Buddhist morality and Catholic morality- Why so similar? Are they?

[Marybeloved]

I have great respect for the Buddha due to the fact that he made no false claims about himself and simply endeavored to teach what he learned by experience. His life is very much like one of Our greatest saints, St. Francis of Assisi, due to the similarities of their lives- Rich people who discovered “real life” beyond their rich closeted lives and left it all to live a life of poverty and detachment and compassion. St. Francis was being obedient to Our Lord’s command to leave all to follow him, and to love others.

Q:I’ve always thought that Buddhist morality is the closest thing to Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, outside Christianity- do you think so too?
Q:How are they similar and how are they different? What do you think is the reason for the Similarities/Differences?

 

[CountrySteve]

no offense but please dont comparee St. Francis of Assisi with buddha they both follow different paths (i am a former buddhist by the way) buddhist dpnt even belive in love but as Christians we belive in love, God bless

 

[Marybeloved]

no offense but please dont comparee St. Francis of Assisi with buddha they both follow different paths (i am a former buddhist by the way) buddhist dpnt even belive in love but as Christians we belive in love, God bless

Hey Steve

That’s very interesting. So as a former Buddhist who is becoming Catholic, could you please try and answer my questions for me if you can? What are the differences/similarities between Buddhist and Catholic moralities?

So, the similarities between the Buddha and St. Francis are only superficial then…of course one is a Christian Saint, the other is not, so you’re perfectly right. I just thought that their stories are a bit similar from an outside perspective.

 

[CountrySteve]

Hey Steve

That’s very interesting. So as a former Buddhist who is becoming Catholic, could you please try and answer my questions for me if you can? What are the differences/similarities between Buddhist and Catholic moralities?

So, the similarities between the Buddha and St. Francis are only superficial then…of course one is a Christian Saint, the other is not, so you’re perfectly right. I just thought that their stories are a bit similar from an outside perspective.

well the love thing as a stated is a big difference lol some similarities are we both belive in charity, too not be attached too materials, humility, dont steal, lie. etc. some more difference’s is we belive in a God buddhist dont, as Christians we dont believe in reincarnation, we belive in one life one soul, we also dont belive in karma well buddhist believe in karma which is if you something good good comes back too you but if you do something bad something bad will happen too you, God bless you Edit: btw before i was a buddhist i was protesant and i was interseted in buddha then unfortuantly converted so please dont leave God’s Church

 

[rossum]

no offense but please dont comparee St. Francis of Assisi with buddha they both follow different paths (i am a former buddhist by the way) buddhist dpnt even belive in love but as Christians we belive in love, God bless

The first of the four Brahmaviharas is loving-kindness (metta).

“Love others as you love yourself.” - Bhadramayakaravyakarana sutra 91.

Buddhism does indeed believe in love.

rossum

 

[amber_lux]

Buddhism does indeed believe in love.

The Buddhist concept of love is different from that of the Catholic concept of love.

Amber

 

[rossum]

The Buddhist concept of love is different from that of the Catholic concept of love.

Jesus: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
The Buddha: “Love others as you love yourself.”

I can’t say that I see a tremendous difference there.

rossum

 

[CountrySteve]

The first of the four Brahmaviharas is loving-kindness (metta).

“Love others as you love yourself.” - Bhadramayakaravyakarana sutra 91.

Buddhism does indeed believe in love.

rossum

thats werid whenever i was a buddhist i was told that dont believe in love for its an attachment

 

[Diosesamor]

Good morning!

I read this earlier but hadn’t had the opportunity to respond. I don’t think any of us could respond as accurately or thoroughly as good research on the subject. There is a ton of information out there. But I am glad you posted here and that we can all share our opinions and ideas.

The morality of our Catholic Church is very profound. The Catechism might provide a good starting point as well as the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes. I think a more specific question might help… ? Too.

Buddhism is not considered a religion by many because they do not believe in a Creator God
Catholics, we believe in a loving God who created us.

Buddhism was initiated by a man who was from a family that had wealth and then left his family comforts and followed the spiritual practices of others including meditation.St Francis left all to follow God… Buddha left to follow??? Very different. Even as Buddha experienced being without material comforts… he never found God.

Jesus was born in poverty. He grew up among the peoples and then taught people how to pray, guided them to conversion, and taught them many more things.

Buddhism is about not suffering
Catholicism is about giving meaning to our suffering and experiencing it because Jesus Himself suffered too

These are just a few examples. What I remember about going to a Buddhist temple is that there were also a lot of elements of fortune telling or focus on luck. While for Catholics, the first is a sin and luck is equivalent to a lack of trust in God’s which is central to our lives.

God bless you and keep you faithful to Him. You should be aware that many Catholics are often led by the evil-doer to seek elsewhere or to doubt their faith in God. I knew a Catholic woman who had once lived a Cursillo de Cristiandad, was planning a Catholic wedding even though she said in her private life she considered herself a Buddhist. I was shocked because she had spent time learning about her faith in Cursillo… But often many scholarly people or confused others are interested in “Enlightenment” instead of Jesus whom is the TRUTH and the only LIGHT. God help you in your life.

