BUDDHISM 

- THE PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT OR THE HIGHWAY TO HELL?

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Ever wondered if there is a God?

Buddhists don’t.

 

 They assume there is no God and concentrate on their own spiritual enlightenment, which is to be found within - “OUTTA MIND IS AN OUTTA SIGHT!”

 

 

 We’ll look at various headings comparing Buddhism with

what the KJV Bible says:

                                               1. Who is God?

                                                2. Who is man?

                                                 3. Salvation

                                                  4. Behaviour

                                                   5. Worship

 

Our only authority is the King James Version of the Scriptures and we are to be Bereans:

 

 

“...they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:11

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“Hell will be populated by souls who believed it didn’t exist”

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BACKGROUND

Buddhism arose in the 6th century before Christ and its founder was a fellow named Gautama who was then called Buddha after he “got enlightened” under a tree one day.

Buddha means “enlightened one”.

It is said that he found no satisfaction in either a life of extreme luxury or extreme deprivation called ascetism. He proposed a “Middle Way”.

There are many forms of Buddhism and it has undergone many changes. It formerly flourished in India but has since died out there.



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GOD

There is no God in Buddhism.

Buddha, as such, didn’t deny the existence of God but said thinking or searching for him could only detract from following your own “spiritual path of enlightenment”. He said that leaning on some sort of external “god” support didn’t edify yourself.

Buddha never claimed divinity or any divine source for his teachings and suggested that his teachings could be compared to a raft that should be left behind once the other side was reached.

Buddhists believe that the suffering and evil in the world is proof that God doesn’t exist. For the sake of all, Buddhists like to think of Buddha as still existing as some sort of semi-divine being along with others and has been revered in similar ways to Hindu gods.

 

 

WHAT’S GOD GOT TO SAY ABOUT ALL THIS?

 “In the beginning God....” Genesis1:1

 

 “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”Romans1:20-22

 

 

Comment: Very convenient to ignore God, then you won’t have to be answerable to Him. Like hoping the house isn’t on fire when it really is?

MAN

The origins of man and the world are left unexplained by Buddha - these topics are seen to be diversions.

As with Hinduism, Buddha saw life as temporary and riddled with pain. He concluded that all creatures including man are merely “fictions” and there is really no “self”. This notion of “no self” is so hard to grasp, much effort is spent in Buddhism trying to grasp it.

 

 

WHAT’S GOD GOT TO SAY ABOUT ALL THIS?



 “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Romans 7:24

 

 
Comment: Budda’s answer to Romans 7:25 is ignore the body and it’ll go away somehow. How clever! If man is an illusion then I guess so is sin!

 

 

 SALVATION

The Buddhist longs to be set free from his grasping self which causes him nothing but pain. His doctrine is summed up in the Four Noble Truths: 1. Life is suffering 2. The origins of suffering lie in craving and grasping 3. To cease suffering we must stop craving 4. To stop craving just follow the Buddhist practice of the Eightfold Path. These are a series of self-control and meditative techniques that progressively will lead to losing the sense of the “grasping self”. This leads to Nirvana - a term meaning “blowing out” as with the flame of a candle. When you have reached this state you are said to have “transcended” life - a sort of leaving it behind. This is the Buddhist salvation - to be saved from oneself!

Now, many who achieve Nirvana refuse to selfishly enter without the rest of mankind and so in this way others can be granted aids to salvation should they petition for them.

 

 

WHAT’S GOD GOT TO SAY ABOUT ALL THIS?

 

 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

 

 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27

 

 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John3:18

 

 Comment: We just got to do it God’s way. No if’s, buts, and’s or maybes. It’s God’s way or the highway (to hell that is).

Should the thought ever cross their mind that there might be a Lake of Fire, Buddhists reckon they should be able to cope. A bit uncomfortable at first - but after all, it’ll just be state of mind, won’t it?

 

BEHAVIOUR

The Buddhist layman is urged to follow the Five Precepts: 1. No killing of any sort 2. No stealing 3. No wrong speech or gossiping 4. No drugs and alcohol 5. No illicit sex. Now all monks and nuns don’t own any personal property and are strictly celibate. Buddhist teaching stresses “compassion” to others. Dedication to meditation and self-denial can help others by being role models.

 

 

 WHAT’S GOD GOT TO SAY ABOUT ALL THIS?

 

“And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Galatians5:24

“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.”

Hebrews 10:24

 

 

Comment: The question is this: “Who gets the glory?” Self or Christ who died for me?

 

WORSHIP

Worship in Buddhism is misconstrued with the paying of respects to Buddha. 1. occupies their time.  Meditating on their own breathing, 2. Being conscious of their own attitudes 3. Being clear at all times by becoming “ignorant” or neutral 4. Being aware of personal motives at all times 5. Divesting themselves of cravings and sense of self.

Some Buddhists believe one’s own neutrality can be passed onto others to aid them in their quest for Nirvana. In these cases “worshippers” petition others gone before them for help, grace and mercy.

 

 

WHAT’S GOD GOT TO SAY ABOUT ALL THIS?

 

“For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” Romans 14:11.

 

“And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” Revelation 5:13

“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” Hebrews 13:15

 

 

Comment: Interesting isn’t it? The Buddhists say they have no worship, but in actual fact they’re thinking about themselves all the time and testing their own “spiritual worth”. They are obsessed with themselves - Satan’s religious pinnacle is self and concentration on one’s own efforts rather than dwelling on what Christ has already done for us.

Another “Buddhist religion” is Roman Catholicism with its adherents paranoid about their own internal purity all the time - not knowing should they die whether they’ll end up in heaven, hell or the “halfway house” called purgatory for a spell of burning out the remaining sins.

No wonder The One World Ecumenical Church Movement being headed up by the Catholics, find “bosom buddies” in there “bosom Buddies”. Criteria for membership? Only one - “Be obsessed with yourself!”

Buddhism and Roman Catholicism (indeed Moslems, Christadelphians, Mormons, SDA’s, JW’s, and any other religion that won’t profess the blood atonement of Christ as full and sufficient to be received by faith alone) are what you can call DIY’s = “Do It Yourselfer’s”. It started back with Cain and Abel. Cain was the “Roman Catholic”- the original DIY’er getting rejected for his righteousness before God but Abel was the equivalent of the blood washed Christian and it’s been the same ever since.

Now you gotta hand it to your average Catholic - still refusing to give up and protesting an eventual home in heaven even though they’re playing by the wrong rules.  Of course, they’ve got as much success with their eternal security as a small piglet in a cage of hungry dogs - sort of like a man quickly, diligently & religiously consuming vast quantities of Panadol while hurtling over a cliff in a car with no brakes.

But you really gotta hand it to your average Buddhist - they’ve thrown the towel in completely, stomped off in a huff and are ignoring the whole sin, Jesus, God, hell “thing” by doing “The Mental Mogadon”.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         


Harley Hitchcock
www.
AustralianBibleMinistries
.com




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