Originally posted by JesusIsAlive
Jesus took the form of a "servant" when He walked the earth to set the example for us. Now that Jesus has returned to His glorifed, highly exalted position, He is no longer functioning as "servant." Now we must bow before Him.[B]1 Peter 3:22
[/B]
who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.
You are free to believe whatever you want, just as I am; and remember that you are as close or as far as I am to the truth.
Originally posted by JesusIsAlive
The word Buddhism or Buddhist is nowhere in the Bible. Jesus never once mentioned anything about any other religion. Jesus said that He spoke the words of God (His Father) and not even once did He talk about nirvana etc. Besides Jesus pre-existed all Buddahs any way so if Buddhism was the way to attain salvation from sin so that we could go to where God is, then Jesus would have told us. Jesus and a Buddah are day and night different. Jesus is God; Jesus is Creator; Jesus is God in human flesh; Jesus came to save humanity from their sins; Jesus was crucified (He did not practice Buddhist customs); Jesus body was placed in a sepulcher (tomb); Jesus was resurrected by God (Buddhist don't believe in God, right?); Jesus is the only (and I loath and am reluctant to use this term) "religious" figure to ever rise from the dead. I hate to associate Jesus with religion because He and religion are two separate things. Nevertheless, all of the other religious ring-leaders bones are still buried.
Jesus experience of God as Abba (the Aramaic word for "Daddy"😉 seems to describe a very devotional and intimate personal relationship to Brahmai(indian deity) or God. However, his selflessness is suggestive of one who has realized nirvana and he attempted to convey that to others in terms of being "born-again." His disciples experience of the Risen Lord does seem to match the Buddhist description of the sambhogakaya - a limited form of which is possessed by the bodhisattvas who are able to emanate many spiritual bodies for the sake of suffering beings. So in many ways, the life and teachings of Jesus are not incompatible with Buddhism if Jesus is understood to be a bodhisattva who attempted to convey as much as he could of the Dharma (Truth) in terms his contemporaries could understand.
Buddhists do not doubt that Brahma[God] is loving, compassionate, joyful, and full of peace. Brahma can also be reborn as a human being. But one must remember that Brahma is the Buddhist portrayal of God as a person or being among beings, the higher conception of a supreme reality is Dharmakaya. The Dharmakaya is always making itself known through its sambhogakayas (enjoyment-bodies) and its nirmanakayas (transformation bodies). This is a complex Mahayana Buddhist teachings that relate these ideas here to the Christian worldview. The enjoyment-bodies are the personal aspects of the Dharmakaya which are apprehended as a very personal presence in our lives. The enjoyment-bodies touch our hearts and minds with the ideal qualities of buddhahood including love, compassion, and wisdom. In the sutras, the sambhogakayas are even portrayed as transcendent figures or beings who reside in various pure lands from whence their compassion and wisdom embraces all beings. A sambhogakaya has many similarities with the Holy Spirit or the Risen Lord. A transformation-body is the historical actualization of the Dharmakaya and sambhogakaya in the life of a specific individual - Shakyamuni Buddha for instance. Through such a person, we are able to hear the teachings, learn the methods for realizing the truth in our own lives, and see for ourselves how a fully enlightened person acts in the world. It must be stressed that these three bodies are not separate, they are three aspects of one reality, and to the extent that we awaken, we will also participate in that reality as well.
It also needs to be said that according to Buddhism there are also many bodhisattvas or "enlightening beings" who are constantly reborn into this world from the pure lands. These bodhisattvas voluntarily take up all forms of suffering and bestow all their merits upon others due to their compassionate vows to save all beings. In a sense, they have renounced their own liberation until they can be sure that all beings will be liberated from suffering. In many ways, their acts of renunciation, their willingness to suffer for the sake of others, and their bestowal of the rewards for their own good conduct upon others is similar to the story of a savior who renounces divinity, enters the world, suffers for the sake of others, and then rises and ascends into heaven in order to prepare a way for others. The bodhisattva is a prototype of such a savior, and one that appears centuries before the Christian era.
