Can you be Christian and buddist at the same time?

CathyMoran

Hi, just wondering if you can be Christian and Buddist at the same time. My best friend is buddist and I should have asked him, I have a lot of respect for him and his views on life and am curious. Sorry if it seems like a silly question.

Yechidah

There are very strong similiarities between Gnosticism (which, in its most popular form, has a distinctive Christian "flavour" to it) and Buddhism, so I guess if you were a Christian Gnostic, there is the possibility of sharing quite a lot of Buddhist beliefs and practices. Indeed, some Gnostics read and utilise Buddhist texts and refer to Buddha within their cosmologies.

Not entirely sure if you can be "both", especially if you weren't a Gnostic Christian, as it would be mixing two very different systems. I'd say some level of compromise would be needed, and this would include axing some key beliefs/practices on either side.

LLLSHJ,
Yechidah.

Asiaprod

Yechidah wrote:

Not entirely sure if you can be "both", especially if you weren't a Gnostic Christian, as it would be mixing two very different systems. I'd say some level of compromise would be needed, and this would include axing some key beliefs/practices on either side.

LLLSHJ,
Yechidah.

Yechidah, welcome, great to see you on board. Now we should have a whole new world to explore.

I would agree with the above. Compromise is key, but I too feel that at some stage one would have to commit to something. It could well be that Buddhism and Christianity are both part of a pyramid that has something totally different at its apex. This is why I call myself an Independent Buddhist, i.e. not bound by man made rules, but open to all possibilities. Meditation Mom frequently reefers to Christianity. I would value her opinion on this one.

Bodhidharma

I'm not an expert on either Christianity or Buddhism but i would say you can be both at the same time time. Buddhism is a philosophy and Chrsitianity is a religion so i dont see a conflict. I am an atheist and a Buddhist and i dont consider myself wrong or hypocritical.
Its not as if there is dogma in Buddhism that prevents worship of another religion. Maybe you should choose one over the other but i dont think its a necessity. It is more about how you live than obeying rules.
In saying that i would guess a priest would have a stronger opinion on it than i do.

scojones

I'd like to think you can... It's how I view myself. There are some things from the Catholic way of thinking that I do follow. For instance my best friend died a few years ago, and I still talk to him nearly everyday. I ask him for things and to help my day to day living be a little easier. I have visions of him up in heaven with God and all my relatives who have passed on and I believe some day I will see him again. That's about as far as my Catholic beliefs go.

I use the Buddhist way of thinking to help my day to day life be easier. Buddhism helps me put things in perspective and also helps me to relieve stress or anger. I'm only starting out so I'm not even sure exactly how it works. I guess I am making a compromise between the two. I'm taking what I like from both of them and using what helps make my life easier.

I hope this makes sense hehe.

MeditationMom

Whatever takes us closer to God, which in Buddhist language would be - whatever takes us closer to enlightenment and self-realization - let's use it. Jesus' teachings are as good as Buddha's, and so are many, many others. If we stay away from church dogma, and find the similarities in the teachings, which will always be kindness, love, compassion, silent inner communion with our source of being, union, we are in good hands.

I guess this just confirms what everyone else said. From an intellectual, theological, dogmatic point of view I would agree with Yechidah.

The question is not silly but I feel like warning you about any sort of identification. Osho, for example, used to tell his sannyasins to not be Christians but Christs, not Buddhists but Buddhas. Meaning "wake up from all ideas of this and that, especially don't squabble about them." Buddha and Jesus are the same. Awake! All roads lead to Rome, all religions lead home.

CathyMoran

Thanks everyone for their replies so far. My best friend is such a good person and I believe that his buddist faith is part of that so it is something that I would like to investigate further complementary to my own faith.

Asiaprod

CathyMoran wrote:

Thanks everyone for their replies so far. My best friend is such a good person and I believe that his buddist faith is part of that so it is something that I would like to investigate further complementary to my own faith.

Tis a nice thing about Buddhism that it can indeed walk in part hand-in-hand with just about any religious belief system. As Bodhidharma already pointed out "Buddhism is a philosophy and Chrsitianity is a religion. In the beginning, one does not need to conflict with the other, later on could well be a different story.

Scofflaw

Asiaprod wrote:

Tis a nice thing about Buddhism that it can indeed walk in part hand-in-hand with just about any religious belief system. As Bodhidharma already pointed out "Buddhism is a philosophy and Chrsitianity is a religion. In the beginning, one does not need to conflict with the other, later on could well be a different story.

