Praying to the Buddha

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Ahimsa

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Praying to the Buddha: Living amid Religious Pluralism
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In 2000, twenty-five members of my family returned to Vietnam, many for the first time since leaving the country as refugees a quarter of a century earlier. Our nostalgic tour included a visit to the buildings of the Catholic high school where I used to teach. That visit was disappointing because the school had been seized years earlier by the Communist government and no longer existed. But our curiosity was aroused by a nearby Buddhist pagoda which, in contrast to the school, seemed to be prospering, with a beautiful garden and several new buildings.
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As we entered the courtyard, dominated by a huge statue of the reclining Buddha surrounded by his five disciples, we were greeted by a smiling and gentle-looking nun in her late twenties. She was dressed in a light-grey habit, her head clean-shaven, a necklace of brown wooden beads hanging down from around her neck. She immediately recognized that we were viet kieu-foreign Vietnamese, the government’s designation for expatriates-and offered to give us a tour of the pagoda…

Finally she led us into the pagoda itself. In the dimly-lit sanctuary a huge golden Buddha sat cross-legged on a high lotus-flower throne, his eyes peacefully closed, his hands touching each other and resting on his lap in the traditional gesture of meditation. In front of the Buddha, offerings of fruit were artfully arranged in golden bowls, along with flowers, incense, and red candles. On the side stood a statue of the female bodhisattva, or the Buddha of compassion, known in Vietnamese as Quan Am. The whole place was suffused with a prayerful silence periodically punctuated by the muffled sounds of a gong. Never had I had as deep an experience of stepping on sacred ground and as overwhelming a sense of what Rudolf Otto calls the mysterium tremendum et fascinans, not even in Catholic churches. My mother stood reverently in front of the Buddha, her eyes fixed on him, her palms held together at her chest, her lips murmuring a prayer. When she finished, she rummaged in her handbag, took out a handful of American dollars, and dropped them into the coffer. As we left, she turned to me and said: “The Buddha is a holy man.”

Just a couple of decades earlier, my mother’s gesture would have been condemned as idolatry. In her youth (she is now eighty-two) she had been taught that only Christianity-more precisely, Roman Catholicism-was the true religion, and all other religions the work of the devil…

How, then, could an old woman like my mother, God-loving and church-fearing, a twice-a-day churchgoer raised to believe that no one except Catholics can be saved, do what she did that day in that pagoda? And what, exactly, happened between the 1960s and 2000 that enabled her to honor the Buddhist nun, pray to the Buddha, and contribute money to the maintenance of the pagoda? The answer lies in the dramatic expansion during our era of interreligious dialogue, particularly as it has been espoused by the church since Vatican II.
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He goes on to admit that interreligious dialogue in the formal, theological sense had nothing whatever to do with it. Does he think that Catholic Vietnamese never lived side by side with Buddhists before the 1960s? It makes no sense. I suspect that this kind of interreligious contact has been going on as long as Christians have lived side by side with non-Christians–which is to say in some part of the world for 2000 years.

Edwin
 
I was deeply moved by your story. I will soon be making my first trip to Vietnam and for my parents, it will be their first time back since the spring of 1975. I am very much looking forward to this trip and hope that it is filled with peace and joy during this time of advent. Regarding the experience of your mother. I do not think that it is uncommon for human beings to be so overwhelmed by emotion in the present moment, especially if there is an atmosphere which promotes the sacred, and by your own account of the incense, flowers, large statue etc, it can overwhelm our senses. Human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. We are created FOR Him. As St. Augustine said, “Our hearts are made for you, Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you.” It makes me think that much more and lament of the lack of aesthetic beauty in many churches today, especially in the United States. Catholic churches in the past were built with the thought in mind that it is to be a sanctuary for the One, Living and True God. Thus, the gold, stained glass windows, icons, etc which are supposed to help orient our thoughts towards the divine action of Christ Jesus, truly present in the Blessed Sacrament and the sacred liturgy.

