Does Buddhism support Christianity?

Question

I have been looking into christianity for sometime now, but recently due to the exposure of some famous televangelists my faith was shook to to the core. If these men and women of God who I looked up to were not living by Gods word, what's to say that God is even real?
That was my initial thought.

Then I began looking into buddhist teachings and have to say that I found them really insightful and more easy to understand than a lot of text in the bible and have found them really helpful in my life.
My question is, do you think Buddhism contradicts someone pursuing Christianity. Can they work hand in hand or are the teachings too different to work together.

I'm not seeking to be a Buddhist, I just want to apply the principles to my life.

Sam, I completely agree and that is one of the things I love about Buddhism.
One fundamental teachings is Humility and that for me blew my mind and answered a lot of life's questions for me. Buddhism is completely unjudgemental.

Answer 1

The answer can be Yes, No, or Maybe.

Its really how one goes about conceiving Buddhism. I know there are going to be some people on the "extremist ends" who are going to start to say there is no path to salvation but your Son of God, or that Buddhism is an atheistic philosophy, etc. etc.

Let me first tell you, in Asia at least, no one even conceives of answering the question in such a matter. Buddhists are not even in agreement with each other on certain things but have the ability to tolerate differing interpretations of the Dharma.

Some Buddhists adhere to an elaborate cosmology that goes pretty much against the ideas of Christianity.

Some try to dress up Buddha in modern garb, either in "New Age" or "Atheist Philosopher" versions, both stating of course that they have recovered "True Buddhism."

But at the very core of Buddha's teachings is a desire for the cessation of suffering and acheiving self-enlightenment. In truth, many of the metaphysical questions about whether there is a God or an Afterlife are simply Irrelevant.

In this respect, yes, you can be a Buddhist and a Christian. I even recall hearing about a Catholic priest being ordained as a Zen Monk as well.

If however, you came to accept the metaphysical propositions of Reincarnation, you would probably cease being a Christian (unless there is an idea about Reincarnaton in Christianity that i missed somewhere, sorry folks i'm not a Christian scholar).


My own advice: Whatever brings you closer to humaness and loving compassion for your fellow man is a positive.

Incidentally, there are some Buddhists who would readily acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth as Enlightened, even willing to admit he may have been the son of _a_ god (i hope you understand the distinction made there).

Of course, as one funny monk once told me, "We'll over look his parentage." Implying of course, that "sons of gods" in old legends tend to come out in rather bad lights.

Answer 2

Buddhism is all about dealing with the problem of suffering. Living ethically and practicing meditation are the two cornerstones of a Buddhist's practice. In this sense, any ideology, be it atheism or theism, can be maintained while practicing Buddhism.

However, Buddhism encourages a radical form of free inquiry and places a lot of importance on personal experience over tradition, scripture, and authority. This is where your Christian faith might become conflicted.

Still, as a practical philosophy for living ethically and developing your mind, Buddhism can be beneficial for anyone, even if they don't fully give themselves to the Buddhist goals of eliminating suffering and removing ignorance.

Answer 3

Buddhism is an atheistic religion and has many doctrines that are in opposition with Christianity.

The most important difference is that while Buddhism does not even believe in God, in Christianity, God is supposed to be the center of our lives.

As Jesus taught us:

"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment." (Matthew 22:37)

With love in Christ.

Answer 4

If by Christianity you mean the words of Jesus, the two are compatible. There's quite a few books around paralleling the words of the two prophets.

Look at the actions of the followers of the two since the start. Reality firmly shows that Buddha was the true Prince of Peace.

Answer 5

Although both Buddhism and Christianity have become encumbered with all kinds of extraneous stuff (money, fame, dogma and doctrine, etc.), at their core, both spiritual traditions share much in common.

Buddha, of course, spent considerable time in solitary meditation. Jesus, shortly after his baptism, went into the wilderness for 40 days for solitary contemplation. Both teachers had profound insight into human consciousness.

This suggests that it's certainly possible for someone on a spiritual quest to pursue both traditions. Just don't hold on to the teachings of either tradition -- find out the truth for yourself. That's what Buddha did, and that's what he advised his followers on his deathbed: "Don't take my word for any of this -- find out for yourself."

