Around the World: Lesson 4

Overview

Understanding Buddhism: Origins, Branches, and Beliefs

Buddhism arose in India in the sixth or fifth century B.C. out of the older religious soil of Hinduism. Its founder, Siddhartha Gautama, was a prince who, despite every worldly comfort, was deeply troubled by the suffering he observed in human life—birth, aging, sickness, and death. At twenty-nine he left his family to seek wisdom, first through severe self-denial and self-mortification, then through meditation. At thirty-five, sitting beneath a tree, he claimed to have attained enlightenment and spent the remaining forty-five years of his life teaching disciples.

After Buddha's death, his followers convened the first Buddhist council to preserve his oral teachings, which were divided into three collections: his teachings (Sutta Pitaka), his precepts (Vinaya Pitaka), and the commentary (Abhidhamma Pitaka). Over the centuries Buddhism splintered into many schools, broadly grouped under "revealed Buddhism" (Small Vehicle and Great Vehicle, or Theravada and Mahayana) and the later "esoteric Buddhism" (including Vajrayana). Small Vehicle Buddhism expects monastic withdrawal and rigorous self-discipline; Great Vehicle Buddhism allows household life and emphasizes helping neighbors toward enlightenment—a kind of evangelism. Some traditions came to deify Buddha himself, distinguishing the cosmic Buddha (Dharmakaya), the earthly avatar (Nirmanakaya, including Gautama), and the Buddha attained through discipline (Sambhogakaya).

Core Teachings: Suffering and the Middle Way

Buddhism shares with Hinduism the belief in samsara—an endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth driven by karma. There is no guarantee of escape; one merely hopes, perhaps across many lifetimes, to reach Nirvana. Buddha taught that all things are interconnected and impermanent, that everything in the world is suffering, and that peace comes through the Four Noble Truths: that suffering exists, that it originates in desire and the passion for survival, that it ceases when desire is detached, and that the way of cessation is the Middle Way—neither self-indulgence nor severe self-denial. The Middle Way unfolds in the Eightfold Path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditation. Salvation, in this system, is essentially self-attained through inward effort and detachment.

Christian Reflection and Pastoral Application

Buddhism and Christianity share certain observations—that life involves suffering, that human beings are restless, that self-indulgence does not satisfy. But the differences run far deeper than the similarities. Buddhism has no God, no Creator, no sin, no Savior, no Scripture in the sense Christians know it, and therefore no need for justification. Where Buddha began with suffering as the starting point for understanding existence, Scripture begins with God: "In the beginning, God created…" Our problem is not merely suffering but sin against a holy Creator, and our hope is not escape from a cycle but reconciliation with the living God through Jesus Christ, who declares, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" John 14:6.

A few pastoral encouragements follow. First, hold firmly to the uniqueness and authority of Scripture. Christianity is not one option among many religions; it is the truth of the God-breathed Word 2 Timothy 3:16, written across centuries by many human authors but with one divine Author. Second, recover a right understanding of meditation. Biblical meditation is not the emptying of the self pursued in Buddhism but the filling of the mind with God's Word—the slow, ruminating delight of Psalm 1:2. Third, do not let the popular language of "balance" obscure the gospel. The Middle Way teaches a life of detached self-management; the Christian life is one of dependence on Christ, who loved us while we were still sinners Romans 5:8. Finally, when speaking with Buddhist friends and neighbors, pray for them, ask questions, and learn which school shapes their beliefs. The hardest connecting point is sin, for without the law there is no felt need for a Savior Romans 3:20. Speak with knowledge and compassion, trusting God to open doors for the gospel that alone breaks every cycle and gives life everlasting.

