Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link? (40 page)

Miscellaneous Notable Contrasts

Buddhism

Christianity

All sentient (i.e., aware) beings must be treated with compassion and respect. Killing any animal is wrong.

Killing of many animals for food is acceptable. Human beings were given authority over animals by God.

In having compassion for others, one must not become emotionally attached to them, for that would be a desire, and all desire must be eliminated, because desire causes suffering.

Desiring the good of others above our own is one of the greatest virtues. The extent of such desire can be great, and yet still be very healthy and moral. Having this desire for one’s spouse, for example, would be highly virtuous.

Ethics regarding marriage are comparatively liberal.

Ethics regarding marriage are demanding and conservative.

Buddha taught that all language is inherently inadequate.

Jesus emphasized that the Word of God is powerfully relevant to all aspects of life.

Buddhist Views of Christians

Christian Views of Buddhists

There are many paths to transcending the self. Christianity is an inferior way of accomplishing that because: (1) It is dualistic. (2) It is often intolerant, claiming that it is the only true way. (3) It encourages emotional attachments if they are ostensibly good. (4) It cultivates the belief in the eternal existence of the soul as a unique personality. (5) It has often tolerated violence as a means to achieving various objectives.

Christ is the only way of salvation; Buddhism does not concur with this and is therefore misleading. A relevant quotation from the epistles of the New Testament is: “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.”
¹⁵

Jesus was only one of many bodhisattvas, or manifestations of enlightenment.

Buddhism’s openness to a variety of bodhisattvas is misleading because Christ is the only way of salvation (see above). Jesus said: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, “I am the Christ’, and will deceive many.”
¹⁶

By retaining part of the self, under the illusion that each person has a unique, eternal soul, rather than transcending the self, Christians are prone to trying to make God a being who serves their own desires and dreams. Christians should heed Christ’s call to deny one’s self, take up their cross, and follow him.
¹⁷

Buddhism relies on the self to make a way of salvation instead of looking to the grace of God through Jesus Christ. As Christian thinker Oswald Chambers wrote: “The
disposition of sin
is not immorality and wrong-doing, but
the disposition of self-realization
—
I am my own god.
This disposition may work out in decorous morality or in indecorous immorality, but it has the one basis, my claim to my right to myself.”
¹⁸

Buddha seekers have trouble relating to:

1.   The value of a substitutionary blood sacrifice.

2.   God’s mercy and grace, which seem too easy.

3.   Lack of meditation.

4.   Narrow-minded, judgmental, and/or materialistic attitudes.

5.   The idea of a Creator and one true God.

Christians have trouble relating to:

1.   Seemingly endless stints of meditation in solitude.

2.   An absence of awareness of the power and presence of God.

3.   An absence of the concepts of mercy, grace, and forgiveness.

4.   The idea that one’s words and thoughts can directly change reality.

5.   Buddhism’s ready willingness to blend occult beliefs and practices into Buddhist meditation and life.

Buddhists

Christians

Jesus was a perfect example of what any human can achieve, i.e., becoming a guru, bodhisattva, or enlightened master.

Jesus is uniquely the Son of God, being one with God as part of the Trinity.

Jesus’ crucifixion has relevance only as an example of great compassion and of dying to self. People can escape their karma and find liberation only by their own efforts.

Jesus’ death on the cross was essential as the one way to atone for the sins of all mankind.

If Jesus was resurrected in a physical body, he would not have progressed spiritually to a higher state of existence.

Jesus was resurrected in a physical body and appeared to hundreds as proof of his divinity and the sufficiency of his sacrifice as an atonement for the sins of all mankind.