Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Buddhism & Christianity Compared
Buddhism & Christianity Compared
Christianity
Compared
Ivan Frimmel
Various Pictures of
Buddha
Baby Buddha
Thai Buddha
Amitabha Buddha
Amitabha Buddha
Buddha Mind
Medicine
Buddha
Quan Yin
Medicine Buddha
Various Pictures of
Jesus
On Eternal Life
Buddhism
...a state that is not pleasing or delightful to me, how could I inflict
that upon another?"
Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful."
Udana-Varga 5:18.
Christianity
A Zen Buddhist monk and a Trappist Christian monk met on a balmy spring day with the trees leafing
out and many flowers in bloom. They bowed and shook hands admiring each other's robes and
discussing many points of similarity in the organization of their monastic lives. Both had taken vows of
poverty. Both were celibate. Both lived in separated communities. Both had rituals they did every day.
Enjoying this process of comparing their lives, they decided to explore the ideas that informed their
religious orders. They found a shady bench to gain shelter from the afternoon sun and began to talk.
First the Trappist monk exclaimed, "Central to our thinking is the Trinitarian understanding of God.
God is one expressed as three: The Father God from whom the Universe was created and to whom it
will return; The Son who took human form to show us, the alienated creatures of God, how to restore
our relationship and who gave his life to appease the Father; and the Holy Spirit who continues the
Divine presence in our daily lives by making the reality of God known to us in each moment.
The Zen monk responded, "Your ideas of God are very strange to us. We do not believe in an
omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God. In fact we believe just the opposite. That there is nothing
beyond this wheel of cause and effect. Here is how we talk about it in the Lotus Sutra, one of our most
inspiring texts:
The Bodhisattva of Compassion From the depths of prajna wisdom saw the emptiness and sundered
the bonds that caused suffering.
Form here is only emptiness, emptiness only form. Form is no other than emptiness, emptiness no
other than form.
Gate, Gate, Para gate, Para sam gate, bohdi svaha! Gone, Gone, Gone beyond; Gone beyond the
beyond, Wow! (very loosely translated) Respect,
honor and attention to the Awakened One!
"Hmmm," said the Trappist Monk. "This isn't going to be as easy as I had hoped. Some of what you say
reminds me of the centering prayer we do but it is also different.
different. One thing I think we can agree upon
is the importance of what we do to help people get to heaven. I know that the fruit of my cloistered
life will be to ascend to heaven after I die.
"Not me!" said the Zen monk. "I
"I have taken Bodhisattva vows. I will be reborn in this world again and
again until all beings have been brought to enlightenment. If being born in hell helps in that process,
I'd gladly go.
1.
2.
The cause of suffering is desire and
attachment
3.
Desire and attachment can be
overcome, and
this state is called Nirvana
4.
The way to end suffering is through
following
the Eightfold Path
1. Right view
2. Right thought
3. Right speech
4. Right action
5. Right livelihood
6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness
8. Right
concentration
Ethical
Conduct
Mental Discipline
Thank You
Ivan Frimmel
Cell: 082-454-0311
E-mail: ivan.frimmel@nanhua.co.za