Transcript

Good morning. 2s

So we are going to open in prayer and then dive in. 4s

So let us pray. 10s

Lord we thank you so much. 11s

We thank you for your oneness. 13s

We thank you for your sovereignty. 16s

And we thank you that you have called us to be your own. 18s

We ask that as we continue to learn about other beliefs 22s

and other systems of faith in this world, 28s

that you would strengthen in us the truth of your gospel, 32s

that you would put your words upon our lips 36s

as we share the truth of you with others. 39s

Lord we ask that you would use this time to your glory 43s

and to our benefit. 47s

We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. 49s

Amen. 51s

Okay, so really, really amazing questions last week 53s

and I got some in the emails, in email. 57s

So I'm going to not start with the questions 63s

because we have a lot to jump into today with Buddhism. 66s

One thing to remember, so last week we started with Hinduism 71s

and that is the oldest, that is predates Judaism, 76s

predates Christianity and out of Hinduism, 82s

then we have these other branches of belief 88s

and one of them is Buddhism. 92s

So we're going to just kind of jump in 95s

and we'll see some connecting points with Hinduism 98s

or some reminders of Hinduism. 103s

So Buddhism in general, it's gone through several stages 108s

of teaching and of development and expansion 112s

over the many centuries. 117s

It was born out of religion in India 119s

and its basis is that one's destiny 122s

is to either paradise or hell 125s

and it's determined by one's good deeds or bad deeds, right? 127s

Karma, life repeats itself eternally 132s

in a continuous cycle of death and rebirth. 135s

And so we see, again, same as Hinduism, 138s

we see this cycle of birth, death, rebirth, death, rebirth. 141s

So it's just never ending. 148s

One person emailed saying, how do you get off the cycle? 150s

How do you get off of it? 155s

And how do you know you can get off of it? 156s

And really, you don't. 158s

Because wherever you're born, whatever life you're living, 162s

here and now, you just assume that that's your place 166s

in this cycle and that hopefully, hopefully, 170s

you'll be able to reach enlightenment or reach Nirvana 174s

where you can get off the cycle, get off the rollercoaster, 177s

but there is no promise of that. 180s

There's no guarantee of that. 183s

So it's just this continuous hamster wheel 185s

of life and death and rebirth. 191s

Buddhism has three branches. 195s

There's Theravada, Mahayana, and if anyone knows, 197s

I'm sure I am completely butchering the pronunciation. 202s

Steve is gonna be back there laughing at me. 205s

And Vahrayana. 211s

There's also esoteric Buddhism, 213s

but we'll get to that later. 216s

So there are three branches. 219s

It began around the sixth or fifth century before Christ. 220s

A man named Siddhartha Gwautama, 225s

or Gwautama, who is Gwautama Buddha. 229s

So that is Buddha. 233s

He was the son of a king and queen. 235s

So he had anything and everything that he wanted. 237s

He had all the eases in life that one could want or imagine. 240s

And everything looked very bright for his future. 247s

On the outside, we would all say, wow, he hasn't made. 251s

But he had a lot of internal struggles. 254s

He still had a lot of difficulty inside. 257s

He wasn't okay inside and he knew that. 261s

And so he wanted to find the meaning 265s

and the value of life. 270s

And so because he saw that people were born, 273s

they grew old, they suffered, they would get sick 278s

and then they would die. 281s

And he had a real struggle with that as existence. 284s

And so he wanted to find out what's going on. 288s

So at 29, he set out on a quest. 291s

It was a six year quest. 295s

He set out on a quest. 296s

He left his wife and child and he set out 299s

and he first dabbled with acetism. 302s

He dabbled with complete and severe self-denial. 307s

Also with that often is self-mortification, 313s

like harming one's self for religious purposes. 317s

So it's denying self, it's harming one's self. 323s

He tried that, he learned meditation. 327s

He gave up all worldly pleasures. 330s

But then he realized that that was not bringing him 334s