That being said, do you know for sure that your mother was murmuring a prayer directly to Buddha? or perhaps it was something else? I of course do not presume to know what your mother’s intention was, but I do see a difference in acknowledging and respecting the beliefs of another and worship due to our Triune God. I have been in a few temples myself, Buddhist, Jewish Synagogues, Mormon stakes, and various protestant churches. some have been beautiful, most are not, but while I show Christian charity and love by being tolerant and can certainly appreciate what ever compatible beauties of truths they may possess, I always know that there is only one way, one truth, and one life, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, True God and True Man. all others are subject to and created by Him alone.Only His Holy Catholic Church possess the fullness of truth, grace and revelation.

Thanks for reading. Pax Domini Sit Semper Vobiscum
 
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Ahimsa:
Your Mother showed more tolerance than most younger people can ever experience. She showed respect for the Buddha and her prayers were sure to have been heard. She knew that she was on Sacred Ground. Many Christians, Catholics included, could learn a good lesson from your Mother.
 
At the end of the story, the mother says, “Buddha was a holy man.”

She was right.
 
Hi

“The Buddha is a holy man.” I believe this right.
Krishna is a holy man; I believe this also right.
Zoroaster is a holy man; I believe this also right.
Jesus is a holy man; this is also right I believe.

So, where is the contradiction? nowhere at all.

If I happen to visit the grave of Buddha,Krishna,Zoroaster,Jesus,Muhammad, the PromisedMessiah1835-1908 I would pray for them there and pray to GodAllahYHWH that I should follow in their footsteps.

None of them I believe God.

Until today I could happen to visit the grave of PromisedMessiah1835-1908 only and prayed for him there and prayed to GodAllahYHWH that I should follow in his footsteps.

Thanks
 
“theologian” Peter Phan’s work is coming under scrutiny and caution is advised
usccb.org/comm/archives/2007/07-200.shtml
this article tells why the US bishops are issuing this caution, namely because of confusion in his work about what is and is not real ecumenical dialogue and what is potential heresy in incorporating or approving practices of non-Christian Eastern religions.

as far as family in story cited in OP, there is a lot of difference between revisiting one’s homeland and reclaiming ethnic and national heritage, and forsaking one’s religion. On principle I would not comment on the private prayer of another person, and no one knows what is going on in the heart of that grandmother, or the rest of the family.
 
paarsurrey said:
Hi

“The Buddha is a holy man.” I believe this right.
Krishna is a holy man; I believe this also right.
Zoroaster is a holy man; I believe this also right.
Jesus is a holy man; this is also right I believe.

So, where is the contradiction? nowhere at all.

If I happen to visit the grave of Buddha,Krishna,Zoroaster,Jesus,Muhammad, the PromisedMessiah1835-1908 I would pray for them there and I pray to GodAllahYHWH that I should follow in their footsteps.

None of them I believe God.

Until today I could happen to visit the grave of PromisedMessiah1835-1908 only and prayed for him there and prayed to GodAllahYHWH that I should follow in his footsteps.

Thanks
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Interesting point.

Certainly one can make ‘offerings’ in front of statues of people one believes to be holy - we Catholics light candles all the time in front of our statues of the saints.

And one can pray to God through the intercession of those people one believes to be with Him - even if addressed through Buddha I don’t believe that any such sincere prayer is spurned.

There are problems with the comment that seems to indicate that the pagoda was somehow holier or more suffused with God’s presence than a Catholic church.

For a Catholic our Churches, and they alone, hold the Real Presence of Jesus - God Himself present in physical form. No mistaking that reality, which trumps any amount of ‘feeling’ one can get anywhere else.

Sad to say, scriptures abound with examples of people who were in the very presence of God Himself, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, both in the OT and NT, and failed to recognise it. Understandable, since God is more often in the ‘still small voice’ than anything else.
 
