Catholics, Christians, Muslims, whatever you are -- How Do You View Buddhism?

[rossum]

Hi AJ and others,
do Buddhists seek refuge in other people living or dead, if they do what is meant by refuge and do they need to know the person or just know of them?
Bless ya

Buddhists take refuge in the Three Jewels:* The Buddha - who is the Teacher.

• The Dharma - which is the Teachings.
• The Sangha - is the community of fellow students.

For the meaning of taking refuge see buddhism.about.com/od/takingrefuge/a/takingrefuge.htm
“Taking refuge in the Buddha, we learn to transform anger into compassion; taking refuge in the Dharma, we learn to transform delusion into wisdom; taking refuge in the Sangha, we learn to transform desire into generosity.”

rossum

 

[KathleenGee]

About Judaism, Christianity and Islam being violent, the beginnings of Christianity contrasted the other.

Also no Jew or Christian wants to take over the Hajj. But Islam in its militant form has it on the score board they tried two times to take over the Vatican, but the third time they will. The False Prophet sitting on the Throne of Peter??? Scary.

 

[tomarin]

About Judaism, Christianity and Islam being violent, the beginnings of Christianity contrasted the other.

Also no Jew or Christian wants to take over the Hajj. But Islam in its militant form has it on the score board they tried two times to take over the Vatican, but the third time they will. The False Prophet sitting on the Throne of Peter??? Scary.

I’d like to echo the posters who said earlier: let’s resist the urge to turn this into another thread about Islam.

 

[DD2007]

I was wondering the Catholic take on Buddhism. What do you guys think of it?

Edit: Yay! 100 posts! I honestly didn’t think I’d last long here. You guys have been very hospitable. Thanks for it. :egyptian:

Buddhism is a false religion.

Jesus Christ is the truth.

John 14:6 ESV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 3:16-18 ESV
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

 

[Contarini]

Buddhists do not worship Buddha. Buddhists venerate him like Catholics venerate Mary.

I was not disputing this. Obviously the line between worship and veneration can be disputed. Many Protestants look at how Catholics venerate the saints and see it as worship. (Catholics unwisely try to castigate this as “misunderstanding”; there is often misunderstanding involved, but there is also a genuine theological difference about what counts as the “worship” due only to God.)

And as I believe you yourself pointed out, there’s a difference between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism.

I am not saying that Buddhists worship Buddha. In fact, I said in my earlier post that this hadn’t been adequately defined.

Edwin

 

[NoWings]

Thanks for having a sense of humor. :tiphat:

It didn’t come off as funny. It came off flippant.

Sorry I misinterpreted.

 

[rossum]

Buddhism is a false religion.

That is not what I have found. It works.

Jesus Christ is the truth.

See my sig.

John 14:6 ESV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

This is the only one way, monks, for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the destruction of suffering and grief, for reaching the right path, for the attainment of Nibbana, namely, the four foundations of mindfulness.

• Satipatthana sutta, Majjhima Nikaya 10
  Convinced? No, I didn’t think you would be. You are not convinced by quotes from the scriptures of a religion that you do not believe in. Neither am I.

rossum

 

[DD2007]

• Satipatthana sutta, Majjhima Nikaya 10[/indent]
  Convinced? No, I didn’t think you would be. You are not convinced by quotes from the scriptures of a religion that you do not believe in. Neither am I.

rossum

1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

The problem with the unregenerate man in his natural state is that he is dead spiritually and cannot see the truth unless God raises him from the dead.

We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ:

Ephesians 2:1-10 ESV
2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

John 3:3 ESV
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Absolute truth is self evident because if there were no such thing as absolute truth it would be absolutely true to say that there is no such thing as absolute truth, therefore it is obvious that absolute truth exists. – Paraphrase of Thomas Aquinas

Jesus Christ is that absolute truth. He is the savior of the world.

 

[rossum]

John 3:3 ESV
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Then I am fine. As a Buddhist I have been born again and again and again and again …

rossum

 

[DD2007]

Then I am fine. As a Buddhist I have been born again and again and again and again …

rossum

Acts 4:11-12 ESV
11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

 

[AJTheMan]

I was not disputing this. Obviously the line between worship and veneration can be disputed. Many Protestants look at how Catholics venerate the saints and see it as worship. (Catholics unwisely try to castigate this as “misunderstanding”; there is often misunderstanding involved, but there is also a genuine theological difference about what counts as the “worship” due only to God.)