As far as I'm aware, my brother is both Buddhist and Christian - Buddhist enough to carry out the necessary Buddhist meditations/rituals for the death of an uncle, Christian enough to be a steward of his local church. He's a Lecturer in Comparative Religion with a specific interest in Buddhism, so I take it he would be aware of any doctrinal conflicts as well...

cordially,
Scofflaw

Asiaprod

Scofflaw wrote:

As far as I'm aware, my brother is both Buddhist and Christian - Buddhist enough to carry out the necessary Buddhist meditations/rituals for the death of an uncle, Christian enough to be a steward of his local church. He's a Lecturer in Comparative Religion with a specific interest in Buddhism, so I take it he would be aware of any doctrinal conflicts as well...

cordially,
Scofflaw

Yes he would, or should be, and I would love to hear them and how he reconciled these issues in his life. What would he call himself? A christian, A christian with Buddhist leanings, A Buddhist with Christian leanings. For myself, I do separate them. I see a lot of good in Christianity and a lot of good stuff written in the Bible, yet still I can only accept the person of Jesus as a mortal with gifted insight, a charismatic leader, and one who seems to have a very deep insight into Buddhism (not something he could have picked up over night). I have referred many times to my belief that he spent his missing years In India, and that this is documented in various text of the time. I believe that later in life he tried to teach a very Buddhist message that got taken, and adapted as is the norm to suit a different class of people with very different spiritual beliefs and needs. Christianity to me is a Hybrid that draws from many beliefs. It is still in agreement with my Buddhist ethics which teaches respect and tolerance for all religions.

Red flags for my belief would include, the current concept of one overall Christian God, an external heaven & hell, a celibate priesthood making or enforcing rules for non-celibates, A pope that speaks for a God, confession as a get out of jail card (in that saying sorry to a deity and promising not to do it again may not be enough) and with the concept that non believers are bound for some place of punishment.

These are all issues that are personal in nature and not written down in any list of rules I have been given to follow. I guess for me, the whole point in being a Buddhist is to be free to make choices myself based on my experience, and having made those choices to not feel any form of guilt in having made them. IMHO, Buddhism is not a religion, and does not try to be. Its is a philosophy with an attach spiritual aspect, that also incorporates rituals, such as meditation, or offering services for the departed. It tries to explain the nature of the person and his/her interaction with his/her environment. As with any belief, there are sects in Buddhism that take a far more deeper spiritual path that incorporates prayers, rituals and beliefs that I do not. I cannot call these wrong, I don't know if they are or not. I just know that they are not paths that resonate with me at this time. They may indeed do so later as I grow in my experiences. Hence I love Boards i.e. for giving me these opportunities to learn new ways and to grow in my understanding of my world and the people that inhabit it.

The above i hope explains a little as to why I can see any religion and Buddhism walking together, up to a point. Unfortunately, the more ones studies Buddhism, the more skeptical one can become of religions, and visa versa. That is why I pointed out that eventually conflicts will arise. Like in where did we come from, who/what made all this that we see, is there a continuation of our own life after death. Here Buddhism will split from the mainstream and go its own merry way.


All this is of course MHO.

MeditationMom

An interesting quote I came across the other day from Vivekananda on this subject - Asiaprod's post reminded me of it today -

"If all were of the same religious opinion, there would be no religion. No sooner does a religion start than it breaks into pieces. The process is for the religion to go on dividing until each man has his own religion, until each man has thought out his own thoughts and carved out for himself his own religion."

Authenticity comes to mind. Own inner experience, study, experimentation, practice. Why is it, and what is it, that attracts us to other religions, or keeps us in the one we grew up in, or even has us denying all of them, but some inner guidance to begin with.

CathyMoran

CathyMoran wrote:

Hi, just wondering if you can be Christian and Buddist at the same time. My best friend is buddist and I should have asked him, I have a lot of respect for him and his views on life and am curious. Sorry if it seems like a silly question.

If you take the idea of their respective approaches to suffering, for example, you'll see they're fairly different.
I suppose on the surface you could be but... it's going to have to lean one way or the other if you go any more in depth.

scojones

The more I learn about buddhism the more I realise that this is the case. So far I am quite content but I will definitely use this thread for any 'conflicts of interest' which may arise along this journey of mine. It will be good to throw some thoughts on the subject out there and get some feedback from you wonderful people.

egan007

Yes - you can be anything you want......FACT

Asiaprod

sjones wrote:

and get some feedback from you wonderful people.

Don't forget you are one of them too.;)

atsherene

Hi - I've always wondered about these relationships but I've always believed that with compromise no one has to force the other to be in their religion - is that true?

Is it so much of a scam if one forces the other to be in the religion? for instance my friend says that she is going to be a christian because her partner would want her to be 'saved' and would not be able to deal with the fact that his loved one will end up in hell or something.

