Is it possible to practice both Buddhism and Christianity?

[UKChristian]

Hello all. Let me tell you where I'm coming from and why I'm asking this…

I am a Christian. I have no doubt God exists. I have no doubt the Bible is the word of God! HOWEVER… When it comes to denominations, this is where I struggle. I claim to be an Anglican, I was brought up in an Anglican household. After trying out many, there's only one church I would regularly attend near where I live and it's an Anglican church(I think I'd fit in in some Lutheran churches but the nearest Lutheran church to me is 50 miles away! I've also considered the Quakers as I share many beliefs with them but I've ruled that out as I'm not a strict pacifist). I am religiously(not necessarily politically) fairly liberal. I was speaking to a Buddhist friend of mine about something completely unrelated when they happened to mention that they're an atheist. I wondered how someone who identifies themselves as Buddhist could also identify themselves as Atheist(I don't know much about Buddhism). Looking into it a bit further it appears this is far from unusual for Buddhists and possibly even the norm! Buddhists do not worship anyone it appears.

As I said before I don't know a great deal about Buddhism but this has sparked my interest. I am a Christian but find it quite difficult to fit into any pigeonhole that people may put me in upon knowing that. Buddhism, from what I do know, appeals to me and I may fit in better there in my search for a spiritual community. So my question is, if Buddhism is considered(as it is by some practicers according to the internet) more of a way of life rather than a religion, is it compatible with Christianity.

I am sure there's a whole range of different views on this and I welcome them all in a quest to further understand where I'm at spiritually right now.

 

[seashale76]

No, it is not possible for a Christian to also be a Buddhist.

First off, Buddhism teaches the concept of reincarnation (which is at direct odds with the Christian belief). They teach that reincarnation occurs due to ignorance and suffering- and that one can stop it by becoming a Buddhist. Different schools of thought claim different things. Theraveda Buddhism (the oldest form) doesn't believe there is forgiveness of sins (or negative karma), while Vajarana Buddhism believes mantras can help with this. Christianity believes we have eternal souls- Buddhism doesn't.

The eight-fold path itself isn't really at odds with Christianity (especially everything regarding ethical conduct)- excepting the eighth one regarding meditation. However- just accepting the eight-fold path doesn't make one Buddhist. You have to accept all of the Buddhist teachings, be part of a Buddhist community, and accept the Buddha.

They generally consider a Buddha to be an enlightened/awakened/purified person who will help others to achieve the same state. Mahayana Buddhists look at the Buddha as a god-like figure. In fact- Buddhists believe in various spirits and demons- though they don't see them as gods (but the way they relate to them amounts to worship/appeasement/whatever you want to call it)- and believe that people can be possessed by them and they even have certain people known as oracles who are possessed by certain spirits that they listen to (in Tibet anyway). However- Buddhists generally claim to be atheistic (as they believe ultimately everything will come to nothing and cease to exist- and that there is no ultimate creator) even though they directly relate to spirits and demons. Buddhism is inherently atheistic at its core- so it would not be at odds for a practicing Buddhist to also claim to be an atheist.

The Dalai Lama has changed his views on non-Buddhists over the years. He's gone from believing that everyone should be Buddhist to recanting that belief. Now, he's even gone so far as to claim that Christ was a Buddha who reached enlightenment. While that's a nice thought- Christianity and Buddhism are two belief systems that are inherently at odds.

Christianity is also a way of life when practiced properly. So- to say that something isn't religious based on that view is a little odd to me.

ETA: I'm sick of this auto-correct thing attempting to change my words and spellings on me.

 

[gord44]

a Christian can have Buddhist practices. despite what seashale said above, not all Mahayana Buddhists see the Buddha as a god like figure. A zen buddhist may not even care if buddha existed because it just isn't important. you will also find they all don't believe in reincarnation. even though i don't think that matters as i don't really see reincarnation at odds with the Bible (the Hebrew Bible anyways).

Back on point. The practices of meditation can be very beneficial to a Christian.The zen priest I used to spend a lot of time reading about and following mentioned once, that a Christian can do meditation, but he shouldn't be surprised if it changes his outlook on G-d and his faith.