You might be interested to know that at least two Catholic priests have received dharma tradition and have become Zen masters. (See link below). Good luck!

Answer 6

All religions hold the same ideals: Messages of love, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, contentment and self-discipline. In Buddhism we say the essence of Buddhism is:

"To shun all evil.
To do good.
To purify one's heart.
This is the teachings of the Buddhas."
("The Dhammapada" verse 183)

All other texts and words are merely embellishments to the above.

All religions profess the same ideals in their teachings. It's not any particular religion that "mucks things up" but the misinformed, misguided practitioners of any religion who do so. That's why we see the religious conflicts in the world; the "I'm-right-and-you're-wrong" mentality.

One may read the teachings of the Buddha, find them to be of value and inspiration, and not consider him / herself to be a Buddhist. Many contemporary theologians of various religious traditions have found pertinent ideas in the Buddha's teachings and use them in their devotions.

Meditation, one of the major components of Buddhism, has been practiced by every great religious teacher of every religion. As such, one may wish to follow Buddhist meditation and principles as a means of strengthening one's insight and belief without any desire to convert to Buddhism. In fact. Buddhist teachers actively discourage people from leaving their traditional beliefs and embracing Buddhism. His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama has stated, "Don't try to use what you learn from Buddhism to be a Buddhist; use it to be a better whatever-you-already-are."

"...the Dalai Lama added, there 'cannot be unification' between Christianity and Buddhism. 'If you mean having a closer relation, understanding, that is happening in religions,' he noted. 'For individual practitioners, having one truth, one religion, is very important. Several truths, several religions, is contradictory,' he said."
from the website http://www.tibet.ca/en/wtnarchive/2003/10/9_5.html

He further stated:

"'People from different traditions should keep their own, rather than change. However, some Tibetan may prefer Islam, so he can follow it. Some Spanish prefer Buddhism; so follow it. But think about it carefully. Don't do it for fashion. Some people start Christian, follow Islam, then Buddhism, then nothing.' He further stated, 'I am Buddhist. Therefore, Buddhism is the only truth for me, the only religion. To my Christian friend, Christianity is the only truth, the only religion. To my Muslim friend, Mohammedanism is the only truth, the only religion. In the meantime, I respect and admire my Christian friend and my Muslim friend. If by unifying you mean mixing, that is impossible, useless.'"
(ibid.)

Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, wrote in "Living Buddha, Living Christ" (pp. 196-197): "Buddhists and Christians both like to share their wisdom and experience. Sharing in this way is important and should be encouraged. But sharing does not mean wanting to others to abandon their own spiritual roots and embrace your faith. That would be cruel. People are happy only when they are firmly rooted in their own tradition and culture….We must help them return to their tradition. Each tradition must establish dialogue with its own people first, especially with those young people who are lost and alienated…I always urged my Western friends to go back to their own traditions and rediscover the values that are there….We can enrich one another's spiritual lives, but there is no need to alienate people from their ancestors and their values."

My advice? Practice your own belief system as you stated in your additional comments, take from Buddhist teachings what you find pertinent and inspirational to your belief system, and continue in your practicing your religion. I think you will find the core tenents of every religion profess the same basic values and teachings. As one Buddhist monk said to me, "There are no new sounds; just different ways of saying the same thing."

May all be at peace.

John

Answer 7

The principles of Buddhism can be used by anyone, to great benefit of oneself and others.

Answer 8

Buddhism completely supports any faith, christianity included. The inherent problem is that Christianity doesn't support buddhism, nor any nonchristian faith. Heck, you'll find christians that don't support protestants and catholics that dont support anglicans;

christianity is quite exclusively 'dominating' in style, if you understand what I'm saying. i.e. "You're Christian or you're WRONG" [you may substitute 'wrong' with 'damned' in most cases]

Answer 9

Buddhism does not see it's self as being tho only correct path.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 10

Really, you don't need any of this "ancient wisdom" to get through life. Just obey the laws of the land, try not to hurt anyone, and find an interesting hobby. You'll do fine.