Presenting Christianity To Buddhism Essay

The travel words of Jesus the Christ to his number 1 band of disciples was to go and preach the gospel to every creature (Mk. 1615). It has become, ever since, the mandate that the perform at large has taken upon itself to endeavor to accomplish. Today, this command is commonly known among Christians as the Great Com missionary post, and thereof, every told of the mission statements crafted by different Christian denominations hinge on these words of Jesus. The command is a major(ip)(ip) one, and so, must be heeded by the church of every generation.It is thence incumbent upon the people of God to go and seek opportunities to present the good news to everyone wholly peoples of all culture and religion which have no knowl bounce of Gods prescribed way of salvation as clearly revealed in the gospel. Specifically, this stumbleup is focused on understanding Buddhism and on how to present the Christian faith to its people. Buddhism believes in a ill-tempered thoroughf be of salvation it calls the dharma. It (dharma) was realized by its founder, Siddhartha Gautama, of the Sakya tribe in Nepal, while in his deep meditation. by and by that defining moment of his living, he became the Buddha, or the one who is beginner. The man was substantially a member of the violet family and in fact, a prince. He lived nearly 566 BCE (Boeree 2000). The following statistics were taken from an internet web site whose submergence is on studies about Buddhism (BDEA Inc. & BuddhaNet 2008). The ten countries most populated by Buddha adherents are mostly located in Asia.They are Japan (8,965,000 followers), China (102,000,000 followers), Vietnam (49,690,000 followers), Thailand (55,480,000 adherents), Myanmar (41,610,000 adherents), South Korea (10,920,000 adherents), Sri Lanka (12,540,000 devotees), Taiwan (9,150,000 devotees), Cambodia (9,130,000 followers), India (7,000,000 followers). It is very crucial for those who would take the travail upon themselves of sco pe the people of different religious background to have enough background of these religions.One major intellectual for this is, if the get aroundicular religion is embraced by the general population of that country, or at the least, it is one among other religions that has a huge following in that area of the globe, it must have been an influence in that particular society. It is whence a must for missionaries to gain an ample background necessary for them to be effective in the mission of their choice. Background of Buddhism As stated briefly above, the founder of Buddhism was a man whose background was one of royalty.He was a prince, but had chosen instead when he was at an age of twenty-nine to draw a blank the privileges of his royalty in order to understand the meaning of smell, and in particular, why is there so much suffering. He was deeply moved by the sufferings that he saw. He therefore embarked on a journey in his life and engaged in an arduous spiritual disciplin e intent on discovering for himself the answer for all of these sufferings which he saw around him. An account was told of him when he at a particular time had determined instead to just sit under a certain tree, and there, to meditate until an answer is finally found.As the story unfolds, true indeed, Siddhartha Gautama, on that momentous day as the sun rises, he became the Buddha. He was enlightened (Buddha manner the enlightened one). From that point on, the Buddha has taken upon himself the self-less task of teaching to people the dharma the spiritual path which he discovered in his enlightening encounter. For more or less 50 years, he wandered around the regions of India, and a following started to develop around him from every class devoted to practicing the path.Today, statistics show that the number of Buddhists cosmopolitan has reached 365 million, and are said to be filling up 6% of the population of the world. It is one of the four considered major religions of the w orld and is the fourth in terms of number. Still, Christianity has the biggest number of followers next to it is Islam, then next to Islam Hinduism, and as noned, the fourth is Buddhism (Robinson 2008). A. Buddhisms Development It is commonly believed as reflected by certain historians in their works that Buddhism is to a certain degree has died out in India.In its first 200 years, the teachings of Buddha were preserved through viva voce tradition. After two hundred years, Disagreements ensued as it was during the following years that its fountainities began to convene their councils and in the traverse of these councils, splits occurred. And so, from India, Buddhism had become well-established in Sri Lankan soils. And it was from there that it spread out around Asia, and now represented in not less than five major forms The Theravada Buddhism (Southern Buddhism), Mahayana (Northern Buddhism), Vajrayana (Tantric Buddhism, or as some consider it the leash path), Tibetan, and the demigod Buddhism.Nowadays, Buddhism is even becoming a religious trend among the westerns (Calyaneratne 2006). It began to be known in the latter part of the 1800s in the west when the Europeans then with their colonial occupations had been exploring Asias cultures and its religious texts being translated into the native languages of the west. B. Its Teachings in that respect is what Buddhism calls as four noble truths. These are suffering, its cause, release from suffering, and that there is a way to be released from lifes sufferings. These are, more or less, what constitute the four noble truths as taught by the Buddha.To properly understand the Buddhists worldview, it is basic to know and feel their perception of life generally. It is good to start in the so-called four noble truths. First, suffering. As has been noted above under Background of Buddhism, Nepalese Prince Siddhartha Gautama, in advance experiencing his enlightenment had been wandering already seeking for a nswers to the widespread suffering which he had seen among people. The hardships which he saw decidedly had impacted him so much that it caused him to reconsider his royal comforts.In fact, he left the convenience and gage of the wealth of his life, and chose rather to live the life of a hermit. Suffering is duhkha in Sanskrit, and like its English equivalent, it means distress, torment, filled with grief, and pain. For the