I was thinking if he really loved her he would understand.

Yoda

Perhaps you're not going to like me to say it, but I don't think there's anything in the Nicene Creed that is really compatible with Buddhism.

There's much in the Gospel of Thomas which is, however.

Asiaprod

Yoda wrote:

There's much in the Gospel of Thomas which is, however.

That is one very good read. I continue to urge my friends to read it. If only it had been included with the 4 we currently have the world could be a very different place.

Yechidah

Yoda wrote:

There's much in the Gospel of Thomas which is, however.

This is why I mentioned Gnostic Christianity/Christian Gnosticism as being the most viable way of embracing Buddhism while also embracing Christianity.

There are many other Gnostic texts like this, but Thomas is probably the most compatible with Buddhism.

LLLSHJ,
Yechidah.

Asiaprod

Yechidah wrote:

There are many other Gnostic texts like this, but Thomas is probably the most compatible with Buddhism.
LLLSHJ,
Yechidah.

Hi Yechidah, having already read the Nag Hammadi collection, can you recommend any other texts that are somewhat compatible with Buddhism.
I would be interested to hear what aspects of Buddhism and Gnosticism you feel are are most compatible.

JimiTime

Do Buddhists worship Buddah? Do Buddhists believe in creation by their god? or can 'Buddhists' choose which parts of buddhism they like and leave what they don't? I remember talking to a Thai girl in Australia and her explaining the Buddhists explaination of Creation being something like, The earth was meant to be 80% land and 20% water, but the creator God made a mistake or something like that. Most of what I see on this thread seems to suggest that Buddhism as a religion is not really there, but the teachings of buddhism relating to living your life are what most refer to as buddhism. Is this correct, or am I way off the mark?

The reason I post this question here is because, by even referring to another 'god' with respect never mind worship, would be in direct conflict with Christ.

Yoda

No, the Buddha is not worshipped. He is honoured and revered, but he was "just" a man who tried to teach people some pretty sound things.

I find Buddhism completely in accord with scientific Darwinism and modern cosmology. No need for gods at all.

JimiTime

Yoda wrote:

No, the Buddha is not worshipped. He is honoured and revered, but he was "just" a man who tried to teach people some pretty sound things.

I find Buddhism completely in accord with scientific Darwinism and modern cosmology. No need for gods at all.

So Buddhism has no gods? No doctrine about what happens when you die, or where we came from? Its just a guide on how you should live your life?

Yoda

Does one need gods? There isn't any evidence for them. Buddhism teaches a Way to end suffering, which is rooted in observation of reality. What happens when we die? One may theorize. Tibetan Buddhists theorize a lot about it. They might even be right. But you won't know till you get there, and in the meantime, there's still the Way.

Someone asked the Buddha whether the skandhas which make up an individual's consciousness stuck together after death and went to another rebirth, or whether the energies dissipated in some way. The Buddha said, more or less: "You know? I'm enlightened. I might know the answer. And if I did, I could tell you. But you'd just cling to that answer, when the Way teaches us to cling to nothing. So work out your salvation with diligence."

JimiTime

Yoda wrote:

Does one need gods? There isn't any evidence for them. Buddhism teaches a Way to end suffering, which is rooted in observation of reality. What happens when we die? One may theorize. Tibetan Buddhists theorize a lot about it. They might even be right. But you won't know till you get there, and in the meantime, there's still the Way.

Someone asked the Buddha whether the skandhas which make up an individual's consciousness stuck together after death and went to another rebirth, or whether the energies dissipated in some way. The Buddha said, more or less: "You know? I'm enlightened. I might know the answer. And if I did, I could tell you. But you'd just cling to that answer, when the Way teaches us to cling to nothing. So work out your salvation with diligence."

TBH, i'm not questioning in a manner to undermine. I was just always of the impression that Buddah was your god. So just to be clear, Buddhism does not have a teaching about creation? or an afterlife? or a deity? is there a form of Buddhism that does have teachings on the above? Why do buddhist temples have statues of buddah? Do buddhists believe in Karma? Do they believe in anything supernatural? Are they superstitious? I know one that says you cannot touch the head of a buddah statue or it will bring bad luck, is this a buddhist belief or just a personal superstition?

Sorry about the 20 questions, I'm just intrigued. Thanks.

JimiTime

JimiTime wrote:

TBH, i'm not questioning in a manner to undermine. I was just always of the impression that Buddah was your god. So just to be clear, Buddhism does not have a teaching about creation?

not that I've heard

or an afterlife?