Just a couple of decades earlier, my mother’s gesture would have been condemned as idolatry.
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If she was praying to the statue as if it were God (or some replacement thereof), it was idolatry.
In her youth (she is now eighty-two) she had been taught that only Christianity-more precisely, Roman Catholicism-was the true religion
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Good! If only we had such clear instruction today.
How, then, could an old woman like my mother, God-loving and church-fearing, a twice-a-day churchgoer raised to believe that no one except Catholics can be saved, do what she did that day in that pagoda?
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If her intent was to suggest that Buddhists are saved through their particular faith, corruption by Satan is the most likely culprit. The Catholic Church teaches dogmatically that there is no salvation outside of Her.
And what, exactly, happened between the 1960s and 2000 that enabled her to honor the Buddhist nun, pray to the Buddha, and contribute money to the maintenance of the pagoda?
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The ‘smoke of Satan’
The answer lies in the dramatic expansion during our era of interreligious dialogue, particularly as it has been espoused by the church since Vatican II.
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This is an insult to the Church. The Second Vatican Council never taught religious indifferentism. It re-affirmed the doctrine of No Salvation Outside the Church. The fact that the Church’s teachings have been so dramatically twisted is nothing short of a tragedy.
 
I have been priveleged to participate in ecumenical dialog. One such experience moved me deeply.

In one room were the clergy of various religious traditions, Protestant, Buddhist, Catholic, Episcopalians, RLDS to name the ones I knew.

In an ajoining room were those of us who didn’t clasify ourselves as “clergy” but “mystics.” In the room where the clergy met, there was discussions, sometimes loud and passionate…in the room where I was there was a sense of quiet as we meditated, held hands and prayed together and at time spoke of the Divine Presence that seeks to be made known to each of us.

At the end of the session as we parted the clergy shook hands…but those of us who considered ourselves “mystics” lingered with each other, embracing…holding hands…keeping that “holy hush” around us not wanting to disturb it…we came from different religious traditions…but in those holy moments we sensed “that of God” in one another and though our religious beliefs differed…in some ways quite drastically, we found “grace” and a sense that there was One among us that wasn’t concerned with religious differences as much as we were…but sought to manifest something…deeper…gentler…kinder…holy among us…that was many years ago…but my experience with those who sought to go beyond words into experience of the Eternal…I still consider it a holy time and feel very blessed.
 
Publisher said:
I have been priveleged to participate in ecumenical dialog. One such experience moved me deeply.

In one room were the clergy of various religious traditions, Protestant, Buddhist, Catholic, Episcopalians, RLDS to name the ones I knew.

In an ajoining room were those of us who didn’t clasify ourselves as “clergy” but “mystics.” In the room where the clergy met, there was discussions, sometimes loud and passionate…in the room where I was there was a sense of quiet as we meditated, held hands and prayed together and at time spoke of the Divine Presence that seeks to be made known to each of us.

At the end of the session as we parted the clergy shook hands…but those of us who considered ourselves “mystics” lingered with each other, embracing…holding hands…keeping that “holy hush” around us not wanting to disturb it…we came from different religious traditions…but in those holy moments we sensed “that of God” in one another and though our religious beliefs differed…in some ways quite drastically, we found “grace” and a sense that there was One among us that wasn’t concerned with religious differences as much as we were…but sought to manifest something…deeper…gentler…kinder…holy among us…that was many years ago…but my experience with those who sought to go beyond words into experience of the Eternal…I still consider it a holy time and feel very blessed.
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Dear Ahimsa,

I think praying for Budha is more correct. The Catholic can pray to people already dead (eventhough the dead person is not catholic during their life), so their soul can find the way to the kingdom of God. A person such as Budha has no place in hell, I believe. By the way, I am not starting to talk about Purgatory here. It has been discussed well in other thread.
 
But the difference between all other “men” and Jesus, is that Jesus preannounced Himself over 1000 years before His coming and foretold of his birth, life, death for us, and His resurrection from the dead, and His ascension into Heaven.

He was not just Holy, but He is God Himself, the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity.

I respect all other men claiming to be of God, or a messenger of God.

I worship the True God and True Man Jesus Christ.
 
I think we may be missing the point here.

Buddhism is a peaceful and beautiful faith that includes the wonderful things the lady experienced. The smiling nun, the pleasant scenery, the peaceful Buddha, etc. She was moved not by the fact that this was “Buddha” a supposed “anti-God”.