 

[smaneck]

So my question is, if Buddhism is considered(as it is by some practicers according to the internet) more of a way of life rather than a religion, is it compatible with Christianity.

When did religion become something other than a way of life? It is true that Buddhism denies the existence of a creator God, so in that sense it would be incompatible with Christianity. But I wonder if what you are asking is whether Buddhist meditation and Buddhist practices are incompatible? Thomas Merton seemed to have learned a lot from them. Thomas Merton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[dlamberth]

No, it is not possible for a Christian to also be a Buddhist.

I hear other Christians echo what you wrote, and I also hear Buddhist saying pretty much the same, that a Buddhist can not be a theist. Yet I know people who are both. Some are Christian, some are even Muslim. What I'd like to know is: What do you make of that?

.

 

[dlamberth]

Thomas Merton seemed to have learned a lot from them. Thomas Merton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thomas Merton came to mind for me as well.

.

 

[seashale76]

I hear other Christians echo what you wrote, and I also hear Buddhist saying pretty much the same, that a Buddhist can not be a theist. Yet I know people who are both. Some are Christian, some are even Muslim. What I'd like to know is: What do you make of that?

.

What they're practicing is apparently neither Buddhism nor Christianity then.

 

[ContraMundum]

When did religion become something other than a way of life? It is true that Buddhism denies the existence of a creator God, so in that sense it would be incompatible with Christianity. But I wonder if what you are asking is whether Buddhist meditation and Buddhist practices are incompatible? Thomas Merton seemed to have learned a lot from them. Thomas Merton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'll chip in and note that I think Merton would have ever thought he was practicing Buddhism though. He certainly advocated learning from the Eastern traditions, and of this you are quite correct.

I also heard from a Buddhist just recently that some Buddhists do believe in God. I don't know exactly how that works, but that was what I was told.

 

[dlamberth]

I also heard from a Buddhist just recently that some Buddhists do believe in God.

That's true.

.

 

[Sophrosyne]

I think the problem is if you are trying to do both at once you end up doing neither in reality. Christianity when "practiced" accordingly has no need for any Buddhists ideology in fact it is superior to Buddhism. Delving into Buddhism will most likely tempt you to go farther into it and lead you to a point that you have to choose who you serve.... God or Buddhism.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

Traditional religions have a very tense relationship with eclecticism, even though the history of religion shows that it is virtually unavoidable and has always led to the most fertile and long-lasting spiritual paths.

Where the guardians of dogma and doctrine see a righteous defense of "purity" against corrupting influences, I see a sort of spiritual incest, forever trapped within the narrow bounds of a specific world view, shorn of any potential for new insights or growth.


All of that said, the traditional Buddhist world view does not have that much in common with the traditional Christian world view, at least as far as cosmology and metaphysics are concerned. So if you combine the two, what you end up with is something distinctly other than either of those, even if you are perfectly free to regard yourself as a Christian Buddhist.

 

[sunshine456]

NO!!

So many people want to believe in an interfaith system and are being misled and deceived. Simply put.....JESUS CHRIST the son of GOD is the way, the truth and the life and the only way, the truth, and the life. Through him is the only way to the heavenly father.

Buddhism does not teach this very truth, so it is not sound in doctrine, nor the truth. Many false teachers and deceivers are in the world and have gone out into it. The blind leading the blind only ends in lies, and the enemy whom is roaring around us; seeking whom it can devour is the father of lies.

Wake up sleepers from your slumber and accept the truth; allowing truth to overcome lies is the steps to overcoming the enemy.

Many of us try to lean on our own understanding; when we should be leaning on the grace that GOD gave us through his son lord JESUS.

Many do not like to hear nor listen to the truth for the simple reason that neither does the enemy due to pride and many other vices that the enemy instills.

Praise be to GOD the heavenly father and his son lord JESUS CHRIST forever>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[smaneck]

I'll chip in and note that I think Merton would have ever thought he was practicing Buddhism though. He certainly advocated learning from the Eastern traditions, and of this you are quite correct.

