Why should I remain Catholic vs. become a Buddhist or a Hindu?

[rossum]

Are you a Catholic or a Buddhist?

I am Buddhist; just look at my avatar picture to remind you.

 

[LovelyLadybug]

Have you ever considered converting to Catholicism? You should definitely consider it. I know you’re a Buddhist and I am sorry to tell you this, but Buddhism is a . . . religion . . . that has various errors. I know you think the Buddha taught people how to be “enlightened” What does that even mean? Don’t you think spending an eternity with the one, true God is better than being “enlightened?” Think of Jesus on the cross. He shed his blood. He suffered a LOT. It’s so, so, so, sad!!! I know God loves me and I love him back with all my heart! As I said in past posts, the Buddha never suffered the way Jesus did. Jesus is God. Buddha is not. I don’t know if you believe in God or not, but he definitely does exist. He created you and he loves you and is watching over you. Why don’t you pray to him? It’s SO much better than meditating and trying to achieve “buddhahood” I’ll be praying for you!!!

 

[rossum]

Have you ever considered converting to Catholicism? You should definitely consider it.

Why? I know that I exist, so it is reasonable to rely on my own efforts to attain enlightenment. The Buddha did it, others since then have done it so it makes sense for me to try also.

If I want a god to save me, then which God do I pick? Do I go to my local Synagogue? My local Protestant Church? My local Catholic Church? My local Mosque? My local Sikh Gurdwara? My local Hindu Temple? That last has the advantage of including many more gods than the others.

I prefer to rely on myself rather than on a god who may or may not exist in the particular version I pick.

I know you’re a Buddhist and I am sorry to tell you this, but Buddhism is a false religion.

Then parts of the Bible are false: “You shall not kill” is false because that is what Buddhism says. “Love your neighbour” is false because that is what Buddhism says. If Buddhism is false, then parts of Christianity are also false.

I know you think the Buddha taught people how to be “enlightened” What does that even mean?

If I could answer that then I would be enlightened.

Don’t you think spending an eternity with the one, true God is better than being “enlightened?”

No. An eternity of suffering separated from those I love who are suffering in hell is not my idea of a good time. Do you want to live next door to a torture chamber for eternity?

As I said before, the common assumptions of the Abrahamic religions do not always carry over to the Indian religions.

I’ll be praying for you!!!

It has been pointed out that God answers all prayers, but in the great majority of cases the answer is “no”.

 

[LovelyLadybug]

Why are you trying too hard to attain “enlightenment?” You said yourself that you don’t even know what it means, so why are you trying to accomplish something you don’t understand? And, if you want a god to save you, obviously you should go to your nearest Catholic Church. There are thousands of religions in the world and each has its own gods, but only my God is the true God.

Then parts of the Bible are false: “You shall not kill” is false because that is what Buddhism says. “Love your neighbour” is false because that is what Buddhism says. If Buddhism is false, then parts of Christianity are also false.

That is not true!!! The Bible is NOT false!!! When I said Buddhism is false, I meant your ideas of multiple heavens and hells and of reincarnation, among other things. There is only one heaven and one hell. The whole idea of reincarnation is silly. So someone can die and be reincarnated as an animal or another person??? Does that mean I could be killing my best friend when I step on a bug?
Also, your idea of what heaven is like is way off!!! Heaven is a wonderful, amazing, place where we can spend eternity with God. God loves you more than you coulod possibly love yourself. God’s love is infinite. He is always watching over us, protecting us, and keeping us safe. The Buddha certainly doesn’t do that!!! Everything we own is a gift from God. Heaven is NOT an “eternity of suffering” It’s an eternity of happiness and love!!!
Also, as I pointed out in past posts, Jesus suffered a lot on the cross because he loves mankind SO, SO, SO much!!! Buddha never did that.
Why don’t you try going to Mass at your nearest Catholic Church? It’s a truly AMAZING experience (SO much better than visiting a Buddhist Temple!!!)
I hope this helps!!!

 

[whichwaytogo47]

And not Buddhist or Hindu??? Please convince me… I’m ready… thank you…

Because Buddhism and Hindu might be very different from what you expect and are actually very rule-oriented religions.

Also because as a Catholic or Protestant Christian, you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins. Christian means to be a Christ follower.

 

[C.Ray]

Why should I remain Catholic… And not Buddhist or Hindu??? Please convince me.

I used to wrestle with a similar problem. Let’s see if you can convince yourself of the answer.

Answer for us this question: How do each of these three religions address the Problem of Evil?

Summarize very briefly how they do it, and then identify which of the three you believe, and why.

I can’t say this exercise will “solve” your problem but it’s a good exercise to go through.

 

[Nicene]

This isn’t really a religious question as it is actually Philosophy question. It boils down to: do you believe Jesus is actually God? Answer that question to yourself and you’ll have your answer.

Short of that one is just picking a philosophy that fits best with ones lifestyle. The question is more about comfort zone than it is about “faith”

Peace and God Bless
Nicene

 

[rossum]

There are thousands of religions in the world and each has its own gods, but only my God is the true God.