Originally posted by JesusIsAlive
[b]John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word [Jesus Christ pre-existed time itself], and the Word was with God [Jesus Christ was with the Father God before time existed], and the Word was God [Jesus Christ is God, God the Son].But Gautama Buddha on the other hand was just a man. Gautama Buddha was a spiritual teacher in the ancient Indian subcontinent and the historical founder of Buddhism. He is universally recognised by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddha of our age.The time of his birth and death are unclear, most modern books still date his lifetime between 563 BCE and 483 BCE, but more recent research points to a date about a century later than this. By tradition, he was born with the name Siddhârtha Gautama [/B]
Mahayana Buddhism, the word Buddha denotes the ultimate reality of all things. We are no longer talking an indivualized person in the life of Shakyamuni or Siddhartha, the historical founder of Buddhism.. The other name the Buddha gives Nirvana is the Deathless State (Amata) Of course Nirvana is not the naive 'eternal life' described in the Bible, where the body is resurrected and where angels sing. In fact it is so subtle it is not easy to describe. However it is not non-existence, as the Buddha makes very clear (Majjhima Nikaya Sutta No.72; Sutta Nipata, verse 1076).
Buddha was associated as supreme being or ultimate truth. There are two ways in which a Creator does appear in Buddhism. The first case is as the deity Brahma. Brahma was the all-powerful creator deity of Brahmanism (the religion that today is known as Hinduism). In Buddhism, Brahma appears when the Buddha attains enlightenment and is the one who convinces him to share his profound realization out of compassion for all suffering beings. Brahma is then viewed as the protector of the Dharma (or Truth taught by the Buddha).
Other times however, Brahma is shown to be no better than the Greek Zeus, the chief of the gods but not the actual creator of the universe. Though he tries to make others think that he is omnipotent and omniscient, he is actually just as much a part of the process of life as all other beings and not its originator. However, these less than flattering representations of Brahma are probably directed more towards the pretenses and limited conceptions of Brahma held by the priests of Brahma in the time of the Buddha than they are towards Brahma as an actual being.
This leads to the next problem. The conception of Brahma or God taught by the Brahmanist priests was very similar to that taught by most Christians today. But when you really look at the image being taught, it is not much different from the mythological Zeus. God is reduced by unreflective piety to a mere being among beings, even if he is a "Supreme Being." As a being among beings, God is no longer a transcendent reality but just another being caught up in the process. This very primitive and even idolatrous conception of God is what the Buddha was poking fun of at the expense of the priests who claimed to be God's representatives on earth who could decide who will be saved and who will be damned. In the Buddha's teachings, however, other images of Brahma come through which are much more mystical and edifying.
The second way in which a Creator appears is as the Dharmakaya Buddha. The Dharmakaya Buddha is the Truth-body or Reality-body of the Buddha. We are no longer speaking about an individualized man or woman, nor are we even talking about a pantheistic concept such as "Nature" or "Being." The Dharmakaya Buddha is the unfathomable mystical reality without which there would be no true nature of reality. In this sense, it is the ground or "creator" of all beings and things. It is the basis of the process of causes and conditions, but it is also beyond the process as well. That is because causes and conditions are merely the phenomenal aspect of the Dharmakaya. In other words, it is the Dharmakaya as experienced by our finite minds and senses. Now the Dharmakaya is not a being or person, but it is not impersonal either. It defies any and all such categories, but one could say that the Dharmakaya becomes personal in and through us and our interactions with each other and the world that we live in. In this way, the Dharmakaya becomes very personal through the manifestation of individuals like Shakyamuni and also as a loving spiritual presence underlying our every experience and especially in our own awakenings and acts of compassion. In Mahayana Buddhism this is discussed in terms of the three bodies of the Buddha. Buddha-nature is another term for the Dharmakaya in terms of its presence in our lives.
Originally posted by mahasattva
Brahma can also be reborn as a human being. But one must remember that Brahma is the Buddhist portrayal of God as a person or being among beings, the higher conception of a supreme reality is Dharmakaya.