I presume you mean Thomas Merton would *not* have thought he was practicing Buddhism. Merton believed that dogmas were not compatible but practices might be.

I also heard from a Buddhist just recently that some Buddhists do believe in God. I don't know exactly how that works, but that was what I was told.

There is a doctrine in Buddhism called the dharmakaya which is sort of a cosmic Buddha which comes to replace the Brahman of Hinduism. Buddhas such as Gautama are manifestations of the dharmakaya.

 

[smaneck]

NO!!

So many people want to believe in an interfaith system and are being misled and deceived. Simply put.....JESUS CHRIST the son of GOD is the way, the truth and the life and the only way, the truth, and the life. Through him is the only way to the heavenly father.

Buddhism does not teach this very truth,

How could it? Buddha lived 500 years before Christ.

 

[ContraMundum]

I presume you mean Thomas Merton would *not* have thought he was practicing Buddhism. Merton believed that dogmas were not compatible but practices might be.

Yep. Good pick up.

There is a doctrine in Buddhism called the dharmakaya which is sort of a cosmic Buddha which comes to replace the Brahman of Hinduism. Buddhas such as Gautama are manifestations of the dharmakaya.

OK.

 

[dlamberth]

It appears that I'm at the minority here. But I know people who do practice both Christianity and Buddhism, so I'm pretty convince that a person can do both. It helps when you have seen it with your own eyes.

There are a lot of different kinds of both Christian and Buddhist sects out there in the world. Because of the variety on both sides, there's lots of wiggle room for a person to find a place of unity between them.

As an aside but related note, I also know people who are both Jewish AND Muslim and others who are both Christian and Muslim and another who was a Muslim, Christian, a Buddhist and a Hindu. Sadly that person passed away in 1995. I knew him as Lex_Hixon. I know American Indians who are also Christian and some who are Muslim, and a lay-Catholic priest who is also Muslim. And I sit in meditation with Monks at a Trappist monastery that I often visit. One of those Monks as even gone to a Buddhist retreat. I'm not saying that those Monks are Buddhist, but they are able to find a way to combine the two paths in their meditation.

What all of these people have in common is that they know how to penetrate the outer forms of religions and dig down into the inner essence of where a spiritual path becomes Truth, and from there find a common ground for their own spiritual understanding and experience

Father William Johnson's "The Inner Eye of Love, Mysticism and Religion" is a wonderful book on the subject that I highly recommend. Johnson, a Jesuit, was both a Christian and a Zen master.

There are just so many examples to pull from to where I'm just unable to say "no", a person can not be both a Buddhist and Christian.

.

 

[smaneck]

When I was seventeen and a Freshman in college I met a fairly renowned Catholic theologian named Raimon Panikkar who considered himself both Hindu and Catholic. When he came to speak to our class one of the evangelicals began quoting from Acts 4 about how "under no other name" can we be saved. I quick pulled out my own Bible and started looking for the passages in Revelation which speak of a new name. He took the Bible out of my hand and recited the very passage I was looking for. I then asked him, "But why Hindu and Catholic? Why not Buddhist and Muslim?" He smiled and said, "In America you marry the girl you love. In India we love the girl we marry." An allusion to the fact his father was Hindu and his mother was Catholic. Then he winked and said, "Our marriages last longer."

It appears that I'm at the minority here. But I know people who do practice both Christianity and Buddhism, so I'm pretty convince that a person can do both. It helps when you have seen it with your own eyes.

There are a lot of different kinds of both Christian and Buddhist sects out there in the world. Because of the variety on both sides, there's lots of wiggle room for a person to find a place of unity between them.

As an aside but related note, I also know people who are both Jewish AND Muslim and others who are both Christian and Muslim and another who was a Muslim, Christian, a Buddhist and a Hindu. Sadly that person passed away in 1995. I knew him as Lex_Hixon. I know American Indians who are also Christian and some who are Muslim, and a lay-Catholic priest who is also Muslim. And I sit in meditation with Monks at a Trappist monastery that I often visit. One of those Monks as even gone to a Buddhist retreat. I'm not saying that those Monks are Buddhist, but they are able to find a way to combine the two paths in their meditation.