Funny, that is exactly what the Rabbi at my local Synagogue says as well.

LovelyLadybug:

When I said Buddhism is false, I meant your ideas of multiple heavens and hells and of reincarnation, among other things.

So you only see parts of Buddhism as false, not all of it. That mirrors what I think of Christianity: partly true.

 

[LovelyLadybug]

I think of Christianity: partly true.

Catholocism is completely, entirely, and 100% true. I’m glad Buddhists think it’s important to love their neighbor and not kill people. That’s good, but their ideas of reincarnation, among other things, are very silly and definitely not true.
Also, the Buddha was a PERSON. God is God. Don’t you think it’s better to follow God’s religion than Buddha’s?
What part of Catholocism do you think is false? Whatever it is, it’s not false. It’s true.
Every day I pray that everyone will embrace the true religion. God loves us all SO, SO, SO, much!!! He loves us and is watching over us, protecting us and keeping us safe. Why would you ignore him? It’s so very, very, sad when people do that.

Funny, that is exactly what the Rabbi at my local Synagogue says as well.

A synagogue is Jewish and Jews and Catholics worship the same God, so, yes, you could say their God is the true God since it’s the same God I worship.

Are there any Catholic Churches in your area? Why don’t you try visiting one of them and talk to the priest there? I’m sure he’ll have plenty of good advice, if you ever consider a conversion.

 

[Lucretius]

Because neither of those religions are true in everything they teach nor are have all the truth completely with them. That’s the only reason to believe or not believe in anything, right?

What makes you interested in these religions?

If you are looking for mysticism, the Church already has mysticism that would make the Vedas or the Buddha blush. I recommend looking into the Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian.

I also recommend developing a better understanding of the faith and its relationship with things like Hinduism or Buddhism, I recommend reading G. K. Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man and Orthodoxy, both of which you can find online free in both audiobook and ebook form here: G. K. Chesterton's Works on the Web

Chesterton spends more time focusing on the paganism of Western religion, but what he says about paganism in general I think does a good job showing the relationship between religions like Hinduism and Buddhism to Christianity. To sum it up really quickly, Christ is the answer to the problem of suffering the Buddha was trying to solve, and Christ is the one who frees us from the illusions our mind easily fall into, the liberation that many Hindu mystics and philosophers sought. Christ is the whole truth, which means that all the truths that the Indian religious developed a grasp of over the centuries is ultimately contained in him, along with all the other truths that they could not see, given their limited perspective.

For an easy practical example of what I mean, you may consider how many of the practices that the Hindus and Buddhists and Jainists developed were also discovered by the Christian Monastic Fathers, with St. Isaac the Syrian probably being the best example, as well as St. Anthony the Great.

But because we have faith due to Christ, and so can see things, although darkly, from the complete perspective of God himself, seeing things in his Light infused into us, seeing through his very eyes, our wisdom goes farther than the wisdom of the Eastern sages, and our practices are better adapt to the true reality of things as we sail into the long term of everlasting life.

 

[LovelyLadybug]

Oh my gosh, you summed that up perfectly!!!

 

[rossum]

Also, the Buddha was a PERSON. God is God

Exactly. I am a person, not a god. I can do things a person can do; I cannot do things a god can do. The Buddha, a person, attained enlightenment. I, also a person, can similarly attain enlightenment.

A synagogue is Jewish and Jews and Catholics worship the same God, so, yes, you could say their God is the true God since it’s the same God I worship.

The Jewish YHWH is not a Trinity, as the Christian God is. YHWH has not yet sent the Mashiach/Messiah, the Christian God has. The two are not the same.

 

[LovelyLadybug]

Ok, so you seem to want to be “enlightened” really badly. I don’t know much about Buddhism, so I looked up Buddhist Enlightenment in Wikipedia (Ok so, not the most reliable source, I’ll admit, but it’s something It said that “enlightenment means finding out the truth about life and not being reborn again, because they achieved nirvana” From what I understand, Nirvana means being free of suffering and desire. Ok, so, that doesn’t make any sense!!! Suffering brings us closer to Christ. I offer my sufferings up to Jesus and he uses them to help others. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Don’t you think it’s good to use your sufferings to help others? From what little I know about Buddhism, you do a lot of quiet meditation to attain Enlightenment. That doesn’t sound like a good idea. Not only is it anti-Catholic, but it doesn’t sound like much fun, either. Praying to God is fun!!!

The Jewish YHWH is not a Trinity, as the Christian God is. YHWH has not yet sent the Mashiach /Messiah, the Christian God has. The two are not the same.

Okay, so they are the same. They just have different names, that’s all. All the Abrahamic religions worship the same God. They just believe different things about him and have different names about him. Christians call him God, Jews call him Yahweh and Muslims call him Allah. But they all worship the same God.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Catholic Church, try reading the Cathechism!!! There’s a lot of good stuff in there!!! I definitely disagree with you on everything about religion, but you can have your own opinion. After all, God gives us free will!!! Thank You for taking the time to read my answer!!! I enjoyed our discussion!!! I hope this helps!!!