Buddhist, all these describe imperfection. What aggravates suffering is the anitya it means that there is no permanence in this life and it includes human existence. The last words uttered by the Buddha are these words Impermanent are all created things strive on with awareness (Boeree 2000).With a very similar outlook to Hinduism, Buddhism also believes that all things in creation are interrelated. Humans have no separate identity. Man therefore has to find that which lead align him to everything. Next to suffering, the second noble truth is attachment. Actu ally, this second truth is moderately seen as a proof of mans blindness. Because man naturally does not see things in right perspective, he continually clings to everything considered to be of infinite value, oblivious of the fact that nothing here is permanent.The Sanskrit word trishna, which is translated attachment in English, means many things to Buddhists. It extends from clinging, desires (which in themselves have no obvious implication of evil per se), to lusting, greed, and craving, (which now, considering the implications of those words, have somewhat taken an evil tone). Since all things are in an imperfect state, there is a ageless clinging. To humans, the headstrong lusting and craving for things results from a mistaken sense that the material world somehow has lasting existence.The effort therefore to hold on to these things stems from valuing too much those which have no real permanence. Hatred and dodging are also forms of clinging. To Buddhism therefore, it is ve ry crucial that the person fully realizes the worldly-ness of things. Without a grasp of this basic truth, humanity in general is currently attached to that which is after all temporary. Third noble truth the overcoming of the attachment to things. This third basic truth of Buddhism is often misunderstood. In Sanskrit, the word is nirvana.This word is now being misconceived as make out nothingness. The word is actually referring to the release of things. To let go, and to stop clinging. After this note, the reference is to be free of the condition attitudes spoken of in the second noble truth, which are expressions of attachment hatred, lust, greed, and all the negatives, etc. , and to fully and thus happily accept the interconnectedness and imperfection of all things. the fourth noble truth the path. This is the dharma. The Buddha had become convinced(p) after his spiritual encounter that there is a way.For the Buddha, this path was a kind of a place way which thunder mug b ring balance between different and often contrasting philosophies. The path in Buddhism is explained in eight points, and more commonly referred to as the eightfold path (to veer away from plagiarism, the author has changed the exact wordings of the following eight points). 1. Proper Perspective. This is to have properly grasped the so-called four noble truths. 2. salutary Ambition. It is a pure desire to liberate the self from its negative attitudes continually holding on to temporal things as a result of which, the person remains hateful and ignorant.These first two are considered scholarship, or the prajna. 3. Appropriate Speech. This includes not only the telling of truths, but refraining from any words that might hurt, to abstain from any form of gossip and lying. 4. Proper Behavior. This one embraces the prohibitions of such hurtful actions as murder, promiscuity, robbery, etc. 5. Honest Livelihood. To make ones living through honest means, including things such as those w hich might hurt other people and animals. Points 3-5 are taken as shila these are expressions of morality.6.Right Endeavors. This pertains to the application of what are right to actual actions which were first perceived in the mind. Excellent qualities should be cultivated and practically performed. 7. The Possession of the Right Mind. This refers to the destination of the right kind of mindset. It again focuses on the elimination of such negative attitudes as hatred, lust, ignorance. 8. Proper Focus. The constant meditation of the temporal-ness, the imperfection, and the interconnectedness of all things in order to progressively arrive at true knowledge.These last three points are considered meditations, the Samadhi (Boeree 2000). Presenting the Christian Faith Having explored the basics of Buddhism, it is now time to look at the gospel. til now to have gained a comprehensive knowledge of Buddhism does not fully prepare the Christian missionary to the task of evangelizing Buddh ists. Learning the culture of the target people group is recommendable only after one has fully grasped the Christian teachings. In fact, the Christian can still be effective in evangelism even without knowing onwards the other peoples culture.It might cause some difficulties though, but a mastery of the gospel teachings will enable the Christian, first, to love the un-reached people, and second, compelled by that love and guided by his understanding of the true wisdom of God, the Christian missionary will at the very least, present the gospel message clearly and leave the people rethinking their worldviews. Its a matter of how do we understand effectiveness in presenting the gospel. Presenting the gospel today is not different from how the first disciples presented it to the people of their world.For Christian missionaries today, here are some pointers first, preach the gospel. look on the basic presumptions of the Christian faith like the true spiritual state of the target peop le. Nothing can self-defeat the presentation of the gospel more than the attempt on the part of its preachers to somehow change its features with an aim to keep the audience. What the Buddhists need is the word of God, and thus, it has to be delivered to them clearly and powerfully without compromise.And of course, as presumed all along in the cable of this paper, a basic knowledge of the culture will give the Christian missionary an extra edge in his presentation. Second, live among them with the heart of a missionary living out the spiritual disciplines of a scriptural Christian. When genuine love is there, it becomes almost impossible to miss that fact. People will feel the genuineness of the target and when the wisdom of God is presented as expressed in the gospel, it will be either acceptance on the part of the people, or outright rejection of the true truths.