Is it acceptable for a Catholic to have a Buddha shrine?

  • Thread starter Thread starter jredden92
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
J

jredden92

Guest
I think the Buddha was a great spiritual teacher and I find meditation very helpful. He was just a man and he never claimed to be divine so I don’t worship him like I do the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I just find guided meditations from Buddhists to be very relaxing. So I have a shrine in my home. Would this be frowned upon?
 
jredden92 said:
I think the Buddha was a great spiritual teacher and I find meditation very helpful. He was just a man and he never claimed to be divine so I don’t worship him like I do the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I just find guided meditations from Buddhists to be very relaxing. So I have a shrine in my home. Would this be frowned upon?
Click to expand...
Define ‘shrine’
 
I understand that, but what do you mean by shrine and what type of meditation do you engage in

Vatican II had one major response to other religions in that
“We can find elements of truth in all religions and philosophy and cultures and Christianity can assimilate those to itself”

But there is only One God, so the definition of shrine is pretty important to your planned activity
 
umamibella said:
I understand that, but what do you mean by shrine and what type of meditation do you engage in

Vatican II had one major response to other religions in that
“We can find elements of truth in all religions and philosophy and cultures and Christianity can assimilate those to itself”

But there is only One God, so the definition of shrine is pretty important to your planned activity
Click to expand...
Hmm that’s a good question! Maybe shrine isn’t the right word. It would be guided meditation into your inner most being and being more aware of your surroundings I find being more aware also helps you avoid sin because you are detaching yourself from your thoughts which are what cause you to sin when you follow your sinful thoughts and they become actions. The practice of awareness is how I would describe it. Shrine might not be the right word because that sounds like worship. I would honor Buddha the same way i would honor anyone who wanted to bring peace into peoples lives.
 
It may be out of my ignorance of how buddhism contradicts christian truths. My understanding is that most buddhists are agnostics which I’m not. I feel like christianity and buddhism operate on two different spheres. Christianity wants to create peace with your neighbour and buddhism wants to create peace within yourself. Maybe I’m wrong and completely missing the point.
 
In short, this would be frowned on because it can lead away from Christ.

Last weekend I attended two talks by a priest in honor of St Therese.

The priest spent a good amount of time explaining that we humans have a tendency to engage in idle thoughts & idle ideas that get in our way of focusing on God & why we are here.

Eastern spirituality is very dangerous because (at worst) it can lead to the occult or worshipping demons; or (at best) it will fill your head with idle thoughts that prevent you from keeping your thoughts where they should be.

Regardless of what truths Buddha taught and the good he did, his teachings do NOT lead someone to Jesus Christ. Emulating Buddha isn’t like emulating one of the Saints. Like the Blessed Mother, the Saints lead us to the Person of Jesus Christ.

Pagan spirituality, even from the best pagans like Buddha, always lead elsewhere.

I pray I’m making sense.

P.S. in addition to the above, a statue of Buddha can cause scandal by potentially giving another person the wrong idea and causing them to fall away from Christ due to misunderstanding your example.

God Bless
 
Last edited:
jredden92 said:
I think the Buddha was a great spiritual teacher and I find meditation very helpful. He was just a man and he never claimed to be divine so I don’t worship him like I do the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I just find guided meditations from Buddhists to be very relaxing. So I have a shrine in my home. Would this be frowned upon?
Click to expand...
Yes, absolutely it would be frowned upon.

Meditation is fine, but meditate and reflect on the great Christian mysteries: Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, His infinite divine mercy, the Holy Eucharist.

Remove the shrine of Buddha from your home and in its place, place a picture of Jesus of the Divine Mercy and then mediate on His Divine Mercy. I guarantee you that in the long run that would produce a lot more fruit for your faith formation.
 
PeterT said:
40.png
Shakuhachi:
This may be the wrong place to ask. Some here think anything Eastern is dangerous.
Click to expand...
At worst: it’s dangerous. At best: it’s unnecessary.
Click to expand...
I don’t deny that the Catholic church and the Bible contain all that’s necessary for salvation. I accept the authority of the Pope, I believe Jesus was God incarnate…maybe a more to the point question would be is salvation and enlightenment different cultures speaking different languages attempting to explain the same thing.
 
We have Jesus as our greatest teacher, so why do we need to have Buddha?
 
Shakuhachi said:
This may be the wrong place to ask. Some here think anything Eastern is dangerous.
Click to expand...
I can see that. I wanted to ask by the book Catholics because I’m always trying to get better. Though where people are getting the idea that the Buddha was a dangerous man I’m not sure.
 
jredden92 said:
Christianity wants to create peace with your neighbour and buddhism wants to create peace within yourself. Maybe I’m wrong and completely missing the point.
Click to expand...
Yeah kinda sounds like it. Sounds like Christ isn’t enough for you which is definitely missing the point of Christianity.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid
Click to expand...
. - John 14:27
 
Or perhaps the Buddha helps to see Christ with a different perspective and renewed appreciation. Buddha was a philosopher who taught a way of life. He was not a theologian.
 
I’m a recent convert i don’t claim to have it all figured out. I was in a religious studies program in university and we were taught that all religions were trying to get people to realize the same thing. Which probably explains my sympathy for other religions.
 
yankeesouth said:
40.png
jredden92:
we were taught that all religions were trying to get people to realize the same thing.
Click to expand...
That Christ is King?
Click to expand...
No that all religions were different cultures trying to explain awareness they just gave it different names because they were speaking different languages.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top