to a place of wisdom. 337s

He still struggled internally. 338s

He realized that giving up everything, all worldly pleasures, 341s

it has not done anything or had not done anything for him. 346s

So then he thought he really needed to think out this problem. 351s

He really needed to think hard about this. 356s

And so he was on this quest for wisdom for six years. 359s

When he turned 35 or when he was 35, 363s

he sat down underneath a tree and he was in deep meditation 366s

and he was thinking really hard, 370s

reflecting on life and life's problems and suffering 374s

and he achieved enlightenment. 379s

On December 8th, he achieved enlightenment and he found peace. 382s

What's interesting is that he didn't want to share it with anyone. 387s

He wanted to keep it for himself 391s

and he thought it was going to be too complicated 393s

to share with others. 395s

But then he was visited by Brahma 398s

and remember Brahma from Hinduism, not Brahma, 402s

not the soul of the universe, but Brahma, 406s

one of the gods, visited Buddha 410s

and told him to share his insights. 414s

And so Buddha went back and he went back to those 417s

who he practiced the self-denial with 421s

and he told them about it and they became his followers, 426s

his first followers. 428s

He taught for the rest of his life. 430s

He lived 45 more years, he gained thousands of followers 433s

and he had 10 of them who were his principal disciples. 437s

So when he died, his disciples, these principal disciples, 442s

they held what was the first Buddhist council 446s

because they wanted to make sure that none, 450s

because Buddha taught, orally, he taught face to face with his people. 452s

So they wanted to capture everything 459s

and they didn't want his teachings to be in error, 462s

or taught in error. 467s

And so they had this first Buddhist council 468s

to set up Buddhism. 471s

100 years later, Buddhism split into two groups. 476s

And then 100 years after that, 479s

it had split into about 20 denominations. 481s

And then 200 more years after that, 484s

there was a new movement within Buddhism that arose 487s

and this split the old school Buddhists, 491s

which is referred to as the small vehicle Buddhism, 494s

to from this new group, this new movement, 498s

which is referred to as great vehicle Buddhism. 501s

So small vehicle Buddhism, 506s

that is the Buddhist that is expected to leave his or her family 509s

to be a monk, to engage in those self-disciplinary 515s

practices, the great vehicle Buddhist, 522s

they can stay home with their families, 525s

they can still live their lives. 529s

The new movement also, which is different than the small vehicle, 532s

this new movement, this great vehicle Buddhism, 536s

they were encouraged to help their neighbors gain insight, 539s

gain wisdom. 544s

So the great vehicle Buddhism were evangelists, right? 545s

We have evangelism in the Christian, in Christianity. 551s

We are called to share, 556s

well these great vehicle Buddhists were also called 557s

to share enlightenment or the ways to enlightenment 561s

with their neighbors. 565s

There was, oh, both the small and the great, 567s

and this is gonna come into play, there's a lot, 570s

there are so many working parts in Hinduism, in Buddhism. 572s

So it's fascinating. 577s

But so the small vehicle Buddhism and the great vehicle Buddhism, 581s

they both come under the same umbrella of revealed Buddhism. 586s

So you've got small and great vehicle 591s

and those both come under revealed. 599s

Okay, all right. 605s

So there is this great conflict between the small and the great, 608s

and one of those big conflicts was that was the concept 616s

of Buddha, of what or who Buddha was or is. 620s

Buddha was already dead for many, many years with these splits. 626s

And then after he had been dead for so long, 632s

a lot of his followers had deified him. 637s

They had put him on a status of Godlike or saintlike, 640s

and so they were worshiping him. 646s

He became this object of holiness. 648s

Out of this, there were three kinds of Buddha. 652s

So you've got Buddhism, and you've got this who is Buddha, 657s

what is Buddha, and out of that difference, 661s

