Perhaps the strongest New Testament scripture against naturalism is Colossians 2:8: “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ” (The Harper Collins Study Bible). Christians are not to look to the interactions of matter, the reasons of philosophy, or the teachings of human tradition. Rather, the Christian’s worldview should be captive to that which is according the revelation of Christ.
The Buddhist Concept of Reality
The Buddhist concept of reality is best understood through the three Buddhist doctrines of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and not-self (Fisher 151). Impermanence (anicca) is best understood through the doctrine of emptiness, which tells us that nothing has any independent existence apart from anything else. This is the philosophical basis for the second Noble Truth, that suffering is caused by desire. The reason for this is that the individual things that we desire are intrinsically empty and always changing. The only true attainment is unity with the whole through following the Eightfold Path.
This leads us to the second doctrine, that of unsatisfactoriness (dukkha). Unsatisfactoriness, as we have seen, is the result of desire impermanent things. To build upon the doctrine of emptiness, unsatisfactoriness shows us that not only are things empty of themselves, but they remain empty even when these things are combined. In short, no amount of material attainment will bring an end to suffering.
Finally, the doctrine of not-self (anatta) informs us that what we perceive as ourselves, or of that belonging to ourselves, is not really who we are. While Buddhism allows for the concept of an empirical self (what you perceive about yourself in the present), it does not allow for a permanent self (Mahathera). This concept builds upon the impermanence of things to say that we ourselves are impermanent. Who we are today is not who we will become.
Through these three concepts, Buddhism both acknowledges the existence of what we perceive while stripping it any significance. Buddhism recognizes no closed system other than the whole. Our attempts to engineer a closed system to bring us happiness bring us suffering instead. True reality is found in becoming one with the whole. Even the Eightfold Path is not commandment, but merely a way to attain nirvana (Toropov and Buckles 203, 205). So then a Buddhist cannot fully know truth without attaining nirvana.
This emphasis of experience over dogma was apparent in my attempts to interview with Buddhists. Only two responded and both of them declined to answer any questions. One, Harry Allcroft, said: “Buddhism is much more about directly experiencing rather than conceiving. Your questions are all about concepts. The answers to which cannot possibly give you what you are looking for.”
Buddhist Naturalism
The Buddhist faith makes no claim to divinely revealed truth as does Christianity. In this, Buddhism is compatible and conducive with naturalism. One of the main reasons empirical science cannot challenge Buddhism is because of the Buddha’s approach to natural knowledge: “man should first and foremost learn more about his own nature and destiny in the universe rather than about the nature and origin of the universe” (qtd. in McEvilley 338). The Buddha even made the statement in the Sutta Nipata, “No truth exists at all apart from what sense-perception offers” (qtd. in McEvilley 338).
Ultimately, the Buddha constructed a belief system that not only provides an impressive foundation for empiricism but is empirical in its own conclusions about life and plight of humanity (McEvilley 340-341). The utilitarian and philosophically hedonistic nature of Buddhist teachings is revealed in “Mirror of the Dharma,” where one is instructed to choose whichever path of action results in less suffering (McEvilley 338). “The Vimamsaka Sutta advises withholding faith completely until after the verification process; then and only then can one have ‘rational faith’” (McEvilley 341).
As such, the Buddhist belief system provides a fitting counterpart to today’s society. Consider the spirit of age concerning such matters as science, the environment, and spirituality. Our modern society has decided that real truth is that which can be empirically proven; Buddhism is empirical to its core. More and more, the citizens of our world are coming to grips with the destruction of our ecosystem and the interconnectedness of world habitats and climate; Buddhism has the unity of all things as its central tenet. Lastly, the New Age spirituality of today’s world (e.g. Oprah) is not so different from Buddhism; both are highly personalized, non-dogmatic, open to new understandings, and do not require the existence of Deity. It is no wonder that the Christian church has been in decline in the West.
The Christian Concept of the Afterlife
The traditional Christian view of the afterlife has as its foundation the idea of an immortal soul. The Christian concept of immortal soul stands in contrast to the Buddhist idea of no-self. The immortal soul is considered to be self. This self will one day die and be judged (Townsend). Who we are is maintained through death and what we have done is brought into judgment. In Ezekiel 18:20, we are told that the soul that sins shall die (The Harper Collins Study Bible).