The Buddha was a man who I believe was a holy man based on his compassion toward other living beings and way of life. She was probably honoring that just like she would a Mother Theresa or saint of old.

It’s about seeing the positive in other religions and finding common ground - peace.

MW
 
Saint Margaret Clitherow (1586): “…I am fully resolved in all things touching my faith, which I ground upon Jesus Christ, and by Him I steadfastly believe to be saved, which faith I acknowledge to be the same that He left to His Apostles, and they to their successors from time to time, and is taught in the Catholic Church throughout Christendom, and promised to remain with her unto the world’s end, and hell’s gates shall not prevail against it; and by God’s assistance I mean to live and die in the same faith, for if an angel came from heaven, and preached any other doctrine than we have received, the Apostle biddeth us not believe him. Therefore, if I should follow your doctrine, I should disobey the Apostle’s commandment. Wherefore, I pray you, take this for an answer and trouble me no more for my conscience.”

(Her response to certain Protestants asking her to pray with them.) "I will not pray with you, and you shall not pray with me; neither will I say Amen to your prayers; nor shall you to mine."

In 1586, St. Margaret Clitherow was arrested and called before the York court for the crime of harbouring Roman Catholic priests. She refused to plead to the case so as to prevent a trial that would entail her children being made to testify, and she was executed by being crushed to death – the standard punishment for refusal to plead. On Good Friday of 1586, she was laid out upon a sharp rock, and a door was put on top of her and loaded with an immense weight of rocks and stones. Death occurred within fifteen minutes.

Let us imitate the saints not the falsehoods of this world.
 
fatima1917 said:
Saint Margaret Clitherow (1586): “…I am fully resolved in all things touching my faith, which I ground upon Jesus Christ, and by Him I steadfastly believe to be saved, which faith I acknowledge to be the same that He left to His Apostles, and they to their successors from time to time, and is taught in the Catholic Church throughout Christendom, and promised to remain with her unto the world’s end, and hell’s gates shall not prevail against it; and by God’s assistance I mean to live and die in the same faith, for if an angel came from heaven, and preached any other doctrine than we have received, the Apostle biddeth us not believe him. Therefore, if I should follow your doctrine, I should disobey the Apostle’s commandment. Wherefore, I pray you, take this for an answer and trouble me no more for my conscience.”

(Her response to certain Protestants asking her to pray with them.) "I will not pray with you, and you shall not pray with me; neither will I say Amen to your prayers; nor shall you to mine."

In 1586, St. Margaret Clitherow was arrested and called before the York court for the crime of harbouring Roman Catholic priests. She refused to plead to the case so as to prevent a trial that would entail her children being made to testify, and she was executed by being crushed to death – the standard punishment for refusal to plead. On Good Friday of 1586, she was laid out upon a sharp rock, and a door was put on top of her and loaded with an immense weight of rocks and stones. Death occurred within fifteen minutes.

Let us imitate the saints not the falsehoods of this world.
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Sounds closed-minded and insecure if you ask me. If I am firm in my faith and seek cooperation and exchange of peace with others, then I see no prohibition of praying with others.

Remember when the disciples told Jesus that others were casting out demons in His name and asked if they should stop him because he wasn’t “one of us”. Jesus then replied that if he is not against us he is for us.

Time for a spiritual self-exaltation checkup for St. Margaret and anyone else who refuses others who fight evil in this world.

MW
 
You better had check up on your Bible. Saint Paul says that all idols are demons. This is false ecumenism run wild. Do you go to Mecca and pray? Do you kiss the Koran?
 
fatima1917 said:
You better had check up on your Bible. Saint Paul says that all idols are demons. This is false ecumenism run wild. Do you go to Mecca and pray? Do you kiss the Koran?
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It shows your lack of understanding about Buddhism. Buddhists don’t worship statues of Buddha any more than you worship a statue of Mary. So, if the Buddha statue is a demon, then by your logic (not mine) the BVM would be too. False premise. If I were in Mecca I would pray to my God and I would not kiss the Koran. Why PJP2 did I’ll never know. So, who’s got what backwards?

MW
 
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