we have three Buddhas that come out. 663s

We've got the Darmakaya Buddha, that's the cosmic Buddha. 667s

This Buddha occupies the central place in the universe. 671s

It's the embodiment of truth, eternal and immortal, 675s

not existing in space or time. 678s

Then you have the Nirmana, Nirmana, Nirmana, Kaya Buddha, 682s

the avatar of the cosmic Buddha. 688s

This is possibly a good connecting point. 691s

If you have a Buddhist neighbor, 695s

we've got these three parts of Buddha. 696s

So we've got the Nirmana, Nirmana, Kaya Buddha, 702s

the avatar of the cosmic Buddha, that he or it 705s

is eternal and immortal, but it appears in the world 708s

to rescue men. 712s

So Guatemala is this type of Buddha. 713s

So the man who we know who started Buddhism, 716s

he is that Buddha, or that type of Buddha. 721s

And then we have, 725s

Sambo, Sambo-ga-kaya Buddha, 729s

and that means received body. 732s

So this Buddha is attained by men 735s

through severe and rigorous self-discipline and training. 737s

The great vehicle Buddha, or Buddhist, 742s

referred to this as the Buddha of the small vehicle. 747s

So the great vehicle Buddhist does not have to leave home, 751s

does not have to take part in all of the severe self-discipline 756s

and self-mortification, 761s

whereas the small vehicle Buddhist would. 763s

And so the great vehicle Buddhist 766s

refers to that Buddha, the Sambo-ga-kaya Buddha, 768s

as the small vehicles Buddha. 775s

It has three branches, the Theraveda, Mahayana, 780s

and Vajrayana. 785s

And then in the seventh century, 787s

we had this esoteric Buddhism develop. 789s

And that stressed sensation, 793s

feeling, using the senses over intellect and reason. 796s

So the goal for the esoteric Buddhist, 801s

let's roll the right that one down. 804s

Esoteric Buddhist. 808s

The goal for the esoteric Buddhist 811s

was to be united with Buddha, 814s

that is united with the first Buddha, 816s

that cosmic Buddha, the Dharmakaya Buddha, 819s

being united with that Buddha 824s

to the point of becoming a Buddha on Earth, him or herself. 827s

So the esoteric Buddhist wants to become so united, 832s

so at one with that first cosmic Buddha, 838s

that the esoteric Buddhist can be a Buddha here on Earth. 842s

Yes. 850s

So esoteric Buddhism contradicts the revealed Buddhism. 851s

So you've got in-revealed Buddhism, 856s

you've got these two which are conflicted. 858s

Yes. 862s

Can you, if Buddha had to reach that esoteric, 863s

get it something to achieve or... 868s

From my understanding, it is always something to achieve. 871s

Well, but taught that it is reachable, 876s

but because it's this cycle of birth, death, rebirth, 882s

if you are reborn, you're not off the cycle. 886s

So you have not reached enlightenment from my understanding. 890s

I've not practiced Buddhism. 894s

But from my understanding, it's, yeah, 897s

I think it's something to strive for, 900s

but by definition, it's unattainable if you're living, right? 902s

So you've got between the small and great vehicle Buddhism, 909s

the revealed Buddhism, you have conflicts, 914s

but then these two under the umbrella of revealed Buddhism 917s

are conflicted with esoteric Buddhism. 920s

So we have these competing Buddhism. 924s

So in revealed Buddhism, in the small and great vehicle Buddhism, 927s

universal truth is transmitted through a vehicle of Darmakaya Buddha. 932s

So the truth, universal truth in revealed Buddhism is transmitted, 939s

is given, is shared through someone. 945s

And this teaches that is through that original Buddha. 949s

Esoteric Buddhism, cosmic truth reaches man without a mediator. 955s

It comes to a person through meditation. 962s

So we can, as an esoteric Buddhist, 967s

one could meditate to the point of being receptive 971s

or having a pure and open heart to receive cosmic truth, right? 976s

Yep, okay. 983s

I know, I know, that's, if we're just listening, okay? 985s

So in Buddhism, unlike Hinduism, because Hinduism, 991s

we do have the Vedas, we have scripture in Hinduism. 994s

In Buddhism, we do not have, or there is no official scripture, 998s

and there is no official common canon. 1003s

The first Buddhist council, remember that happened shortly after Buddha died 1006s

