there came a point of time in life where a decision had to emerge as i had to choose a path. my understanding of these religions made me realise there is a link and i’ve come to the conclusion that both religions are true and both realms do exist. the reason why i placed strong emphasis on my background is to help people who wish to convert have a better understanding. I am not for or promoting either religion, lets just say its a matter of choice. Here i am openly sharing my layman point of view and my idea of each religion. For a better explanation, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity or any other better sources.
Buddhism (My Theory)
My idea of Buddhism is that you believe in Karma. That everything has its cause and effect. Most people from other religions will say Buddhism teaches by doing good deeds, you can go to heaven or be vegetarian. This is a misunderstanding i believe. Buddhism does encourage doing of good deeds and eating more veggie but they also believe that through cultivation than you will able to break through the lower realms to be in the upper realms. Like Christianity, there are dos and don’ts that a Buddhist must observe. Buddhism is also commonly being misunderstood for idolatory or idols worship. It is much more than that. It is the way people treat religion today that result in this. People often go to temple to ask for blessings especially in monetary form. The Buddha is a teacher to the Buddhist community, he is also known as the Enlightened One. It is the way some temples market themselves that people misunderstand. Buddhism is a way of life. It is from the first to the last breath of your life, how you cultivate and how you live your life! Of all these i’ve said, i will not go into deeper explanation as i might mislead people if i pass on the wrong info as i am a layman Buddhist.
Christianity (My Theory)
My idea of Christianity is that one must accept that the wages of sin is death and there is no way else but thru the Lord (Jesus Christ) that you can have eternity. I’d be able to explain Christianity slightly better as I have been one. When the world was first created, it was pure and was without sin. Then if you know the story of adam and eve well enough then you will know how sin is introduced to the world and why man and God are permenantly seperated by sin. Every child born of a human bears sin. and the reason why Christ is different is that he is born of a virgin thats why he is pure. (By the way i hold great respect for Mary but i totally disagree that she is a saint and any one can pray to her as she is born of a sinned human. Also i do not agree that since Mary gave birth to Christ who is of God, she is the mother of God.) What makes Jesus credible and that he can pay for our sins thru his death is that he rose from the dead which means he overcame death. So the equation goes sin = death therefore jesus – sin + overcame death = Jesus is savior. If you are interested, the bible is the best book of truth for the one who is interested in Christianity.
Both religions are of great truth, nobility and both are equally teaching good and ways of living. I’ve witness the good the bad and the miracles from both side! So what will my choice be!?
I choose neither. I choose Cultivation of the Soul ( 灵修 ) which strongly revolves around Buddhism. Or in fact you can consider me a Buddhist because what i practice revolves greatly around Buddhist teachings. Why?
I believe in Christ but i believe in karma more. In Christianity, they don’t teach you how to overcome your existing problems. They teach repentence, not to commit it again. But my concept is that if lets say i kill someone accidentally or whatsoever. The bible says thou shall not kill (Ten Commandments) so if lets say i am a soldier and i had no choice i killed. How do i over come this? I confess my sins to God, i repent, ask for forgiveness and i ask God to wash me with his blood. I do good and yes! have faith in God that he will help me and live the way of life!
Buddhist method. I killed, created a cause and there will be effect, I can chant and dedicate chanting merits to the dead, I can chant and dedicate chanting merits to the family, I can 超度 the dead so it can pass on. Than i face my karma, i can face it! then how to go about settling my karma, there are several ways. The whole idea is that i can face the problem with the help of the Gods and also I can do something for the thing that happened. Not just chuck to the higher being and just change my ways. I think that is not enough.
I accept the concept of sin and death, I also accept the concept of karma. Its in fact very similar. Its just that i have a reason to believe that everything has a reason behind it and that everything you do will have an effect or a result and you can do something about it with your God. Not that Christianity doesn’t have a reason when things happen, just that its always God has a plan and a reason, of what? is pretty much up to how we decipher it. This also leads to my other point of preference. I also prefer the fact that Buddhism has no one ultimate God but there are many stages or forms. And lastly I also prefer that you do not have to face a congregation as many times people these days are too fake. Dont misunderstand me, im not a loner or have bad experience, its just a preference.
With all due respect, I just gave a very extreme example. If any of my words are of disrespect. I ask kindly for all your forgiveness.. And that also derives my conclusion.
I wish to answer any of your queries so please feel free to comment and write in.
Cheers!
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