BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Buddhism Differences?

Hi! I have been having a theological debate with a friend of mine lately. He is an atheist, while I am a Christian. He said I ought to check out the teachings of Buddhism. I do not know ANYTHING about Buddhism!

What are the major differences between your beliefs and mine? Do you believe in God? I am going to assume not Jesus?
What about heaven/ hell and the final resting place of the soul.

Anything else you can think of I would appreiate, I am very interested. From everything my friend told me it is a very peaceful religion.

Thanks!

Hi!

His Holiness the Dalai Lama says, "My religion is kindness,� I can think of no better explanation.

A very good and informative introduction that covers the very basics can be found [url=BellaOnline ALERT: For anti-spam reasons, we restrict the number of URLs allowed in a given post. You have exceeded our maximum number of URLs.

I get questions like that a lot. In fact, a man followed me off a highway and into a parking lot two weeks ago to ask me if I believed in Jesus Christ (I have a Karma bumper sticker)...I usually answer with something like "yes, i believe Jesus is one of the most influential teachers in history" and that's enough to satisfy them without me having to justify.

The really smart, in practice Buddhists don't even think about these sort of things, they are content in knowing they will eventually know the answer...maybe <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I'm not quite there yet, LOL.

Jesus and Buddha as Brothers is a great recommendation!

Meg

<img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />
I had a chance to look at the first link you suggested, but not the others, yet (but I will). But, I'm afraid in light of some of your statements it left me even more confused. Clearly Buddhism does not believe in God the Father, yet you say you know Christians who are Buddhists. How can that be? To be a true Christian you must have faith that God is the one true god, that Jesus Christ was His Son, and that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose again in three days. AND you must receive Jesus/God as your Lord and Savior.

How can someone do this, yet be a Buddhist that doesn't believe in God, and thinks Jesus was either just a good man, or the brother of Buddha? (Or was that meant metaphorically, like brothers in the spiritual sense?)

It just seems that the two religions would be mutually exclusive. The IDEALS, however, do seem to coincide. To rule by serving others, to love others as you love yourself, to treat others as if they were Christ because in by doing so you ARE doing for Him, to live by peace not war-because to spread ones religion in hate is to destroy all credibility and trust. I definitely like the peacefulness and the caring that is expressed by Buddhism, and it seems like you guys (as a whole) are much better at holding up these ideals than are Christians (when taken as a whole; there are some WONDERFUL Christians out there who exemplify living for Christ, unfortunately they get overshadowed, because that is the nature of a selfless giver). Your religion just seems to have nailed it on the head, I don't know why we seem to have so many people who claim Christianity but refuse to live the life, but so many other religions' followers seem to have just the opposite. This is what we need to learn from you the most I think.

I'm sorry, I should have explained a little bit more.

It is because Buddhism does not believe in a God as Christians do that those who consider themselves to be both do not feel they are abandoning The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit by worshiping false idols.

Some also feel that the Buddha's teachings help them to be a better person and to fully live Christ's teachings. I don�t think it would be possible to consider oneself a Christian first and then a Buddhist if they were not first secure in their Christian beliefs. To them Buddhism supplements their beliefs.




They only conclusion I could come to was that some Christians feel that Christ died for their sins and that since they have asked for forgiveness they do not feel the need to follow Christ path of love and kindness. It is quite sad that his message has been over looked.

I should add I have found it to be sad when I'm asking questions about the Bible and the Christians I am talking to haven't even read it.

Until this past year I fell into that category. Oh i knew all the "major" stories, but I didn't understand some of the nuances, and I didn't fully appreciate what my Savior had done for me. I did the "good works", but I missed the picture on the daily walk with my Lord.

That's where a lot of us seem to get goofed up. 1st we have to accept Christ. After we do that we need to build and nourish that relationship (just like you would with anyone you were in love with, although this is not the sensual kind), then because of that love we should want to be just like him and follow in his footsteps. That is where it is the trilogy. God the Father (creator), Son (the part of Him that became human so He could physically become a sacrifice for us), the Holy Spirit (the part of Him that dwells in us to help guide us and give us strength and comfort). 1st and foremost He is our Father and a loving One, we should want to be "just like Him" <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> It should just follow naturally!
Unfortunately we are human, and we (including myself) let that human, selfish nature get in the way of what would be the most perfect relationship in the world.