Yet this death is not annihilation, it is eternal torment, just as the reward for the righteous is eternal (The Harper Collins Study Bible, Romans 2.5-11). Christ said clearly, that consciousness shall not die and the fire will not be quenched for those who are sent to hell (The Harper Collins Study Bible, Mark 9.47-48).
In much the same way Satan told Adam and Eve that they would not die if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (The Harper Collins Study Bible, Genesis 3). Satan was right, as far as the physical body goes, but through his sleight of speech brought spiritual death upon all mankind. The Apostle Paul states this in Romans 5:12: “…sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin…” (The Harper Collins Study Bible). It was this death that God was warning Adam and Eve about. It was this death that required Christ to come as our Savior (Townsend).
Christianity is the message of hope for mankind who is held, in his natural spiritual state, to be condemned: “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men” (The Harper Collins Study Bible, Romans 5.18). This “one act of righteousness” was the Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. For those who accept Christ’s “act of righteousness” for their salvation and believe on Him as the Son of God, a place is being prepared by Christ Himself so that they may join Him (The Harper Collins Study Bible, John 14).
The Bible also speaks of Christ’s return in this same passage: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also” (The Harper Collins Study Bible, John 14.3). Christians believe that not all will have to go through death to be with Christ, some will be alive at His coming, and will be transformed instantly (The Harper Collins Study Bible, I Thessalonians 4.15-18).
The Buddhist Concept of the Afterlife
The Buddhist conception of the afterlife typically involves no heaven—it is a matter of whether you obtain release from the cycle of samsara, and if not, as what form you come back in (Mahathera). With no need of a Deity, there is no one to execute a final judgment, and no one to prepare places for the righteous and the unrighteous. The current universe simply is what it is, and the trajectory of your actions (karma) will propel you higher or lower in that order.
Although reincarnation is a tenet of Buddhist belief, we should not compare it with the Christian concept of resurrection. Remember that for the Buddhist, there is no permanent self; then by extension, there is no eternal self. The question arises then, if there is no self, then of what connection is the reincarnated being to his prior life?
Reincarnation involves not a transfer of self, but a transfer of mental thought energy (Mahathera). This energy transfers into a new living being. Again, your karma, or the way you have behaved in your life, forms a trajectory for this energy, and so is a determinant of which order of beings it comes back as.
The ultimate goal is nirvana, whereby your karma is raised to a status where there is no living being high enough to complete the process of reincarnation. When such a person dies, their thought energy is transferred into the universal consciousness, never to suffer the cycle of samsara again.
Christianity’s Revealed Morality
As we saw before, Christianity is a revealed religion. Its beliefs and practices are inseparably tied to the Christian Scriptures. As a result, Christian morality is a revealed morality. Any laws that Christians observe are observed because they are commanded by God Himself. The “thou shalt nots” of the Ten Commandments are very familiar to most (The Harper Collins Study Bible, Exodus 20). Christians obey Christ because they love Him (The Harper Collins Study Bible, John 14.15). Morality for the Christian, then, is an offering to God, not merely a pragmatic means to a happy life. Indeed, both Christ and the Apostle Peter told believers to expect difficulty in this present world for following Christ (The Harper Collins Study Bible, John 17.14, I Peter 4.12-14). This is the primary function of Christian morality—to glorify God (The Harper Collins Study Bible, I Corinthians 10.31).
This does not mean that following Christ is not expected to bring personal improvement. The Apostle Paul speaks of the fruits of the Spirit such as love, joy, peace, and patience in Galatians 5. However, these benefits come as the Christian obeys Christ’s commands—Philippians 2:13 tells us to “work out your own salvation” (The Harper Collins Study Bible). The same chapter goes on to say that as the Christian does this, God responds by working in them to become more like Christ. As the Christian puts one foot forward in obedience, God moves the other foot forward in grace. This type of personal Christian growth is seen by the Apostle Paul as evidence of true repentance (The Harper Collins Study Bible, Acts 26.20).
