Christian & Buddhist Mysticism: What Are The Differences?

[Randolph]

Could you please explain what you mean by “dwelling in contemplation?”

My prayer time—settling down my mind and my worries—and think about God. Furthermore, God seems to be presence in my thoughts and in my heart throughout the day.

 

[Kei]

Am I making any sense?

I think so.

 

[Shakuhachi]

Some people cannot do it, at least they tell me.

How long do you think you can suspend thoughts and just be completely alert and attentive?

For me it only last a few seconds. Probably never more than a minute at a time.

and of course there are always the dreamy images that surface if I am a bit sleepy.

 

[Randolph]

The Catholic church has always taught that God is separate from the beings He created. Claims that God is inside you, except in a poetic sense, are dangerous, sometimes implying that you are becoming God. This is a frequent claim in various eastern meditations, and it is opposed to Christianity, period.

I absolutely agree.

 

[rossum]

When I’d see things like this from you, I would assume you always meant from a Buddhist point of view

I was talking about a Hindu temple, and purely within the context of Pascal’s Wager where it is about calculating odds. I find Pascal’s Wager a very poor argument for that and many other reasons, but that is not a topic for this thread.

 

[rossum]

Sorry, but I believe the evidence argues against your statement. What is unclear about the 10 commandments? What is unclear about the two destination points, heaven and hell? Nothing unclear at.

We should take this discussion elsewhere. I suggest you start a thread in the ‘Non-Catholic’ section.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Again, from the CCC

2781 When we pray to the Father, we are in communion with him and with his Son, Jesus Christ.33 Then we know and recognize him with an ever new sense of wonder. The first phrase of the Our Father is a blessing of adoration before it is a supplication. For it is the glory of God that we should recognize him as “Father,” the true God. We give him thanks for having revealed his name to us, for the gift of believing in it, and for the indwelling of his Presence in us.

2563 The heart is the dwelling-place where I am, where I live; according to the Semitic or Biblical expression, the heart is the place “to which I withdraw.” The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives. It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant.

Note the phrase…“The heart is our hidden center,” it’s one of the words which developed into the phrase, “Centering Prayer.” As St John of the Cross wrote in the Living Flame of Love, God is the “center” of the soul.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Sounds like the fruits of Centering Prayer.

 

[Victoria33]

Buddhism does not believe in a creator, in a sense, they are atheistic but it’s hard to convince someone of that. They certainly treat Buddha like a God in my view and all of the other “Sentient Beings”. I even talked to someone who was Buddhist from Southeast Asia and maybe his understanding of the faith was not sophisticated but he seemed to think their enlightened entities are like god(s).

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Not all Buddhist believe this. Many believe in a divine creator, but they don’t place dogma as the tenet of their beliefs.

Also, they don’t treat the Buddha as a god, nor more than Catholics praying before statues make them god’s.

 

[Victoria33]

Also, they don’t treat the Buddha as a god, nor more than Catholics praying before statues make them god’s.

Generalization. I disagree. Some do. Kwan Yin Pusa too.

Quoting a forum discussion does little to clarify this, let’s just say I did find something that affirms what I said.

I agree, Buddha is not officially a God per the precepts of the religion but he is effectively treated and maybe sometimes is God to some believers.

 

[Shakuhachi]

We must realize that very little is either/or. Jesus is both human and divine. God is both immanent (indwelling) and transcendent (separate). So also with us in our relationship with God.

The Catholic church has always taught that God is separate from the beings He created. Claims that God is inside you, except in a poetic sense, are dangerous, sometimes implying that you are becoming God. This is a frequent claim in various eastern meditations, and it is opposed to Christianity, period.

Divinization (Christian) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[JimR-OCDS]

God dwelling within us, means he is separate from us in being. His presence is still within and our desire is to be one with Him. Divine Union is what St John of the Cross and St Teresa of Avila wrote about. Few reach this union in this life.

As the author of the Cloud of Unknowing wrote, “God can not be grasped except through love.”

 

[rossum]

I agree, Buddha is not officially a God per the precepts of the religion but he is effectively treated and maybe sometimes is God to some believers.

There are many gods, and a Buddha is superior to all gods. The major Bodhisattvas (Avalokita, Manjusri, Kuan-Yin etc) are roughly equivalent to major gods. All of which is complicated by the fact that a Bodhisattva will eventually become a Buddha.

You are correct that in many countries, the Buddha and major Bodhisattvas are in effect treated like gods. As with any religion, not all pracitioners follow the detailed precepts exactly.

 

[Victoria33]

There are many gods, and a Buddha is superior to all gods. The major Bodhisattvas (Avalokita, Manjusri, Kuan-Yin etc) are roughly equivalent to major gods. All of which is complicated by the fact that a Bodhisattva will eventually become a Buddha.

You are correct that in many countries, the Buddha and major Bodhisattvas are in effect treated like gods. As with any religion, not all pracitioners follow the detailed precepts exactly.

Sounds like Pureland Buddhism. I have a little familiarity with it. It has been a few years.

 

[mercyalways]

There are many gods, and a Buddha is superior to all gods.

As a Catholic, I can assure you that all these many gods never existed, but that the one triune God of the universe loves you and wants to you to convert, which is why I ask you to ponder some of these questions, which directly have to do with this topic:

You talk about many gods, yet can’t explain karma, the very basis of your faith. Is karma is a consciousness or a force? Where is karma, and how long has it existed, and where did it come from?

If it is not a consciousness, then how can there be karma, since the physical universe has no obvious spiritual component?

Karma claims to be a force for justice, but it is a justice without explanation, without a moral sense, and therefore it is unclear and unjust. Or can you prove otherwise?

Why should the universe care if one person kills another, any more than if a bird eats a worm? Please explain.

If every person is not truly real, why is karma hunting non-existing people down and punishing and rewarding these non-existent people? Doesn’t that strike you as utterly irrational? If we are non selves, then what is being punished in karma’s punishment?

Even very, very simple questions about Buddhism cannot be answered, can they?

 

[mercyalways]

about divinization:

It is against Catholic teaching that man becomes God - although, of course, there are thousands and more references to becoming God. What is meant by the phrase is that we gain God’s grace. His grace dwells in us but God is utterly separate from his creature.

John of the Cross said that meditation will never make man into God, but the two will always be separate: “it is true that its natural being, though thus transformed, is as distinct from the Being of God as it was before”. So the end goal of Christian mediation is to talk to God, and to gain more grace, whereas the end goal of Buddhist meditation is to kill oneself entirely, to so utterly extinguish yourself that you die forever and are never again reborn.

It seems trying to attain nirvana is all about self-love. Eastern meditation is therefore a negative in many ways, in its practice, that of self-love, and in its goal, that extinguishing yourself forever, of dying utterly so there will be no rebirths. One wag called Buddhism an elegant poem to death.

 

[mercyalways]

God dwelling within us, means he is separate from us in being. His presence is still within and our desire is to be one with Him. Divine Union is what St John of the Cross and St Teresa of Avila wrote about. Few reach this union in this life.

I wonder about St. Teresa of Calcutta, who had such darkness in her prayer life until her life was almost over. I believe she attained a great level of holiness, but if you go by some simplistic checklist of grades of inner prayer, she was a failure. Perhaps the ways we attain holiness are as complex as people themselves.

 

[rossum]

As I said, you need to start a new thread for these questions. Karma has very little to do with the differences between Buddhist and Christian meditation.

 

[mercyalways]

As I said, you need to start a new thread for these questions. Karma has very little to do with the differences between Buddhist and Christian meditation.

Sorry, but I believe you are wrong. There is no point to Buddhist meditation without karma, no point at all.