in order to preserve his teachings. 1012s

And the council divided Buddha's teachings into three. 1014s

There's a lot of division. 1019s

Okay, so we've got, we've got the teachings, okay. 1021s

Teachings which are divided into three. 1029s

We've got the Suta Pataka, all of them end with Pataka. 1031s

So, and I'm probably pronouncing that terribly. 1037s

This is Buddha's teachings. 1040s

Then you've got the Vinaya Pataka, 1042s

Vinaya Pataka, and that is his precepts 1047s

that his followers were commanded to keep. 1052s

So you've got the teachings, the precepts, 1055s

and then you've got the Abhidhama Pataka. 1058s

Abhidhama Pataka, which that is commentary on these two. 1069s

So we've got the teachings, the precepts, 1075s

and the commentary of the teachings and the precepts. 1077s

There is nothing like a Bible, nothing like the Bible in Buddhism. 1084s

There is nothing like a small catacism in Buddhism. 1090s

The teachings are very diverse, depending on the branch of Buddhism 1094s

that one practices, the school of Buddhism that one follows. 1098s

And it's each of those branches or schools of Buddhism 1103s

that are very really based out of the history and the location 1107s

in which it was developed. 1114s

So, and the teacher. 1116s

So, one thing I would like to point out, 1119s

and I think Pastor Ibel says it beautifully 1123s

in his sermon this morning, 1125s

says that in Scripture we have writers that span the centuries 1127s

but one divine author. 1132s

There is no other, I even hesitate to call it a book. 1136s

There is no other word of complete truth, of truth itself. 1145s

And to know that Scripture, Holy Scripture, 1153s

is the living word of God, written by one divine. 1157s

So, this is important for us as Christians to keep in mind. 1166s

But it's a difficult point connecting point with those who are 1172s

of an Eastern religion or Eastern faith because that doesn't, 1179s

you know, in Buddhism they have several teachers, 1186s

they have several schools, they have several ideas within it. 1188s

And so, we as Christians have to remain faithful and steadfast 1193s

in the truth that is God's Word. 1201s

So, now let's jump into fundamental teaching of this original Buddha 1207s

because that's the school that we're going to stick with. 1213s

Yes, so we have the Pratitaya Samutpada, 1217s

which is dependent orientation. 1223s

I may not keep using these words. 1225s

I might just do English. 1228s

Like, I'm going to take up too much time otherwise. 1230s

Okay, so there's a strong belief in dependent orientation. 1234s

Everything around us is interconnected. 1238s

Nothing stands alone. 1242s

Everything is connected temporally. 1245s

All things are related in a dependent manner and spatiously 1247s

and everything is related in a chain of cause and effect. 1252s

So, I like this example that the author shared. 1257s

He says that one grows old and dies because he is born. 1261s

So, there is an interconnectedness just with the very orientation 1267s

of you are born and so you will grow old and die. 1274s

Then there's also the idea that if a company goes bankrupt 1278s

because of a recession, it affects other companies 1282s

and there's a chain of collapse. 1285s

And so, everything is interconnected. 1287s

And those are bigger idea connections, 1290s

but you could bring it down to the nitty gritty with, 1293s

you know, while we breathe in oxygen, which trees give 1297s

and so we're connected to the trees. 1302s

But then we also breathe out carbon dioxide, 1303s

which they live off of. 1305s

And so then we're connected and they're, you know, 1307s

we're all dependent on one another. 1308s

And it just, you can go smaller and smaller and smaller. 1312s

There's also samsara, which remember that's from Hinduism, 1314s

that's directly from Hinduism, samsara, 1318s

that endless cycle of repeated rebirth 1320s

within samsara in Buddhism, though, 1323s

we have some of the other parts of Hinduism 1329s

coming under this one umbrella of samsara, 1333s

where we have moxa, which is the release from this cycle, 1337s

which is always strived for, but never really attained. 1342s

We have nirvana, which is quenching the fire of karma, 1346s

and karma, which are those works that keep us on that cycle, 1351s

whether good or bad, they keep us on that cycle of birth, 1357s

rebirth, and the associated sufferings. 1360s

And then there are four dharma seals. 1365s

These are four, they're not the four noble truths 1369s

that's coming up, but there are four seals 1372s

that the world is ever changing and transient, 1374s

that no single substance is eternally unchanging, 1378s

that everything in the world is suffering, 1381s

and that nirvana leads to a peaceful state of mind. 1385s

So everything, and I try to figure out where Buddha was 1391s

in his mind as he sat under this tree contemplating, 1397s

but his starting point for contemplating life really was suffering. 1402s

Let me figure out suffering, and that was his branch. 1408s

In Holy Scripture, everything begins in the beginning. 1415s

There was God. 1421s

And so everything branches from God. 1425s

So Buddha spent his time figuring out life in the context of suffering, 1431s

as Christians praise God, we figure out life in the context of a good 1438s

and righteous creator, an all loving and merciful creator, 1444s

a just creator. 1449s

The central concern in Buddhism is an individual's attainment 1452s

of happiness by experiencing a quiet and an unobstructed heart. 1456s

And that is achieved through what is referred to as the middle way. 1462s

So this is where Buddha came to. 1468s

He said, we achieve happiness by having a pure heart and unobstructed heart, 1470s

and the only way to achieve that is through this middle way. 1475s

Because remember, he had tried the self-indulgence. 1480s

He had everything that he could ever want, and he was still suffering. 1483s

And so then he swung really far to the other side and practiced self-denial, 1488s

practiced self-mortification, and that didn't do anything for him either. 1494s

And so he said, oh, it's got to be down that middle way. 1500s

It's the middle way. 1503s

And he used a harp as an example. 1505s

He said, the strings of a harp must not be too loose or too tight 1508s

if it is to make a beautiful sound. 1511s

And it's wrong to play the harp just to be a better player. 1514s

One must play the harp because he enjoys playing it. 1518s

The happiness, the experience of it. 1523s

The middle way was not a skill to learn, but it was a way of life to live. 1526s

And we can see this everywhere. 1533s

It's definitely come into the Western culture to lead that middle way. 1537s

And we hear about the balancing of life. 1547s

We need to live a balanced life. 1550s

We need to live that yin yang life, which I think that's actually out of Confucius. 1553s