Lastly, Christian morality is about displaying a testimony of faith to the unbelieving world. Christ said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (The Harper Collins Study Bible, John 13.35). The Apostle Paul noted that the Christian conduct of a believing spouse could bring the unbelieving spouse to faith (The Harper Collins Study Bible, I Peter 3). Many unbelievers complain of hypocrisy in the church; it would seem that the Apostles dealt with issue of moral hypocrisy by calling the very profession of hypocrites into question (The Harper Collins Study Bible, Titus 1.16).
Buddhism’s Pragmatic Morality
Buddhist morality is not revealed, but pragmatic. The Eightfold Path is given as a way to avoid suffering. Recall that in “Mirror of the Dharma,” one is instructed to choose whichever path of action results in less suffering, and even the Eightfold Path is not an imperative. In fact, “moral precepts [are] seen as expressions of one’s own actual nature rather than as standards derived from external divine authority” (Toropov and Buckles 205).
That statement is the key to Buddhist morality. The moral precepts of the Buddha are designed to eliminate suffering, and suffering is ultimately eliminated by elevated karma that eventually brings one to nirvana. If in this life, you express a higher nature through your karma, in your next life you will come back as that higher form. Likewise, if you have lower karma, you end up in a lower nature. The Buddha never says that not attaining a higher form is bad in and of itself; Buddhism merely says that all life is suffering.
Neither can we conclude that a Buddhist holds that morality has anything directly to do with suffering. Suffering is caused by desire, not some concept of “sin” as might be found in Christianity.
The core of Buddhist moral and ethical teaching is to do no harm (Kim). The following observation of Epicureanism holds true for Buddhism:
“Epicurus saw virtue not as the foundation of a good life, but simply as a pragmatic way to avoid the pains of a guilty conscience. Justice, rather than being the underpinning of universal ethics, he reduced to a sort of social contract to inflict no harm. Justice is simply a tool to avoid pain by promising to not inflict it upon others” (Mastros).
Summary and Conclusion
Buddhism is empirical, while Christianity is metaphysical. The tenets of Buddhism are the observations of the Buddha, while Christianity is a revealed religion. Therefore, final truth for the Christian cannot be found through empirical observation, only through the revealed Word of God in the Scriptures. Since Buddhists believe that truth cannot be known outside of the attainment of nirvana, truth for the Buddhist is very flexible, and depends upon what situation and circumstance is encountered in life.
Buddhism’s view of the afterlife does not include the concept of self, and so the reincarnated being is wholly different from before, and yet the same. This is possible because karma has cast the mental energy into a new life form, either more advanced or less advanced, depending on the nature of the karma. The ultimate goal is to advance one’s karma above all life, so that samsara (the cycle of life and death) can be broken, and suffering is ended.
The cornerstone of Christian belief concerning the afterlife is the doctrine of an immortal soul and a resurrection. Contrary to Buddhism, this implies the idea of a “self” that will be raised, transformed, and judged. The immortal being of each person will suffer eternal hell or everlasting union with Christ, depending on whether they accepted Christ and His message.
In Buddhism, even morality and ethics are subject to whatever appears to be the most harmless course of action. Buddhist morality has as its end the elimination of personal suffering. If one does no harm to others, karma will be created that reduces their own suffering—both now, and in their reincarnation.
Christian morality is an offering to God and has as its object the glorification of God. Rather than morality being a vehicle for elimination of suffering as in Buddhism, it becomes a purifying force whereby the Christian experiences the transforming grace of God. In addition, Christianity morality is meant to be evangelistic in attracting unbelievers.
In conclusion, we find that Buddhism and Christianity are very different belief systems. Buddhism seems to be more of a philosophy akin to Epicureanism, while Christianity is not rooted in observation but in divine revelation. Perhaps one of the greatest differences is in the concept of self. While Buddhism denies the idea of self and focuses on the concept of “cosmic consequences,” Christianity places a lot of stress on self and claims that our “selves” will come into direct judgment.
Works Cited
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