1. Buddhists do not see scripture as we do.
Much of the content of the Buddhist scriptures revolves around the life and example of the Buddha. These texts, largely found in what is known as The Tipitaka, are to be approached with meditation and reflection, the ultimate meaning being worked out by the reader as he or she reflects on the Buddha’s words and example. Though not “primary texts” in the way we think of scriptures, the biographies of the Buddha play an important part and hold an important place in Buddhism. Buddhists are encouraged to learn about the founder of the religion and to imitate him.
2. The life and teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, form the core of Buddhist teaching.
The traditions tell of Siddhartha Gautama who, after many rebirths, was born into a royal family in northeast India in 563 B.C. His father, the king, sheltered him and desired that the young man would follow in his footsteps; instead, stepping out into the world and seeing so much suffering, he began a quest to discover the causes of suffering and how to avoid it. Having achieved enlightenment and, thus, finding the answers he sought, he taught what he had discovered and entered Nirvana as the revered Buddha. Other enlightened ones have existed, but the teachings of the Buddha are the foundational teachings of Buddhism.
3. For the Buddhist, actual history holds little meaning.
In a manner unmatched by any other religion, biblical Christianity is an historical religion. Buddhism, on the other hand, gives little attention to historical matters. All is considered illusory and transitory. There is no single creation event nor creator. History is cyclical, repeating, recycling, and always changing. Even the stories of the Buddha are not necessarily historical in all their detail; rather, they are parables or morality stories told in order that one might reflect on them, learn from them, and live accordingly.
4. Buddhism exists in various forms.
In roughly the first century B.C., some began to question the severe path (see “The Eight-Fold Path” below) that he espoused for avoiding suffering and entering Nirvana. A minority group of elders, or those who continued in the Buddha’s teachings, came to be known as Hinayana, or “the smaller raft.” The majority that split off from the traditional teachings is known as Mahayana, or “the larger raft.” Mahayana Buddhism, among other matters and perhaps most importantly, offered new paths for enlightenment, including the offer of saints and special Buddhas who could aid the pilgrim on his way to enlightenment. This larger group, over the centuries, has itself divided into various groups with their own interpretations of Buddhism, for example, Zen Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Pure Land Buddhism, etc.
5. According to the traditions, the Buddha discovered the answer to human suffering, and that answer is comprised of four components.
- To exist is to encounter suffering. To live in this world is to encounter trials and disappointments of all kinds.
- The cause of suffering is desire. Actually, the Buddha did not teach that all desire is bad, only those desires that lead to disappointment. For instance, the desire for enlightenment is a good thing, which leads to Nirvana.
- Suffering ceases when desire ceases. If the root causes of pain-producing desire can be eliminated, the resultant suffering will cease.
- Desire is extinguished by following the Eight-Fold Path.
6. The Eight-Fold Path, or “the middle way,” is “the path that leads to no desire” and, thus, no suffering.
As might be expected, the path consists of eight components, divided into three categories:
Panna (“wisdom”)
1. Right understanding
2. Right thought
Sila (“ethical conduct”)
3. Right speech
4. Right action
5. Right livelihood
Samadhi (“mental discipline”)
6. Right effort
7. Right awareness
8. Right meditation
This path requires full-time attention and effort. Largely reserved for full-time priests, everyday Buddhists seek deliverance from the world’s ills through various rituals, acts of worship, and reliance upon gracious and helpful saints and supernatural beings.
7. For Buddhist priests, the pursuit of Nirvana is a full-time commitment.
Priests generally live in monasteries patterned after the original community of the Buddha’s followers known as the sangha. The priests’ calendar is filled with daily practices of various types: chanting scripture and sutras, participating in temple ceremonies, taking care of the temple and its grounds, doing community service, and, in all things, pursuing the Eight-Fold Path. The pursuit of nirvana indeed requires a full-time commitment.
8. Buddhists have various understandings of Nirvana.
Burmese Buddhism is quite representative of Buddhism at large. In his study of contemporary Burmese Buddhism, Melford E. Spiro observed:
“Contemporary Burmese Buddhists exhibit three points of view concerning the meaning of nirvana. . . . A small group says that short of experiencing nirvana, nothing can be said about it (other than that it entails the absence of suffering). . . . A second group says that although we cannot say what nirvana is, it is not extinction or annihilation. . . .The third group—those who believe that nirvana means total extinction—is the largest.”
He quotes a Burmese as saying that in nirvana “nothing exists”—there is no mind, no soul, no body, no feeling of any kind.”[1] The key, no matter what one’s concept of nirvana, is that the person no longer suffers.
9. It is difficult for a Buddhist to become a Christian.
The simple reason for the difficulty is that Buddhism and Christianity are so different. The biblical concepts of an eternal and holy God, a single life ending in death and judgment, sin committed against God and bringing judgment, atonement through the cross, resurrection, and a heavenly eternal bliss are all ideas very foreign to the Buddhist. They simply do not exist in his worldview and are difficult for him to understand.
Other significant obstacles also make conversion difficult. The Buddhist, as we all, lives in a particular culture, family, and community. The Burmese people, for instance, might insist, “To be Burmese is to be Buddhist.” Life is hard when separated from family and community.
10. We must approach and talk with our Buddhist friends with compassion and understanding while clearly explaining the gospel.
We must remember how difficult it will be for our Buddhist friend to become a Christian. It is important to explain that, though his religious loyalties will be different, the gospel is above all cultures and, as long as he is faithful to biblical teaching, he can remain in his own culture, family, and community. We will also tell him about the opposition that will come and about the help of the Holy Spirit and communion with God’s people that will support him in enduring that opposition. And, above all, we will clearly explain the gospel and all it entails, for as the apostle Paul has testified, “[We are] not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).
[1]Melford E. Spiro, Buddhism and Society: A Great Tradition and Its Burmese Vicissitudes (University of California Press, 1982), 59.
Author: George Martin | Originally Posted at: https://abwe.org/blog/10-things-you-should-know-about-buddhism/
