Hey all...

[cjamison]

Recent stumbler upon this site.

Grew up Church of Christ and attended weekly until the age of 18, when I fell-away until age 24 and have been attending church semi-regularly since. I am now 37 (and don't look a day over 36) and reevaluating my faith.

Around the time I started back in church, I did some research into Eastern religions such as Hindu (through Yoga) and Buddhism (Zen mostly) and found some aspects of those religions interesting. (that happiness and physical peace are valued signs of knowledge of their sense of faith)

Alot of that wandering was because of a sense of broken faith in God and the Church and a sense of grief over my life.

But my health difficulties of last year directed me to reconnect with God and work out my issues with God and also work through my personal flaws in my relationship with Christ. I also missed the sense of 'home' and spiritual shorthand that I had with other followers of Christ when I was younger.

So I still meditate and sometimes attend Buddhist devotionals, but I do attend church more regularly and pray on a more regular basis. I still credit some of the teachings in Buddhism to help me act as a better human being, but my home is in Church.

Although I haven't been lurking enough to really have a great sense of how the boards operate, it's good to see a diversity of opinions across denominations and age groups from conservative to more liberal or progressive expressions of faith.

Hope to get to know more of you over the coming weeks and months.

cjamison

 

[Madad21]

Welcome

 

[This Vale Of Tears]

I've heard it said that Buddhism is not a religion, it's a philosophy, and not necessarily in conflict with Christianity. I'm admittedly undecided on that but would love to hear your viewpoint. Welcome.

 

[lforrest]

Welcome CJamison!

 

[Angelina]

Hi cj

The bible tells us that there is only one God. I hope that you will come to that conclusion in your search for the truth.

1 Timothy 2:5
For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

Peace!

 

[This Vale Of Tears]

Never mind.

 

[cjamison]

I've heard it said that Buddhism is not a religion, it's a philosophy, and not necessarily in conflict with Christianity. I'm admittedly undecided on that but would love to hear your viewpoint. Welcome.

Buddhism has aspects of 'religion' but because Buddhists don't believe in a supernatural deity, it isn't a religion.

While there are no Commandments from a omnipotent God in Buddhism, there are 'ways of living' that the Buddha found to improve quality of life such as being honest (Thou shall tell the truth).

It seems that as Christianity encourages forgiveness and Grace, Buddhism values compassion and empathy, but both forms of spirituality reinforce 'fruits of the Spirit'.
.
The local meditation / Buddhist group in fact has a number of baptized Christians who attend and helped me accept that practicing aspects of Buddhism isn't in conflict with my sense of faith in Christ.

If you're at all interested in learning more about Buddhism and Christianity, I would recommend reading a book by a Buddhist monk named Thich Nhat Hanh, called 'Going Home: Buddha and Christ as Brothers'. The book isn't a long read and mentions some of the similarities in the type of ministries and truths the Buddha and Christ taught and lived.

 

[This Vale Of Tears]

Buddhism has aspects of 'religion' but because Buddhists don't believe in a supernatural deity, it isn't a religion.

While there are no Commandments from a omnipotent God in Buddhism, there are 'ways of living' that the Buddha found to improve quality of life such as being honest (Thou shall tell the truth).

It seems that as Christianity encourages forgiveness and Grace, Buddhism values compassion and empathy, but both forms of spirituality reinforce 'fruits of the Spirit'.
.
The local meditation / Buddhist group in fact has a number of baptized Christians who attend and helped me accept that practicing aspects of Buddhism isn't in conflict with my sense of faith in Christ.

If you're at all interested in learning more about Buddhism and Christianity, I would recommend reading a book by a Buddhist monk named Thich Nhat Hanh, called 'Going Home: Buddha and Christ as Brothers'. The book isn't a long read and mentions some of the similarities in the type of ministries and truths the Buddha and Christ taught and lived.

There are similarities and there are also glaring differences. But I've long suspected that Buddhism was God's means of reaching out to people who wouldn't for centuries hear the gospel of Christ. Though Prince Siddhartha was born before Christ, the development of Buddhism as a pervasive Eastern religion took many centuries. I just recently watched "Little Buddha" with my family, and I keep getting a sense of how great this religion is to bring peace to so many people for 2500 years. I'm simply in awe of it and I believe that God is the inspiration behind it because there's only one other entity that's achieved such longevity, universality, and popularity and that's the Christian Church. I'll keep an eye out for that book.