But all branching from the same starder. 1559s

So when we talk about that, even when we, and granted, 1566s

we come to the table with Western thoughts and with a Christian mindset and Christian heart. 1572s

And to say, you know, we need balance in our lives. 1578s

Yes, balance is good. 1581s

We do need balance in our lives. 1582s

But to see where it is, that is part of Buddhism. 1584s

That you have to have the balance. 1588s

And you do it through this middle way. 1590s

You can't swing too far either way or you will be struggling. 1593s

You will be suffering. 1599s

You will be living the life of suffering. 1601s

So in Buddhism, can one ever get off the cycle of rebirth? 1604s

Supposedly, the answer is yes through the four noble truths. 1609s

The four noble truths are duke, which is the truth of suffering, 1614s

that you just understand. 1620s

You come to the understanding that there is suffering. 1622s

There is birth, aging, illness, and dying. 1625s

Also, there is separation from loved ones. 1628s

There is association with the unbelive, and there's not getting what is wanted. 1631s

So life is filled with suffering. 1637s

It's just the truth. 1641s

The other, the second noble truth, is samudaya, which is the truth of the origin of suffering. 1643s

Human struggle comes from bad karma. 1650s

What drives a man to do bad is a fundamental desire and passion for survival. 1653s

So that's that next truth that one must come to an understanding of. 1660s

Then you have nirada, which is the truth of the cessation of suffering. 1665s

So if one detaches him or herself from the desire of survival, 1671s

from the desire of passion, then he won't suffer. 1678s

If I'm not wanting it, I won't suffer. 1681s

If I detach myself from it, if it doesn't mean anything to me, 1686s

then I won't have suffering. 1690s

And then there is beacuse, which is the truth of the way that leads to the cessation of suffering. 1692s

So this is the middle way. 1699s

And in the middle way, there is an eightfold path. 1702s

So we've got the opportunity to get off of the cycle of birth and rebirth 1706s

by coming to the truth of understanding that suffering is the way of life. 1713s

That bad karma causes suffering, which really is because we want to survive. 1720s

We want for ourselves that there is an ability to detach. 1727s

There is an ability to stop the suffering if we don't think about it, 1733s

if we don't pay attention, if we don't, if we don't pour ourselves into it. 1739s

And then ultimately we can climb off of that wheel by following the middle way, 1745s

which is that way of life. 1753s

And in the middle way, there is, there are eight noble, no, there were four noble truths. 1754s

This is the eight noble eightfold path. 1764s

So the path of the middle way, so we've got the middle way. 1766s

And this is the way of life that, as a Buddhist, one should live. 1777s

You have the, everything starts with right. 1782s

So you have the right view. 1786s

The right view is grasping and observing the structure and content of the four noble truths. 1791s

So those four noble truths, the truth of suffering, the truth of the works, 1797s

the truth of, or the origin of suffering, the truth of cessation of suffering, 1803s

the truth of the middle way. 1807s

Those, you have to, the right thing, or the first thing you have to do is have a right understanding of those four noble truths. 1809s

Then you have the right resolve. 1817s

The right resolve is the right intention and aspiration. 1821s

So you're dedicating your life. 1826s

You're dedicating yourself to the path toward enlightenment. 1828s

This includes considering everything and everyone as impermanent and a source of suffering. 1832s

Kind of bleak. 1842s

So then we have, so we have the right view. 1844s

Then we have the right resolve. 1847s

Then we've got the right speech. 1849s

And the right speech is abstaining from lying, divisive speech, abusive speech, and idle chatter. 1853s

You are to only speak what is true and beneficial, which that could possibly be a connecting point of, you know, we have, we have similar, right? 1859s

