Interfaith Friendship\nJesus and Buddha<\/p>\n
Friday, December 8, 2017<\/p>\n
<\/iframe><br \/>\nIn his book Jesus and Buddha, New Testament theologian Marcus Borg (1942-2015) highlights numerous sayings in the teachings of Jesus that are strikingly similar, if not identical, to the teachings of the Buddha who lived some six centuries earlier. There have been some attempts to explain these similarities through historical access, which is a remote possibility. Borg suggests a more meaningful view: that Jesus and the Buddha had both discovered the same spiritual goal and destiny, or I would say the one Holy Spirit that is guiding all of history. The Jewish Kabbalah, Muslim Sufism, and the teachings of the Tao also reveal a map toward non-dual consciousness and oneness.<br \/>\nLet me just share just a few of the parallel teachings Borg gathers in his book [1], and you will see how they are coming from the same non-dual perspective:<br \/>\nJesus says, \u201cDo to others as you would have them do to you\u201d (Luke 6:31). The Buddha says, \u201cConsider others as yourself\u201d (Dhammapada 10.1).<br \/>\nJesus says, \u201cIf anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also\u201d (Luke 6:29). Buddha says, \u201cIf anyone should give you a blow with his hand, with a stick, or with a knife, you should abandon any desires [to hurt him] and utter no evil words\u201d (Majjhima Nikaya 21.6).<br \/>\nJesus says, \u201cTruly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me\u201d (Matthew 25:45). \u00a0Buddha says, \u201cIf you do not tend one another, then who is there to tend you? Whoever would tend me, he should tend the sick\u201d (Vinaya, Mahavagga 8.26.3).<br \/>\nJesus and Buddha diagnose the human dilemma similarly. Our suffering is primarily based on ignorance. The vast majority of humanity lives in blindness about who we are and where we are going. Jesus and Buddha both speak about anxiety, attachment, grasping, craving, and self-absorption.<br \/>\nUnfortunately, Christianity became so concerned with making sure everybody believed that Jesus was God (faith in Jesus) that we largely ignored his teachings on detachment, simplicity, nonviolence, and anxiety (the faith of Jesus). Our Buddhist brothers and sisters can help us remember these teachings at the core of our faith; they can help us be better, truer Christians. And we can help them, or at least give them very few reasons to dislike us! Why not try this novel idea?<br \/>\nOn many levels, Jesus and Buddha talked about the same experience of transformation. In the end, all spirituality really is about transformation, dying before we die and being reborn as our True Selves in Love.<\/p>\n<p>________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>The Impartial Power of God<br \/>\nBy Oswald Chambers<\/p>\n<p>By one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. \u2014Hebrews 10:14<\/p>\n<p>We trample the blood of the Son of God underfoot if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only reason for the forgiveness of our sins by God, and the infinite depth of His promise to forget them, is the death of Jesus Christ. Our repentance is merely the result of our personal realization of the atonement by the Cross of Christ, which He has provided for us. \u201c\u2026Christ Jesus\u2026became for us wisdom from God\u2014 and righteousness and sanctification and redemption\u2026\u201d (1 Corinthians 1:30). Once we realize that Christ has become all this for us, the limitless joy of God begins in us. And wherever the joy of God is not present, the death sentence is still in effect.<br \/>\nNo matter who or what we are, God restores us to right standing with Himself only by means of the death of Jesus Christ. God does this, not because Jesus pleads with Him to do so but because He died. It cannot be earned, just accepted. All the pleading for salvation which deliberately ignores the Cross of Christ is useless. It is knocking at a door other than the one which Jesus has already opened. We protest by saying, \u201cBut I don\u2019t want to come that way. It is too humiliating to be received as a sinner.\u201d God\u2019s response, through Peter, is, \u201c\u2026 there is no other name\u2026by which we must be saved\u201d (Acts 4:12). What at first appears to be heartlessness on God\u2019s part is actually the true expression of His heart. There is unlimited entrance His way. \u201cIn Him we have redemption through His blood\u2026\u201d (Ephesians 1:7). To identify with the death of Jesus Christ means that we must die to everything that was never a part of Him.<br \/>\nGod is just in saving bad people only as He makes them good. Our Lord does not pretend we are all right when we are all wrong. The atonement by the Cross of Christ is the propitiation God uses to make unholy people holy.<\/p>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<p><!-- \/.col-12 --> <!-- \/.row --><\/p>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"row entry-meta\">\n<div class=\"col-sm-12\">\n<div id=\"key-verse-box\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"entry-content\">\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Interfaith Friendship Jesus and Buddha Friday, December 8, 2017 In his book Jesus and Buddha, New Testament theologian Marcus Borg (1942-2015) highlights numerous sayings in the teachings of Jesus that are strikingly similar, if not identical, to the teachings of the Buddha who lived some six centuries earlier. There have been some attempts to explain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16255"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16255"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16257,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16255\/revisions\/16257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}