Buddhism similarities

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stupidisasstupiddoes

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I’m looking for comments on this thought I’ve had. It’s absract so if that’s not your strong point then…

I’m trying to boil the major religions into their most archetypal point and then seeing which is most similar to Catholicism. My working answer is Buddhism and here’s why…

Judaism has a set of scared laws that must be kept for salvation.

Islam is complex because it’s a devine revelation with scholarly interpretations (like Catholicism), but it’s highly decentralised which makes it more like Protestantism than Catholicism in that respect.

With no formal founder, Hinduism is quite unique and very decentralised.

Buhhism is fundamentally about an individual who achieved a state of being that was perfect. Which seems to me to be the closest to the Catholic church which at it’s core is trying to teach us how to follow the example of Jesus.

So i don’t understand all those religions perfectly and I’m looking for constructive comments to refine this analysis. This is the only level it really makes sense, there’s no point discussing reincarnation vrs heaven as the religions are obviously very different when you get to that level. But at the highest principle that’s where i saw the most commonality. Thoughts?
 
No actually I think the closer two things get to one another but aren’t reconciled as in they speak of two stories, the greater the conflict.
Some hermits in the East say there is no conflict between angels and demons because angels are intrinsic good and demons intrinsic bad. They do not have a dispute. However there is a conflict between God and mankind because man shares a common trait with God, being His greatest creation.
So Buddhists read the Bible and do not convert and get baptized but claim to understand it this is a conflict. Because there is this vibe of “almost like…”
There is similarity if their spiritual world does not lead them to conversion. And after baptism Buddhism is gone. There is only Chtistianity. Those who understand this like eg Pagans, refuse baptism becausee they see the difference, the line being drawn. Jews also see it and always present baptism as a line. Those spiritualities who do not see it simply xan’t be our twins.
 
I think the big difference is self-centered and Catholicism or Christianity in general for that matter is God-centered.
 
As far as which religions are most similar to Catholicism, obviously other Apostolic Christian Churches are the closest - Eastern Orthodox Catholics, Oriental Orthodox Catholics, and Assyrian Catholics.

The next closest would be high Church Protestants - Anglicans, Episcopalians, Lutherans, some Methodists and Presbyterians.

Next would be the mainline Protestant Churches like the Congregationalists and low Church Baptists, etc.

Next would be Evangelical and Fundamentalist type Protestants, Pentecostals, Southern baptists etc.

After them would be fringe Christian groups like LDS, Jehovahs’ witnesses, Christadelphians, Oneness Pentecostals, etc.

That sums up Christianity.

After that the closest religions to Catholicism would be the other Abrahamic faiths - especially Judaism, but also Islam and Bahaism.

Next would be non-Abrahamic monotheistic faiths - so Sikhism and Zoroastrianism and various others.

Next would be polytheistic religions like Hinduism, Shintoism and traditional Chinese religions.

Farthest away from Catholicism would be non theistic religions - Jainism, and this is where Buddhism would fall too.

If you know Catholic Christianity well, and you study Buddhism in depth, you will see that doctrinally they are worlds apart.

On a moral and ethical level, Buddhism and Catholicism are somewhat similar. But as I said, doctrinally — not even close. Not even superficially.
 
Sure but I’m talking about the most fundamental principle. Your distinction is correct but we’re both trying to follow the example of a perfect individual. Ours is devine, Buhhda doesn’t claim to be devine.

I find this very different to Judaism where the rules are an ends in themselves. Hence why Jesus shocked them with “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2, 27).
 
The Jews had an oral tradition that became written as the Law Moses had successors that taught with the authority of Moses. Their teaching of the Law had to be obeyed like coming from Moses. They had a Tradition and a small t tradition. they had a priesthood for sacrices
 
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stupidisasstupiddoes said:
Sure but I’m talking about the most fundamental principle. Your distinction is correct but we’re both trying to follow the example of a perfect individual. Ours is devine, Buhhda doesn’t claim to be devine.
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It’s more fundamentally different than you’re making it out to be:

Buddhism’s fundamental claims are that:
  • there is no God
  • there is no creation
  • there is no individual self
Christianity’s fundamental claims are that:
  • there most certainly is a God
  • God created the universe
  • God came to earth in order to redeem human individuals so that they might have eternal life with him
Buddhism, therefore, is about as different as you can get from Christianity… 😉
 
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I don’t disagree with that, but those sit below the level i am talking at really.
 
I know, So isn’t it more similar in it’s treatment of revelationh of God outwardly budhism seems more like Catholicism
 
Gorgias said:
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stupidisasstupiddoes:
Sure but I’m talking about the most fundamental principle. Your distinction is correct but we’re both trying to follow the example of a perfect individual. Ours is devine, Buhhda doesn’t claim to be devine.
Click to expand...
It’s more fundamentally different than you’re making it out to be:

Buddhism’s fundamental claims are that:
  • there is no God
  • there is no creation
  • there is no individual self
Christianity’s fundamental claims are that:
  • there most certainly is a God
  • God created the universe
  • God came to earth in order to redeem human individuals so that they might have eternal life with him
Buddhism, therefore, is about as different as you can get from Christianity… 😉
Click to expand...
Well Buddhism main claim is that no claim accurately fits reality. No God, No self and all that is kind of misleading…like saying Christianity believes in the death of the self.

A main key is compassionate detachment. Both Buddhism and Christianity are about deeply caring for others but not with a sense of ownership or selfish possession. Both are about mental hygiene which can be very close to the beginning of spiritual hygiene. Op talked about the goal of self perfection. B and C have different interpretations of what that is or looks like by they both involve transcendence of suffering. That is the main thrust of B and doing it through detachment (of everything including self). C does it through loving union wth Christ. But we are only beginning to understand what that can mean. “Pick up your cross and follow me.” By embracing, accepting suffering we actually detach ourselves from it, transcend it or “overcome” it as Jesus said.

Both B and C are about selflessness. In a way that other religions, especially Islam and Judaism are not. Hinduism is about selflessness in the sense of transcending this small ego self to discover a larger true cosmic self (like our true self in Christ?).
 
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I’m not sure what you’re trying to say.

Judaism is definitely closer to Catholicism than Buddhism.

Jews have the same Scripture as us, they worship the same God as us, they follow the same 10 commandments as us, they believe in heaven like us Catholics and the Resurrection of the dead.

Buddhists literally don’t believe in any of that. They have totally different Scriptures. They either worship no god at all, or various East Asian deities/Boddhisatvas. They follow the eightfold path and four noble truths, not the 10 Commandments. They generally don’t believe in heaven, but in reincarnation, and the ones who do believe in a type of heaven conceive of it very differently from Catholics. And they generally don’t believe in any sort of bodily resurrection.

Jews are MUCH closer to Catholicism than Buddhists.
 
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Shakuhachi said:
That is the main thrust of B and doing it through detachment (of everything including self).
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So… according to Buddhism, when one reaches complete transcendence, does the individual self continue to exist?

If so, does the individual self recognize that creation is not reality?

😉
 
I think we need clearer categories for comparison and contrast.
 
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stupidisasstupiddoes said:
I don’t disagree with that, but those sit below the level i am talking at really.
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They really don’t. It’s possible to abstract these fundamental differences away… but then you’ve lost the essences of the two systems. At that point, if you’ve abstracted that far, then it’s just an exercise in sophistry… 🤷‍♂️
 
It’s not sophistry because I’m not making any wider claim than this. It’s purely an abstract thought experiment. Hence why i can agree with your points but not see them as contradictory, yet!
 
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