We don't want to have idle chatter or gossip about our friends. 1873s

We want to say what is good and beneficial and true. 1879s

And then we have the right conduct. 1883s

And right conduct is refraining from killing all living beings. 1887s

You cannot kill anything that is living. 1894s

No stealing, lying, or sexual misconduct. 1898s

What's interesting is that for those who are not monks, the standard is lower. 1902s

The standard is lower for those who are not monks. 1908s

Then you have the right livelihood. 1913s

The right livelihood is that one's work cannot bring harm to others. 1920s

Okay. 1928s

One must find the balance between not living extravagantly and possessing that, which is essential for sustenance. 1929s

So the middle way, again, you can't live extravagantly, but you need food and shelter. 1937s

So what's the bare minimum that you need to sustain life? 1946s

That is acceptable. 1951s

The right effort, lots of talking points here. 1954s

Right? I mean, we're all about dispelling the ability of our own efforts. 1960s

The right effort in Buddhism is to strive to maintain wholesome mental state. 1970s

Keep free of delusion, eliminate sensual desires, eliminate doubt, hatred, and resentment. 1977s

So what's interesting here, when we as Christians talk about efforts, we're usually speaking of what we're doing as far as works. 1984s

And effort in Buddhism is mental, right? 1997s

Like think the right way, which I don't know about you. 2002s

How good are you at controlling those random thoughts that pop in? 2008s

No, thank God, he forgives us. 2012s

Right? So this is your efforts in Buddhism. 2015s

Your thoughts must be right. 2019s

Right mindfulness. 2023s

And right mindful this is that you're guarding the mind. 2029s

You don't crave and you don't cling to any transitory state or thing. 2032s

It's really this detachment, which is kind of odd, because we're supposed to walk the middle way, yet be detached from life. 2038s

Be conscious of what one is doing in body, feelings, and mind. 2050s

Be conscious of suffering. 2056s

So it's this weird, be aware of it, but don't be attached to it. 2058s

Know what's happening, but separate yourself from it. 2064s

And then there's right meditation. 2070s

Right meditation, which is practicing four stages of meditation, which culminates into unification of the mind. 2077s

You're giving up pleasure and pain. 2085s

You're giving up happiness and sadness. 2088s

It's just this equilibrium in meditation that is found. 2091s

Now we know meditation is not emptying oneself. 2096s

Meditation is filling oneself. 2102s

This is where we are called to meditate on God's Word. 2106s

We are to fill ourselves with God's Word. 2109s

And in Psalm 1, I love the Word that's used for meditate. 2114s

It's that cow chewing, it's cut. 2119s

It's that ruminating. It's the really thinking through. 2122s

Have you ever heard a sermon where it just works on you all week? 2126s

And it kind of floats through, or you read a verse that just... 2131s

You just constantly think through it and ponder it and meditate on it. 2135s

That is meditation. 2142s

You aren't emptying yourself of anything. 2145s

You are filling yourself with God, with His Word, with truth. 2148s

So now, let's talk about Christianity with Buddhism. 2156s

In Buddhism, there is no confession of sin. 2162s

There's no confession of needing salvation. 2166s

And seeking enlightenment is the release of the cycle. 2169s

But seeking enlightenment is seeking one's own enlightenment. 2174s

It's very self-driven. 2179s

I loved, in Martin Luther talks about naval gazing. 2183s

The more we look at our navels or our belly buttons, 2187s

the more drawn within ourselves we become. 2191s

And that is this. 2195s

How do I do all of this? 2198s

How do I? And then I'm going to reach. 2200s

And so it's very, very egocentric. 2204s

In Buddhism, there is no God, which is interesting because Buddha was supposedly visited by Brahma, 2207s

who is a Hindu God, and yet in Buddhism, there is no God. 2215s

So no God, no Jesus, no Bible, no gospel, no creator, 2221s

and there is absolutely no interest in justification before God. 2227s

There is no need for justification before God. 2232s

I loved the, let's say the strength of voice 2236s

that the author on this particular subject wrote regarding Christianity. 2244s

He said that Christianity cannot be placed as one among many other religions. 2251s

It is not one among many. 2257s

To place it on the same table as other religions is to go against Scripture. 2262s

