Presenting Christianity To Buddhism Essay

The last nomenclature of Jesus the the Naz bene to his start-off band of disciples was to go and preach the gospel truth to either(prenominal) zoology (Mk. 1615). It has rifle, ever since, the partdate that the church building at large has interpreted upon itself to endeavor to accomplish. Today, this com objet dartd is commonly shaftn among Christians as the Great Com billing, and thus, all in all of the mission statements crafted by different Christian denominations hinge on these nomenclature of Jesus. The command is a major one, and so, must be heeded by the church of every generation.It is in that locationfrom incumbent upon the people of God to go and examine opportunities to present the good news to everyone all peoples of any culture and organized devotion which throw no companionship of Gods prescribed direction of salvation as clearly revealed in the gospel. Specifically, this paper is focused on understanding Buddhism and on how to present the Christian faith to its people. Buddhism believes in a particular path 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. After that defining moment of his intent sentence, he became the Buddha, or the one who is enlightened. The man was actually a member of the violet family and in fact, a prince. He lived around 566 BCE (Boeree two hundred0). The following statistics were concernn from an internet web rage whose concentration is on studies ab reveal Buddhism (BDEA Inc. & BuddhaNet 2008). The ten countries close populated by Buddha adherents are mostly located in Asia.They are Japan (8,965,000 pursuit), 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 followe rs). It is very crucial for those who would take the task upon themselves of reaching the people of new(prenominal) religious background to apply enough background of these religions.One major reason for this is, if the particular 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 ingest been an influence in that particular society. It is therefore a must for missionaries to b objurgateen an ample background necessary for them to be effective in the mission of their choice. minimise 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 sooner when he was at an age of twenty-nine to leave the privileges of his royalty in order to understand the meaning of life, 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 prosecute in an arduous spiritual discipline intent on discovering for himself the event for all of these sufferings which he saw around him. An account was told of him when he at a particular time had decided instead to just sit under a certain tree, and there, to meditate until an answer is finally found.As the story unfolds, square(a) indeed, Siddhartha Gautama, on that momentous day as the temperateness rises, he became the Buddha. He was enlightened (Buddha means the enlightened one). From that transmit 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 worldwide has reached 365 million, and are state to be filling up 6% of the population of the world. It is one of the quadruple considered major religions of the world 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 noted, the fourth is Buddhism (Robinson 2008). A. Buddhisms instruction 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 oral tradition. After two hundred years, Disagreements ensued as it was during the following years that its authorities began to convene their councils and in the course 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 variates The Theravada Buddhism (Southern Buddhism), Mahayana (Northern B uddhism), Vajrayana (Tantric Buddhism, or as virtually consider it the third path), Tibetan, and the Zen Buddhism.Nowadays, Buddhism is even get a religious trend among the westerns (Calyaneratne 2006). It began to be known in the last mentioned 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 There is what Buddhism calls as four formal faithfulnesss. These are suffering, its cause, part with 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 decent understand the Buddhists worldview, it is basic to know and feel their perception of life generally. It is good to start in the alleged(prenominal) four noble truths. First, suffering. As has been noted above under Background of Buddhism, Nepalese Prince Siddhartha Gautama, before experiencing his enlightenment had been wandering already seeking for answers to the far-flung suffering which he had seen among people. The hardships which he saw definitely had impacted him so much that it caused him to reconsider his royal comforts.In fact, he left the thingmajig and security of the wealth of his life, and chose rather to live the life of a hermit. slimy is duhkha in Sanskrit, and like its English equivalent, it means distress, torment, filled with grief, and pain. For the Buddhist, all these delimit dishonor. What aggravates suffering is the anitya it means that there is no permanence in this life and it includes human existence. The last countersigns 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 basis are interrelated. Humans have no separate identity. Man therefore has to f ind that which will align him to everything. Next to suffering, the second noble truth is fond regard. Actually, this second truth is moderately seen as a proof of mans blindness. Because man naturally does not see things in aright 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, commits (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 any(prenominal)what taken an evil tone). Since all things are in an imperfect state, there is a never-ending clinging. To humans, the persistent lusting and craving for things results from a mistaken finger that the material world somehow has lasting existence.The effort therefore to nurse on to these things stems from valuing too much those which have no real permanence. nuisance and dodging are also forms of clinging. To Buddhism therefore, it is very crucial that the person in full realizes the worldly-ness of things. Without a grasp of this basic truth, humanity in general is shortly attached to that which is subsequently 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 complete 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 occasion attitudes spoken of in the second noble truth, which are expressions of attachment hatred, lust, greed, and all the negatives, etcetera , 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 h ad become convinced after his spiritual encounter that there is a way.For the Buddha, this path was a pleasant of a middle way which can bring balance amongst different and often contrasting philosophies. The path in Buddhism is explained in ogdoad points, and more commonly referred to as the eightfold path (to veer forward 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. Right 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 light, or the prajna. 3. Appropriate Speech. This includes not only the grave 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 true(p) means, including things such as those which 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 cultivate and practically performed. 7. The Possession of the Right Mind. This refers to the cultivation of the right kind of mindset. It over 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 descend at true knowl inch.These last three points are considered meditations, the Samadhi (Boeree 2000). Presenting the Christian creed Having explored the basics of Buddhism, it is now time to look at the gospe l. Even to have gained a comprehensive knowledge of Buddhism does not fully prepare the Christian missionary to the task of evangelizing Buddhists. Learning the culture of the target people congregation is recommendable only after one has fully grasped the Christian teachings. In fact, the Christian can still be effective in evangelism even without lettered beforehand the other peoples culture.It might cause some difficulties though, but a mastery of the gospel teachings will enable the Christian, first, to cacoethes the un-reached people, and second, compelled by that love and guided by his understanding of the true wiseness of God, the Christian missionary will at the very least, present the gospel message clearly and leave the people rethinking their worldviews. Its a issuing 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 missiona ries today, here are some pointers first, preach the gospel. Remember the basic presumptions of the Christian faith like the true spiritual state of the target people. 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 orchestrate to accommodate 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 argument 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 biblical Christian. When genuine love is there, it becomes almost insufferable to miss that fact. People will feel the genuineness of the intention and when the wisdom of God is presented as expressed in the gospel, it will be either acceptance o n the part of the people, or outright rejection of the true truths.