What all of these people have in common is that they know how to penetrate the outer forms of religions and dig down into the inner essence of where a spiritual path becomes Truth, and from there find a common ground for their own spiritual understanding and experience

Father William Johnson's "The Inner Eye of Love, Mysticism and Religion" is a wonderful book on the subject that I highly recommend. Johnson, a Jesuit, was both a Christian and a Zen master.

There are just so many examples to pull from to where I'm just unable to say "no", a person can not be both a Buddhist and Christian.

.

 

[light upon light]

I believe that Christ and Buddha spoke from the same Source, along with the other great Teachers. So if someone looked to both of them for inspiration and guidance, I would see that as a wonderful thing.

". If we are lovers of the light we adore it in whatever lamp it may become manifest but if we love the lamp itself and the light is transferred to another lamp we will neither accept nor sanction it. Therefore we must follow and adore the virtues revealed in the messengers of God whether in Abraham, Moses, Jesus or other prophets [ie such as Gautama Buddha] but we must not adhere to and adore the lamp. We must recognize the sun no matter from what dawning-point it may shine forth, be it Mosaic, Abrahamic or any personal point of orientation whatever, for we are lovers of sunlight and not of orientation. We are lovers of illumination and not of lamps and candles. We are seekers for water no matter from what rock it may gush forth. We are in need of fruit in whatsoever orchard it may be ripened. We long for rain it matters not which cloud pours it down. We must not be fettered. If we renounce these fetters we shall agree, for all are seekers of reality." - Abdu'l-Baha

 

[Sophrosyne]

I believe that Christ and Buddha spoke from the same Source, along with the other great Teachers. So if someone looked to both of them for inspiration and guidance, I would see that as a wonderful thing.

". If we are lovers of the light we adore it in whatever lamp it may become manifest but if we love the lamp itself and the light is transferred to another lamp we will neither accept nor sanction it. Therefore we must follow and adore the virtues revealed in the messengers of God whether in Abraham, Moses, Jesus or other prophets [ie such as Gautama Buddha] but we must not adhere to and adore the lamp. We must recognize the sun no matter from what dawning-point it may shine forth, be it Mosaic, Abrahamic or any personal point of orientation whatever, for we are lovers of sunlight and not of orientation. We are lovers of illumination and not of lamps and candles. We are seekers for water no matter from what rock it may gush forth. We are in need of fruit in whatsoever orchard it may be ripened. We long for rain it matters not which cloud pours it down. We must not be fettered. If we renounce these fetters we shall agree, for all are seekers of reality." - Abdu'l-Baha

God isn't schizophrenic, he isn't 6 different people and Jesus said he was the only way not one of the ways, which makes Buddhism not the way at all.

 

[smaneck]

God isn't schizophrenic, he isn't 6 different people and Jesus said he was the only way not one of the ways, which makes Buddhism not the way at all.

Jesus was not addressing the question of religious pluralism. IMO, He was saying basically the same thing Baha'u'llah says here, that we don't come to God by our own efforts:

"O Salmán! The door of the knowledge of the Ancient Being hath ever been, and will continue for ever to be, closed in the face of men. No man’s understanding shall ever gain access unto His holy court. As a token of His mercy, however, and as a proof of His loving-kindness, He hath manifested unto men the Day Stars of His divine guidance, the Symbols of His divine unity, and hath ordained the knowledge of these sanctified Beings to be identical with the knowledge of His own Self. Whoso recognizeth them hath recognized God. Whoso hearkeneth to their call, hath hearkened to the Voice of God, and whoso testifieth to the truth of their Revelation, hath testified to the truth of God Himself. Whoso turneth away from them, hath turned away from God, and whoso disbelieveth in them, hath disbelieved in God. Every one of them is the Way of God that connecteth this world with the realms above, and the Standard of His Truth unto every one in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. They are the Manifestations of God amidst men, the evidences of His Truth, and the signs of His glory."