Christianity and Buddhism

In this short article I will attempt to show that there is a common ground for both of the traditions on their  respective highest levels.

To compare Christianity and Buddhism we have to understand clearly the essence and therefore the roots of both.

We will be talking about different religions, it is important to notice a big distinction; Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism are all technically true religions. Buddhism, in its original and true form cannot be classified as religion, but as mere philosophy. It is a philosophy in the very essence of the word; a quest, or pull towards (philo) the knowledge, or understanding (sophy).

Modern day Christianity stems out of much older Judeo-Christian tradition. The Judaic root is based in the teachings of the Old Testament which is heavily influenced by the laws and customs of the Jewish tribes of the era predeceasing the time when the Old Testament was written down from the oral tradition.

With great simplification, Jewish laws, traditions and teachings can be characterized as mostly external in regard to personal self and internal personal insights. The external traditions are simply the laws to be followed. There very little ground of comparison to buddhism here. The internal traditions manifest in Kabbalah teachings of the Judaism, which carried little or no weight into Christianity.

Christianity itself, carrying the external Judaic traditions developed into popular religion which is mostly represented by Protestant faiths (pure belief and laws) and majority of Catholicism (belief, customs and laws).

The tradition based internal insight are represented by a very narrow circle of Catholic and Eastern Orthodox mystics. It is this small group of mystics, and some insignificant fractions of mystic Protestants, that give us the best platform for further comparisons.

Buddhism, on the other hand, stems out of the hinduism, and both of the teachings are based on the internal insight of the individual.

It is therefore not difficult to see that if we want to compare Christianity to Buddhism and to find significant similarities, we will have to understand the internal insight that is the essence of both.

Judeo-Christian mystic experiences as well a Buddhist enlightenment are based on the similar basic principles. A person has to reject the distractions of the every-day world, most often going into seclusion. Person should cleanse the inner body, usually by limiting the intake of drink and food, or fasting. Person has to clean the mind from distractions by meditation, prayer, or contemplation on a single object. Finally, the person has to obtain a state of perfect balance, or union, with the object of the meditation, prayer, or contemplation.

The process of achievement of what eastern tradition call enlightenment (japanese satori), or Judeo-Christian mystic experience (visions and unions with God) are very similar and can be manifested in many ways common across all religions that utilize spiritual insights. Most graphic is in form of mandla that can be found in European church windows sponsored by people after mystic visions, Eastern Orthodox Church paintings, Hindu, east-asian art and Tibetan mandals.

The mandala is such a common reflection of the experience, that based on what was seen, and in what colors, a person can determine the depth of the experience. The subject is too extensive to explain it in-depth in this paper.

There were many great mystics in history of Christianity, Teresa of Avila is one of them, but the most obvious is Jesus himself. Most notably he went through a deep mystic experiences during the time he spent in the desert praying, fasting, being tempted and ultimately uniting with God-father.

Historic Buddha, similarly, fasted extensively in seclusion of the jungle, meditated and achieved enlightenment into his own existence and the ultimate truth about which he spent the rest of his life teaching.

Every religion, and even every individual perceives differently what is the ultimate. There is no point in discussing which one is truth, false, or which is misguided. At certain point of each tradition there is an individual who follows similar steps to achieves higher level of existence. Whether Jesus, believed to be already the son of God, or Buddha, who never claimed divine, and any saint, or Zen master, they all meditated, prayed, or contemplated, fasted and were tempted until the reality as we know it snapped like a broken string and the essence of the ultimate truth filled their lives. Many people compare this phenomena to many paths leading to the same mountain peak.

Finally, one can find similarities between Christianity and Buddhism that are not limited to a narrow circle of mystics. Those similarities are however more superficial and external and therefore secondary from the point of view of a buddhist. Most notably both of the traditions profess non-violence. Christianity has terrible track-record in this regard, but if to adhere to the teaching of Jesus, a person should not kill. Similarly, in Buddhism killing is considered as a source of bad karma, or harmful influence on the world, and therefore should be avoided at any level, including animals, or even inanimate nature, again with mixed results.