Yes, rebirth. Some buddhist myths involve heavens and hells; some people take them literally I think and some regard them as metaphor

or a deity? is there a form of Buddhism that does have teachings on the above?

No deity but pure landers for example practically worship Amitabha buddha and possibly various bodhisattvas

Do buddhists believe in Karma?

Yes. Karma is action; actions have consequences. It's one of the important parts, I guess.

Do they believe in anything supernatural? Are they superstitious?
I know one that says you cannot touch the head of a buddah statue or it will bring bad luck, is this a buddhist belief or just a personal superstition?

Sorry about the 20 questions, I'm just intrigued. Thanks.

Supernatural stuff and superstitions are personal or maybe even regional.
There are theistic versions of buddhism in different places but by default I think it's atheistic or at least agnostic.
A good place to learn is http://buddhanet.net/ , I recommend searching topics on that.

Asiaprod

JimiTime wrote:

Why do buddhist temples have statues of buddah?

As a mark of respect to our teacher.
We bow and offer incense, flowers or fruit all as a mark of respect to what the teacher (Buddha) accomplished and passed on to us. His statue acts as a reminder.

JimiTime

Thanks for that guys.

Asiaprod

JimiTime wrote:

Thanks for that guys.

Welcome, feel free to ask as many questions as you need, there are great people here with real insight.

Yechidah

Asiaprod wrote:

Hi Yechidah, having already read the Nag Hammadi collection, can you recommend any other texts that are somewhat compatible with Buddhism.
I would be interested to hear what aspects of Buddhism and Gnosticism you feel are are most compatible.

Hey, sorry for the delay.

I'm no expert on Buddhism, but try The Hymn Of The Pearl.

LLLSHJ,
Yechidah.

Asiaprod

Yechidah wrote:

Hey, sorry for the delay.

I'm no expert on Buddhism, but try The Hymn & The Pearl.

LLLSHJ,
Yechidah.

Thanks Yechidah. Here is an interesting one for you if you have not already read it. The Tibetan Gospel http://www.essene.com/Issa.htm

MeditationMom

Interesting site, Asiaprod - didn't know there was a Tibetan Gospel. What I noticed is, it talking about God as one's heavenly "parents", which reminded me of the Christian Scientists addressing God in their child prayers as "Dear Father-Mother-God". I always found that to be a healthy view. The sweetness, understanding and genuineness of the Tibetans comes through in this Gospel.

It is an interesting and quite plausible idea to me that Jesus studied in the East, especially Buddhist teachings. It is somewhat of a puzzle that he or his apostles never mentioned or gave credit to these teachings -at least as far as I know - maybe there is mention of it somewhere.

The other thing that comes to my mind is Osho teaching that Jesus became enlightened on the cross, although highly trained and possessing many siddhis (abilities of mind over matter, aka miracles) before that. He even said that Jesus was showing off with his miracles and that it is one thing that got him into trouble. If that were true, it would explain somewhat also not giving credit to his teachers in the East.

Osho is a tricky fellow who often said things to break apart someone's prejudices - whoever asked a certain question with an agenda, and I do not recall the context. I do recall other stories, though, of enlightened ones being stoned to death - I'll have to look up who - laughing, while being stoned, at the absurdity of the illusionary reality everyone lived and acted in. This level of fear in the face of truth on the crowd's and authorities' side, and this level of love, laughter and knowing in the face of death and injustice, on the enlightened one's side. He said Jesus' statement on the cross, "Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" shows his enlightenment, his shift form Jesus to Christ, after his previous unenlightened "Father, why have you forsaken me?"

Just some thoughts - flying through my empty mind - (don't tell the atheists I said that) - in response to your post. No opinion or judgement on the matter. Thanks for this interesting post -

Yoda

JimiTime wrote:

TBH, i'm not questioning in a manner to undermine. I was just always of the impression that Buddah was your god.

Buddha (please learn how to spell it) is a title, not a name. The teacher was named Gotama Siddattha, and the word buddha is the past participle of the verb stem budh 'wake', so it means 'the woken one'.

The Buddha is not a god.

MaryJane213

hi. i was born a catholic but i've never practiced because the religion wasn't for me. i was wondering are there any things i have to do to become a buddhist?

Yoda

MaryJane,

No, you were not born a Catholic. You were born to Catholic parents.

Remember Laurie Anderson on here album Big Science? "You were born. And so you're free. So happy birthday."

To become a Buddhist, you have to understand the teachings of the Buddha, decide they apply to how you want to live your life, and that's it.

Some people use ritual to mark this decision, which is fine.

MaryJane213

so what if not all the teachings but most of them (and im sure there are a lot i don't know of yet) dont suit me? and are there many groups around dublin?