What I would like to do is bridge a gap between religions — Christianity and Buddhism — by showing one similarity between these seemingly separate ways of life, as a means of being more accepting of others’ beliefs. The way I am going to do this is by comparing Jesus with the Buddha (which, unfortunately, is going to be an oversimplification due to length constraints), which is something I believe we should do to see both sides, because we all are, ultimately, seeking a path towards happiness.
To provide some ethos, I would like to disclose that I was a devout practicing Christian for years. I went to multiple church services growing up — Nazarene, Resurrection Life, and others — prayed, studied the Bible, and attempted to follow Christ. However, after becoming incarcerated, stripped of all freedoms and stripped of my ability to make basic choices for myself, Christianity did not empower me. All of the questions I had in regards to the purpose of my struggles brought about the answer of “giving it up to Christ,” which pushed me to Buddhism because the Christian answer to the torment I was going through did not feel enough. Buddhism provided the ability to take back the trajectory of my life, to have the power to choose the path of righteous living and to attain the mindfulness of the Buddha. However, I continuously attempt to connect these two beliefs because I do see significant similarities between the two, and feel each side could learn from the other.
As Thich Nhat Hanh begins in The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, “Buddha was not a god. He was a human being like you and me, and he suffered just as we do. If we go to the Buddha with our hearts open, he will look at us, his eyes filled with compassion, and say, ‘Because there is suffering in your heart, it is possible for you to enter my heart’” (3). Nhat Hanh provides us with an image of the welcoming embrace of a figure who will always be there for us through our pain. Furthermore, he goes on to say that even though we have significant pain in our hearts, have sinned and feel guilty, this is not enough for the Buddha to turn his back on us (3). This illuminates a human figure who has complete compassion and love, and someone who has the willingness, because we are suffering, to suffer with us and lead us towards happiness.
Who else does this sound like? Jesus! Jesus came into the world and sacrificed himself to wipe away the sin of all of humanity, to suffer with us as a human and to bring about salvation and happiness for all of creation — to bring about shalom. Just as there are many people who want to walk the path of Christianity but are afraid of their sin being too much for Christ to redeem, it is the same for Buddhism. There is a saying in Christianity about how Jesus came to save sinners, not the saved — Jesus is here to love each and every one of us, regardless of how much we have sinned or the severity of our sin. Regardless of the negativity in our lives, Jesus will be there for us to share in our suffering, to take away our sin and lighten the burden which is upon our shoulders. Jesus is providing us a way to seek our happiness. It is the exact same with the Buddha.
However, I would like to discuss how Buddhists believe in a significance regarding Jesus. Buddhists believe Jesus was real, produced miracles and underwent the crucifixion. The only difference is that, in Christianity, Christ is God incarnate, and in Buddhism Jesus was a Buddha. On the other hand, though, we can see how, in both beliefs, Jesus was a significant character, is someone worth emulating and is someone who attained the highest achievement of humanity — being sinless in the Christianity belief and attaining enlightenment in the Buddhist belief.
The Dalai Lama opened a speech to a large audience in Arizona saying, “I believe the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness. That is clear. Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, we all are seeking something better in life. So, I think, the very motion of our life is towards happiness…” Given the similarities which I have provided between the two major entities of these beliefs, we need to see how both — Christians and Buddhists — are ultimately seeking happiness and are using Jesus as an example to get there. This is just one similarity between these beliefs, and I encourage more individual study, but it is a similarity that we share to guide our collective path towards happiness.