And as I believe you yourself pointed out, there’s a difference between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism.

I am not saying that Buddhists worship Buddha. In fact, I said in my earlier post that this hadn’t been adequately defined.

Edwin

Fair enough. I just wanted to make it clear that the way Christians, Muslims, Hindus…how they worship their gods is different from Buddhist worship or veneration. Buddhists don’t expect the Buddha to do anything. He is gone.

But I see you understand.

 

[AJTheMan]

Buddhism is a false religion.

Jesus Christ is the truth.

John 14:6 ESV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 3:16-18 ESV
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Every religion has some portion of truth to it. I respect your right to be a Christian. You must do what you feel is right.

 

[DD2007]

Every religion has some portion of truth to it. I respect your right to be a Christian. You must do what you feel is right.

Truth is vital. The reason Jesus came into the world was to testify to the truth.

John 18:37 ESV
37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

Jesus is the truth.

John 14:6 ESV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

He will set you free.

John 8:31-32 ESV
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

God desires all to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.

1 Timothy 2:3-6 ESV
3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

 

[AJTheMan]

**Truth is vital. **The reason Jesus came into the world was to testify to the truth.

John 18:37 ESV
37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

Jesus is the truth.

John 14:6 ESV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

He will set you free.

John 8:31-32 ESV
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

God desires all to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.

1 Timothy 2:3-6 ESV
3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

Amen to that.

 

[Steven_John]

Hi,
i followed the link on “refuge” and looked at its meaning.

It disturbs me that people would seek protection from people they dont know.

I went to meditate with our Buddhist community once and was concerned then.

I could not do much with them they went through some chants and when i asked the interpretation no one said they knew, just that they had been chanted through history and went on to explain what they should do.

If you were going to seek refuge would you not want it from an all seeing all knowing entity?

If you believe there is no truth then why seek any refuge in any being as it cant be the truth it will help you?

 

[Tsuwano]

It didn’t come off as funny. It came off flippant.

Sorry I misinterpreted.

That’s ok. Humor, like religion, is often subject to misinterpretation.

 

[franki_rulz]

I don’t think any school of Buddhism worships him as a deity. The schools do differ in their level of veneration though. Do Catholics worship mary? No. Do they venerate her? Yes.

Likewise, I don’t think that Buddhists see him as a God. Even the Mahayana. They just venerate him in a different way from the Theravada.

You might wanna visit India someday… I’ll show you temples where “Puja” is perfomed in Buddha temples .A section of the hindus worship him as the 13th incarnation of one of their gods, Vishnu.

 

[franki_rulz]

Buddhism is a false religion.

Jesus Christ is the truth.

John 14:6 ESV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 3:16-18 ESV
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

John 6:44 says “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Maybe their time hasnt come.

While I have no doubt that Christ is the only way, I certainly believe we can bring people to the truth by being a little more respectful of them. Slinging mud at someone religion will do nobody any good.After all we are not like the muslim, are we?

 

[DD2007]

John 6:44 says “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Maybe their time hasnt come.

While I have no doubt that Christ is the only way, I certainly believe we can bring people to the truth by being a little more respectful of them. Slinging mud at someone religion will do nobody any good.After all we are not like the muslim, are we?

One can either choose truth or lies. That is the battle in this world. “Hath God said?”

If they aren’t following Jesus Christ they are following a lie. Lies are of the devil. They should always be confronted with the truth. I love buddhist people, but I hate their religion because it is a lie.

 

[rossum]

I love buddhist people, but I hate their religion

Hate is not overcome by hate;
by love alone
is hate appeased.
This is an ancient law.

• Dhammapada 1:5

because it is a lie.

Buddhism, in its various forms, realizes the radical insufficiency of this changeable world; it teaches a way by which men, in a devout and confident spirit, may be able either to acquire the state of perfect liberation, or attain, by their own efforts or through higher help, supreme illumination. … The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men.

• Nostra Aetate
  I seems to me that the Catholic Church has a more intelligent position on Buddhism than you do.

rossum