Your idea of Buddhism is nothing remotely traceble to original Buddhism. The original Buddha did not believe in any deity. Brahma is not regarded as divine. Also, a person cannot be reborn as in reincarnation. Rebirth is not a body-soul relationship where a soul travels from body to body. Rather, rebirth is karmic effects or volitional action that continues after a person dies, but the person or the consciousness does not become reborn, as according to Buddha, there is no atman, nothing that survives death, no unconditional existence, no substance, but only sunyata or emptiness (neither being, nor non-being).
Originally posted by Wonderer
Your idea of Buddhism is nothing remotely traceble to original Buddhism. The original Buddha did not believe in any deity. Brahma is not regarded as divine. Also, a person cannot be reborn as in reincarnation. Rebirth is not a body-soul relationship where a soul travels from body to body. Rather, rebirth is karmic effects or volitional action that continues after a person dies, but the person or the consciousness does not become reborn, as according to Buddha, there is no atman, nothing that survives death, no unconditional existence, no substance, but only sunyata or emptiness (neither being, nor non-being).
Don't be so critical. 🙄 At least mahasattva is not a Christian. 😆
Originally posted by mahasattva
Mahayana Buddhism, the word Buddha denotes the ultimate reality of all things. We are no longer talking an indivualized person in the life of Shakyamuni or Siddhartha, the historical founder of Buddhism.. The other name the Buddha gives Nirvana is the Deathless State (Amata) Of course Nirvana is not the naive 'eternal life' described in the Bible, where the body is resurrected and where angels sing. In fact it is so subtle it is not easy to describe. However it is not non-existence, as the Buddha makes very clear (Majjhima Nikaya Sutta No.72; Sutta Nipata, verse 1076).Buddha was associated as supreme being or ultimate truth. There are two ways in which a Creator does appear in Buddhism. The first case is as the deity Brahma. Brahma was the all-powerful creator deity of Brahmanism (the religion that today is known as Hinduism). In Buddhism, Brahma appears when the Buddha attains enlightenment and is the one who convinces him to share his profound realization out of compassion for all suffering beings. Brahma is then viewed as the protector of the Dharma (or Truth taught by the Buddha).
Other times however, Brahma is shown to be no better than the Greek Zeus, the chief of the gods but not the actual creator of the universe. Though he tries to make others think that he is omnipotent and omniscient, he is actually just as much a part of the process of life as all other beings and not its originator. However, these less than flattering representations of Brahma are probably directed more towards the pretenses and limited conceptions of Brahma held by the priests of Brahma in the time of the Buddha than they are towards Brahma as an actual being.
This leads to the next problem. The conception of Brahma or God taught by the Brahmanist priests was very similar to that taught by most Christians today. But when you really look at the image being taught, it is not much different from the mythological Zeus. God is reduced by unreflective piety to a mere being among beings, even if he is a "Supreme Being." As a being among beings, God is no longer a transcendent reality but just another being caught up in the process. This very primitive and even idolatrous conception of God is what the Buddha was poking fun of at the expense of the priests who claimed to be God's representatives on earth who could decide who will be saved and who will be damned. In the Buddha's teachings, however, other images of Brahma come through which are much more mystical and edifying.
The second way in which a Creator appears is as the Dharmakaya Buddha. The Dharmakaya Buddha is the Truth-body or Reality-body of the Buddha. We are no longer speaking about an individualized man or woman, nor are we even talking about a pantheistic concept such as "Nature" or "Being." The Dharmakaya Buddha is the unfathomable mystical reality without which there would be no true nature of reality. In this sense, it is the ground or "creator" of all beings and things. It is the basis of the process of causes and conditions, but it is also beyond the process as well. That is because causes and conditions are merely the phenomenal aspect of the Dharmakaya. In other words, it is the Dharmakaya as experienced by our finite minds and senses. Now the Dharmakaya is not a being or person, but it is not impersonal either. It defies any and all such categories, but one could say that the Dharmakaya becomes personal in and through us and our interactions with each other and the world that we live in. In this way, the Dharmakaya becomes very personal through the manifestation of individuals like Shakyamuni and also as a loving spiritual presence underlying our every experience and especially in our own awakenings and acts of compassion. In Mahayana Buddhism this is discussed in terms of the three bodies of the Buddha. Buddha-nature is another term for the Dharmakaya in terms of its presence in our lives.
You said all of that to say...?