 

[gubernova]

Excellent book on this subject called “Living Buddha, Living Christ.” It is a spiritual classic.

 

[CountrySteve]

Good morning!

I read this earlier but hadn’t had the opportunity to respond. I don’t think any of us could respond as accurately or thoroughly as good research on the subject. There is a ton of information out there. But I am glad you posted here and that we can all share our opinions and ideas.

The morality of our Catholic Church is very profound. The Catechism might provide a good starting point as well as the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes. I think a more specific question might help… ? Too.

Buddhism is not considered a religion by many because they do not believe in a Creator God
Catholics, we believe in a loving God who created us.

Buddhism was initiated by a man who was from a family that had wealth and then left his family comforts and followed the spiritual practices of others including meditation.St Francis left all to follow God… Buddha left to follow??? Very different. Even as Buddha experienced being without material comforts… he never found God.

Jesus was born in poverty. He grew up among the peoples and then taught people how to pray, guided them to conversion, and taught them many more things.

Buddhism is about not suffering
Catholicism is about giving meaning to our suffering and experiencing it because Jesus Himself suffered too

These are just a few examples. What I remember about going to a Buddhist temple is that there were also a lot of elements of fortune telling or focus on luck. While for Catholics, the first is a sin and luck is equivalent to a lack of trust in God’s which is central to our lives.

God bless you and keep you faithful to Him. You should be aware that many Catholics are often led by the evil-doer to seek elsewhere or to doubt their faith in God. I knew a Catholic woman who had once lived a Cursillo de Cristiandad, was planning a Catholic wedding even though she said in her private life she considered herself a Buddhist. I was shocked because she had spent time learning about her faith in Cursillo… But often many scholarly people or confused others are interested in “Enlightenment” instead of Jesus whom is the TRUTH and the only LIGHT. God help you in your life.

Dude, can i quote this(the one sentence i made darker)?

 

[rossum]

thats werid whenever i was a buddhist i was told that dont believe in love for its an attachment

Love can be attached or detached. The attached kind is better than hate, but the detached kind is best.

Another translation of metta is “loving-kindness”, which has less of the implications of “love” in English. It is often difficult when translating words from one language to another.

rossum

 

[rossum]

Buddhism was initiated by a man who was from a family that had wealth and then left his family comforts and followed the spiritual practices of others including meditation.

Initially he learned from others. When they could not satisfy his search, he set out on his own to (re)discover the path to enlightenment.

St Francis left all to follow God… Buddha left to follow???

The Buddha left to search, not to follow. After six years he found the object of his search.

rossum

 

[Agnikan]

Buddhism is about not suffering
Catholicism is about giving meaning to our suffering and experiencing it because Jesus Himself suffered too

Buddhism is about not suffering when the suffering is a result of lust, hatred, and delusion.
Buddhism is about accepting suffering when the suffering is a result of generosity, compassion, and wisdom.

 

[Marybeloved]

Hey people!

To my Catholic friends, it seems I gave the wrong impression in my opening post . I am NOT looking into Buddhism as an option for me, lol! I am very, very much a Catholic through and through- If you follow my history of postings you’ll find ample evidence of that- From defending The Blessed Trinity to Christ’s Divinity, the marian dogmas, papacy, Catholic Church as the one true Church founded by Christ, sacraments, sacred tradition etc etc- So have no worries, my friends- It’s all good

My question was a genuinely curious one. Like I said, amongst non-Christian religions, I look most favorably on Buddhism because I sort of “trust” the Buddha in a way- Why? I feel that he found natural religion and natural morality as can be found w/out God’s intervention through divine revelation like in Judaism and Christianity-Which revelation we believe to be true only of Judaism and Christianity .

The Buddha did not claim to be speaking for God, so he was not interested in self aggrandizement or imposing his beliefs on others as may be expected of those who make these claims and fail to prove them (Calm down now, Christ passes the test with flying colors). I tend to find his (the Buddha’s) approach to be scientific- That is, he learned by trial and error and experience and taught what he found to others. I may be wrong, but I’ve always thought that the reason why Buddhism does not teach about God, is precisely this approach taken by the Buddha- He taught only what he experienced and did not spend time on speculating on realities of the divine which he could not know, seeing as there was no divine revelation granted to him.

I’m interested because Buddhism tends to teach certain truths taught by Catholic faith and Saints, rooted in Christ’s teaching about morality- whatever name they may designate for it- We know that the moral law is natural and present to all humans, so I’m curious if the Buddha’s moral/ethical teachings were not his own keen intuition into that moral order of things, regardless of how he may have worded it or understood/explained it??

I hope I haven’t offended anyone here by my comments- If I have, please, my peaceful Buddhist brothers, pardon me .

Peace!