Strange World

Why Buddhism and not Christianity by Phra Chuntawongso

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.

Apache Blessing

Lady Yasodhara

Published on Aug 29, 2014

A beautiful new song about Lady Yasodhara,  wife of Siddhartha. Lyrics by Inger Marie Moller and music Arjuna Govinda. "In the Vastness of Your Grace." Hopefully you feel something of the love of this great being as you listen to the song. It is deeply inspiring to sing it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8WBo0hnWKg#t=22

Reincarnation Evidence in Ian Stevenson's Research by Robert Almeder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ytD6D1r9pc&feature=youtu.be

Published on Feb 2, 2013

Philosophy professor Dr. Robert Almeder of Georgia State University discusses reincarnation and societal reactions, focusing especially on the work of the late Dr. Ian Stevenson whose presentation is here: http://youtu.be/-pPBwFFWz_k

Some children can remember exact & verifiable details of their prior life they never could have come to know in this their current child life. These details can be objectively and independently confirmed. Remarkably & quite biologically enigmatic: Some of them have birth marks and birth defects at very same locations as the lethal injury causing their often abrupt and violent past life death. Eg. Born with 5 missing fingers after a prior life accident where they were cut off... Birthmarks at the exact location where they got gunshot wounds in their prior life, which could be confirmed from the autopsy report of their deceased individuality. Furthermore: Some can speak a language they never have learnt in this life (xenoglossy) corresponding to their past life language & nationality.

They can in some cases remember names of siblings and other family members in their past life family who they never have met in this life...

Pali Text Society - availability of digital editions

“...the Pali Text Society is pleased to announce the availability of digital editions of the PTS edition of the Pali canon [Pali, not translation]. The files are being made available gradually, text by text, for free download on GRETIL (Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages). 


To retrieve the text go here: http://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gret_utf.htm These files are based on the digital text input by the Dhammakaya Foundation, Thailand, 1989-1996 and are made available by the Pali Text Society for scholarly purposes only.” 

Four Kinds of Bliss

"There are these four kinds of bliss that can be attained in the proper season, on the proper occasions, by a householder enjoying the pleasures of the senses. Which four? The bliss of having, the bliss of [making use of] wealth, the bliss of debtlessness, the bliss of blamelessness."

Anguttara Nikaya IV.62 (Anana Sutta)