, I happened to get a chance to listen to the Dalai Lama give a 2 week public talk inIndia .
As he spoke about the basics of Buddhism, Khamma, Rebirth, etc there was a deep
understanding of what he was talking about. It made sense. I found however that
I was drawn more to the teachings of the Theravada tradition and so spent more
time attending temples in Thailand ,
listening to the Dhamma and practicing Vipassana Meditation.
After a few years I began thinking about living the monastic life, but of course always had something that held me back. About a year ago, I was sitting in my apartment in Chiang Mai eating some cake and dropped some crumbs on the floor. Before long, a steady line of ants was working its way backwards and forwards along the floor, carving off bits of crumb and heading back to their nest. As I watched this frenzied activity it occurred to me how lucky I was to have been born human, in a time when I could still hear the teachings of the Buddha.
I had my health, my mental faculties, etc and at that moment knew that I had to settle my house holders affairs and go forth. Last year I took my Bhikkhu vows and was invited to this temple to teach Vipassana meditation to people interested in learning, so here I am.
With metta.
Buddhism does not.
2- Christianity teaches that Jesus is the son of god
Buddhism teaches that Buddha was a man, who through his own exertions came to know the truth. Buddha is not a god, the son of a god nor the divine messenger of a god.
3- Christianity teaches that we have an eternal soul.
Buddhism would refute this. All conditioned phenomena arise and cease.
4- Christianity teaches that we have 1 life, after which depending on our belief in a savior or not will lead to spending an eternity in heaven, or an eternity in hell.
Buddhism teaches that we have already had countless past lives in many different realms and will continue on the cycle of samsara until we cut off all of our defilements and attain Arahatship. We have no outside savior that we can pray to and ask to forgive us for our non virtuous actions. It is up to us.
5- Christianity believes that only human beings will be saved (go to heaven) and that animals have no souls.
Buddhism believes that all living beings have sentience and therefore have the right to be free from suffering.
6- Christianity believes that we can be held responsible for the sins (non virtuous actions) of our fathers, to the 7th generation.
Buddhism says I am the owner of my Kamma, heir to my kamma. I am not responsible for the non virtuous kamma of others.
So here we see a few major differences between Christianity and Buddhism, which leads to the first question. Why is it that I decided to become a Buddhist monk?
Having been brought up in the west, naturally I was exposed to Christianity in its various forms, however there were aspects of Christianity that I found hard to come to grips with.
1. I was told that the most evil person I could possibly imagine, if at the point of death, proclaimed Jesus as their savior and asked for forgiveness would go and spend eternity in heaven, and yet a new born baby, that died as soon as it was born would go to hell for an eternity as it had not accepted Jesus as its Lord and savior.
2. I was told that every human being, born before the time of Jesus would spend all eternity in hell because they had not accepted him as their Lord and savior. This seemed somewhat harsh to me.
3. The other thing was, if I was guilty of the sins of my father, then what chance did I have of obtaining a place in heaven. Might as well just do as I please, if my destiny has been pre-ordained.
4. The other problem was that in the last book of the Bible it states that 144,000 people get to go to heaven. I guess that leaves a lot of people out in the cold.
About 10 years ago, I happened to get a chance to listen to the Dalai Lama give a 2 week public talk in
After a few years I began thinking about living the monastic life, but of course always had something that held me back. About a year ago, I was sitting in my apartment in Chiang Mai eating some cake and dropped some crumbs on the floor. Before long, a steady line of ants was working its way backwards and forwards along the floor, carving off bits of crumb and heading back to their nest. As I watched this frenzied activity it occurred to me how lucky I was to have been born human, in a time when I could still hear the teachings of the Buddha.
I had my health, my mental faculties, etc and at that moment knew that I had to settle my house holders affairs and go forth. Last year I took my Bhikkhu vows and was invited to this temple to teach Vipassana meditation to people interested in learning, so here I am.
With metta.
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