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Similarities between Buddhism and Christianity
Similarities between Buddhism and Christianity
Similarities between Buddhism and Christianity
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This paper is a book report on “Living Buddha, Living Christ,” written by, Thich Nhat Hanh. In this paper I will discuss the four themes; Mindfulness, Understanding, Interbeing, and Wisdom. I will define the themes, and explain how each theme listed is a part of my life and whether this theme, can be co-related along with my faith.
Throughout this book, Thich Nhat Hanh talks about one being mindful. Anyone would define this term, being mindful means to acknowledge what you are doing, why you are doing it and so forth. Alternatively, mindfulness is also an agent of healing, just like The Holy Spirit, also being an agent of healing. It means to be understanding at a new level for yourself, to see from a new perspective and listen more deeply than you had previously. Mindfulness is not just knowing what you are doing and not being ignorant of something that is going on in the world, or not helping others when they are in need. As Thich Nhat Hanh wrote, the concept of being happy to be alive, and being thankful for the world we live on, and being thankful to God by taking care of ourselves is a way of being “mindful.” Being mindful is something that I can relate with my religion and co-relate to. As a Catholic, I already can perceive the Holy Spirit as a healing agent. I can apply being mindful in my life by, praying for the help of the Holy Spirit to help me, when I am in need of help or wisdom. Among other things, like taking care of others and myself both physically and spiritually. I can also take this concept in my faith by praising God, and thanking him for all that I have in my life.
Another theme is to be understanding. The author talks about being there for someone and understanding his or her pain along with trying to make...
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...uly get me to and through the right path. Wisdom can be helped with knowledge but also experiences and I take these experiences I learn and go through within in my faith and everyday life outside of church, like school or home. Finally, This concept is very compatible with my faith because the book discusses, “touching The Living Christ in each person we meet”, and also that I must learn from my experiences and take that knowledge and use it to make sure that I am going on the right path and that I am staying on the right path.
To cut a long story short, the themes I have listed in this book report on Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Living Buddha, Living Christ, are healthy and recommended themes. Although, my faith does not promote these outwardly as a Catholic would the Ten Commandments, if one looks deeply into the words, one would see these themes in The Commandments.
I believe the most important concept that I gained from reading the book was to remain faithful, in good times and in bad. Walking blindly can be very terrifying, but God always has a plan for each and every one of us. At times, the plan remains unseen, and that should not deter or slow me on the path that my heart is yearning
Hạnh, Nhất, and Arnold Kotler. Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life.
The first concept of Living Buddha, Living Christ that was the most important to me was the concept of mindfulness. Mindfulness was particularly interesting to me because it isn’t something that is thought of in daily life. It is a concept that you unconsciously think about, and you are never truly aware of what you are doing until you accept it. My favorite part of mindfulness was how the author described Buddhism. He described it as “we sit, we walk, we eat” and that is a very blunt statement. Although the statement is blunt, it opened up my eyes to see that mindfulness does not require excessive thought like I had assumed. Excessive thought is something that is not a part of mindfulness, and it relates to what the book said about the past. If you worry about the past or future, you’re wasting time. I love the idea of living in the present, not the cliché type, but I love the idea that the past and the future can only hurt you. You are never truly aware of what is going on within you and around you until you focus on the present. If you do everything with mindfulness, you will always see the beauty that surrounds you. I also thought of the story of the tiger and the monk while reading about mindfulness. As the monk was hanging on the vine, he ate the strawberry. He was only focusing on what he was doing at that moment, and he wasn’t worried about what was behind him o...
Walking into the Hall of the Buddhas, there was a sense of peace and guidance lingering inside me. The seated Bodhisattva, of the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534), CA.480, from the Yungang, Cave xv, Shani Province, made of sandstone, guarded the entrance. At first, I thought it was a time to be disciplined, but the transcending smile from the statue was a delicate fixed gesture that offered a feeling of welcome. It was not a place to confess your wrongdoings; neither was it a place for me to say, “Buddha I have sinned.” It was a room to purify the mind, the mind that we take for granted without giving it harmony. There was a large mural decorating the main wall called “The Paradise of Bhaishajyaguru”(916-1125). I sat down wandering if the artist of the portrait knew that his work would one day be shared on this side of the world, in my time. Much like Jesus Christ and his followers, the mural is a painting of healers and saviors. It was a large figure of the Buddha of medicine, (Bhaishajyaquru) surrounded by followers of Bodhisattvas, Avalokiteshvara, and Mahosthamaprapta with twelve guardian generals who have pledged to disseminate the Buddha’s teaching (Tradition of Liao 916-1125, Metropolitan Museum wall plaque).
Thich Nhat Hanh , the author of The World We Have: A Buddhist Approach to Peace and Ecology, is a Buddhist monk. He was born in Hue, Vietnam. He wrote this book to inform the people on Earth about the environmental issues we currently have. He believes that people in the world are like sleepwalkers, who are unaware about the environment. Everything in the world is related to each other. The same thing applied for human; everyone in this world is related and linked to each other like brothers and sisters. Since we all share the Earth, the water and the sun, he points out that we have to be responsible and protect the environment, because everything supports each other in order to adapt to this planet. Although his ideas to practice the mindfulness seems impossible and ridiculous to some people when they first read a few chapters of this book, they are actually possible to practice and succeed. As he indicated in his book, many people and even countries have been practicing his ideas, and that will gradually improve the environment that we live in.
A community, a system of belief, a tradition and a way of life- Catholicism and Theravada Buddhism are all of these and many more. There are many affinities between Theravada Buddhism and Catholicism, but each tradition is marked with its own unique origins. Thus it is valuable to explore Buddhist rituals, practices, ethics and morals comparatively to those Catholic, but equally important to examine those features that are uniquely their own religion.
Throughout the early years in many East Asian countries, there were many people who were looking for answers to this world’s, and otherworldly, questions. When Gotama became enlightened, and began preaching the practices of Buddhism, it came at such a time when the Han dynasty was collapsing, citizens were tired of Confucianism and looking for a new ideology that they could put there hearts and souls into. Over the years, Buddhism proved to be much more than just a religion; it became a way of life. But over time, the powerful orthodoxy transformed, and many different Buddhist sects emerged. One of the more popular sects, Ch’an, or Zen, Buddhism, has become one of the most influential religions in China and Japan, and is still flourishing today.
“The story employs a dramatic point of view that emphasizes the fragility of human relationships. It shows understanding and agreemen...
The theme that this story shows is that people who are in pain inflict pain on others in the interaction between Margôt and the
"Basics of Buddhism." n.d. The Living Edens: Thailand. Public Broadcasting Service. Website. 6 March 2014. .
Gethin, Rupert. "The Life of the Buddha." ORIAS Home Page. Oxford University Press, 1998. Web. 13 Apr. 2011. .
Story, Francis. "Buddhist Meditation." Access to Insight: Readings in Theravada Buddhism. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
A comparative analysis of salvation in Christianity and Buddhism exposes stark contrasts between the grace of Jesus Christ and the self-saving action and enlightenment of Buddha. I attempt to compare the Christian and Buddhist concepts of salvation in this essay to emphasise on the significance of each founder's roles in salvation, and to extract similarities and differences between them both.
Sayings of the Buddha: A selection of suttas from the Pali Nikayas. Gethin, Rupert. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print.
My favorite part about Buddhism is that it is real life stuff, even if it isn’t necessarily my specific faith, is that it never hurts to meditate on things when you can. The B...