I appreciate the strength and the severity of tone that he writes in 2267s

because he knows the danger of relaxing our faith, 2274s

relaxing the truth because it opens or it cracks, makes a crack in the truth, 2285s

and it softens it. 2293s

And when we say this is just one of many options, 2295s

we're opening the door that there can be other options. 2300s

It's difficult that there is no equivalent Scripture, 2306s

like there is nothing equivalent in Buddhism to Scripture. 2312s

Everything that is taught in Buddhism is man-made. 2318s

And a point of concern for us is that we know God's word is God-breathed. 2321s

We know that truth is from the word of God, from the mouth of God, 2328s

not from the word of men or the mouth of men. 2333s

So today's wisdom, today's philosophy, today's big ideas are not as valid as God's word. 2337s

And so we need to keep that clear, but that's a difficult connecting point. 2351s

That's not a connecting point for us and a Buddhist. 2359s

It is vital for the Christian to be familiar with Holy Scripture and as Lutherans, 2363s

I would say it's vital that we're familiar with the confessions. 2369s

The confessions that we have is not another Scripture, 2372s

so don't hear me wrong there. 2376s

But it lays out for us interpretation of Scripture. 2379s

It makes certain truths that may seem difficult to grasp or understand. 2386s

It walks us through them and makes it digestible, 2392s

makes it where we can understand it better. 2396s

The confessions use Scripture to interpret Scripture. 2400s

So you're never, you're never veering from God's word. 2403s

But it's important that we know Holy Scripture so that we can speak in full truth with clarity. 2409s

It's also important that we know if we have a Buddhist in our life or another world religion, 2418s

another faith practice in our life, we should be familiar with where he or she is coming from. 2426s

Remember, there are several different schools within Buddhism. 2433s

And so if you come to the table thinking, okay, well, I heard this one thing in Sunday school. 2438s

And so I'm pretty sure this is what you must believe. 2443s

And they're like, mm-hmm, that is not what I was taught. 2445s

They're coming from. 2451s

Nowhere he or she is coming from in their Buddhism. 2452s

So that you're speaking from a stance of knowledge with compassion. 2456s

Buddhism knows and teaches that all in life is changing and that ultimately man is controlled by a sense of self-gradification in self-indulgence. 2464s

And that these, the self-gradification, the self-indulgence, it doesn't lead to happiness. 2474s

We also have something that we talk about of ultimately the problem in the world is this self-gradification, self-indulgence. 2479s

We call it sin. 2490s

We call it sin. 2493s

We know that at the bottom line of it all, the problem in creation, the problem in humanity is us. 2494s

Sin. 2506s

But where we have no God in Buddhism, no creator, no sin, we have no law. 2509s

And we have to have the law which shows us our sin so that we can receive and hear or hear and receive the gospel, which shows us our savior. 2519s

So we have the fullness of the law which kills us in order that we can hear the fullness of the gospel which brings us to real life, to eternal and everlasting life. 2535s

Human suffering is human suffering, but it's not equivalent to man needing to be justified or the suffering that is due to sin. 2550s

Salvation in Buddhism is not a major concern. Think about this. You get to do it over and over and over again. Right? Why would it be a concern? 2560s

So after life isn't a huge issue. 2571s

So in life for the Buddhist, suffering is the problem. For the Christian, we understand suffering due to sin, which means that we are the problem. 2575s

There are some difficulties. 2590s

A dear saint came up and said that she knows some Hindus and has had relationship with Hindus and didn't realize at first that there is no sin. 2593s

And when we don't have sin, we have no need for salvation. And so there's this missing connecting point which makes it so difficult. So where's your starting point? 2604s

Prayer. Pray for your neighbor. Pray for the Hindu, the Buddhist, the non-Christian in your life that God would open the door for an opportunity to share with him or her. 2615s

Understand the branch of Buddhism, the branch of Hinduism. Yes, Hinduism. Understand where they are coming from. Ask questions, have dialogue. 2634s

The Buddhism may be more of a tradition than a firmly held belief. Right? So know who you're talking to. Know where they're coming from so that you can find where they're going to be these connecting points because God does provide connecting points. 2646s

Alright, we are beyond out of time. So I'm going to let you go. But if you have any more questions, email me. And I will, we may have like just two minutes on Sikhism next time so we can get to all the questions. 2666s