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Christian Buddhism
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Pinwath mithura,
Please do not compare these 2 religions...
Their cores are clearly different...
Core of Buddhism is nothing but Vimukthi (liberation of Thanha, and from samsara).
[Reference: Paharada Sutta]
Attempts to compare might mislead both Christians and Buddhists who are not fully aware of what they think they follow...
Hope our friends would be prudent enough not to be mislead...
Theruwan saranai!
Please do not compare these 2 religions...
Their cores are clearly different...
Core of Buddhism is nothing but Vimukthi (liberation of Thanha, and from samsara).
[Reference: Paharada Sutta]
Attempts to compare might mislead both Christians and Buddhists who are not fully aware of what they think they follow...
Hope our friends would be prudent enough not to be mislead...
Theruwan saranai!
kalyanamithra said:Pinwath mithura,
Please do not compare these 2 religions...
Their cores are clearly different...
Core of Buddhism is nothing but Vimukthi (liberation of Thanha, and from samsara).
[Reference: Paharada Sutta]
Attempts to compare might mislead both Christians and Buddhists who are not fully aware of what they think they follow...
Hope our friends would be prudent enough not to be mislead...
Theruwan saranai!
No we are brothers ..................... Jesus and Lord Bhuddha both came from same entity i'll prove it in next few days
liberation of Thanha, and from samsara ( Same thing machan , Jesus tought this theory in a quite simple way )
Parallel Sayings of Buddha and Christ
These parallel sayings of Buddha and Christ were shared with people at the joint Buddhist/Christian religious service held at Lake Street Church in Evanston, IL in May.
Although the Buddha and Jesus lived hundreds of years and cultures apart, there are striking parallels to the sayings attributed to them. It is not that they said exactly the same things, it is rather that their distinctive and independent sayings pierce the veil of illusion, reminding us that God, or truth or whatever word that we choose to call that which is ultimate, binds us together in a timeless and infinite garment of mutuality.
The parallel teachings of Buddha and Christ are from the book Jesus and Buddha, the Parallel Teachings by Marcus Borg, Jesus scholar and Buddhist writer, Jack Kornfield. The Buddha sayings are taken from the Dhammapada and the sutras of the Buddha. The Jesus sayings are taken from the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Buddha: They agreed among themselves, friends, here comes the recluse, Gotama, who lives luxuriously, who gives up his striving and reverted to luxury.
Jesus: The son of humanity came eating and drinking and they said look a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.
Buddha: With the relinquishing of all thought and egotism, the enlightened one is liberated through not clinging.
Jesus: Those who want to save their life will loose it. Those who loose their live for my sake will save it.
Buddha: One is the way to gain, the other is the way to Nirvana, knowing this fact, students of the Buddha should not take pleasure in being honored, but, should practice detachment.
Jesus: No slave can serve two masters For a slave will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Buddha: Just as a mother would protect her only child at the risk of her own life, even so, cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings. Let your thoughts of boundless love pervade the whole world.
Jesus: This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.
Buddha: If you do not tend to one another then who is there to tend to you? Whoever who would tend me, he should tend the sick.
Jesus: Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these, so you have done it unto me.
Buddha: Consider others as yourself.
Jesus: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Buddha: One who acts on truth is happy, in this world and beyond.
Jesus: You will know the truth and the truth will make you free.
Buddha:Hatred do not ever cease in this world by hating, but by love; this is an eternal truth... Overcome anger by love, Overcome evil by good. overcome the miser by giving, overcome the liar by truth.
Jesus: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. From anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.
These parallel sayings of Buddha and Christ were shared with people at the joint Buddhist/Christian religious service held at Lake Street Church in Evanston, IL in May.
Although the Buddha and Jesus lived hundreds of years and cultures apart, there are striking parallels to the sayings attributed to them. It is not that they said exactly the same things, it is rather that their distinctive and independent sayings pierce the veil of illusion, reminding us that God, or truth or whatever word that we choose to call that which is ultimate, binds us together in a timeless and infinite garment of mutuality.
The parallel teachings of Buddha and Christ are from the book Jesus and Buddha, the Parallel Teachings by Marcus Borg, Jesus scholar and Buddhist writer, Jack Kornfield. The Buddha sayings are taken from the Dhammapada and the sutras of the Buddha. The Jesus sayings are taken from the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Buddha: They agreed among themselves, friends, here comes the recluse, Gotama, who lives luxuriously, who gives up his striving and reverted to luxury.
Jesus: The son of humanity came eating and drinking and they said look a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.
Buddha: With the relinquishing of all thought and egotism, the enlightened one is liberated through not clinging.
Jesus: Those who want to save their life will loose it. Those who loose their live for my sake will save it.
Buddha: One is the way to gain, the other is the way to Nirvana, knowing this fact, students of the Buddha should not take pleasure in being honored, but, should practice detachment.
Jesus: No slave can serve two masters For a slave will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Buddha: Just as a mother would protect her only child at the risk of her own life, even so, cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings. Let your thoughts of boundless love pervade the whole world.
Jesus: This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.
Buddha: If you do not tend to one another then who is there to tend to you? Whoever who would tend me, he should tend the sick.
Jesus: Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these, so you have done it unto me.
Buddha: Consider others as yourself.
Jesus: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Buddha: One who acts on truth is happy, in this world and beyond.
Jesus: You will know the truth and the truth will make you free.
Buddha:Hatred do not ever cease in this world by hating, but by love; this is an eternal truth... Overcome anger by love, Overcome evil by good. overcome the miser by giving, overcome the liar by truth.
Jesus: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. From anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.
I am making this another thread;
http://www.elakiri.com/forum/showthread.php?t=96999
please tolerate it creating a re-post...
Theruwan saranai
I will present what explained in Dhamma as "arya dhamma" and "sathpurisa dhamma"...
A person becomes an Arya Shrawaka (a True follower of Buddha) when he/she comes to Akarawathi Shraddha. Such a person has both "arya" and "sathpurisa" views; he/she is competent in both "arya" and "sathpurisa" Dhamma; he/she is discipliened in both "arya" and "sathpurusha" Dhamma...
"Arya Dhamma" is that takes people towards Nibbana; helps them end the samsaraic existence...
It is Dhamma which contains the "37 Bodhi Parshvika Dharma"
"Sathpurisa Dhamma" are the good norms accepted by beings with higher mentality (like humans).
E.g. not killing animals (although people kill animals, many have the notion that it's not good...)
These norms are commonly accepted in all religions in the civilized world...
But it is Arya Dhamma that leads to the Core of Buddhism...
Only Buddhists follow "Arya Dhamma"...
I invite all to examine Dhamma in depth before trying to compare or contrast with other religions...
There is little (or no) sense of comparing religions publicly... it hurts many to please a few...
Personally I think we should talk about religions to help others practice it; not to show off what we know...
Theruwan saranai!
http://www.elakiri.com/forum/showthread.php?t=96999
please tolerate it creating a re-post...
Theruwan saranai
Pinwath mithurani,Y2K said:
I will present what explained in Dhamma as "arya dhamma" and "sathpurisa dhamma"...
A person becomes an Arya Shrawaka (a True follower of Buddha) when he/she comes to Akarawathi Shraddha. Such a person has both "arya" and "sathpurisa" views; he/she is competent in both "arya" and "sathpurisa" Dhamma; he/she is discipliened in both "arya" and "sathpurusha" Dhamma...
"Arya Dhamma" is that takes people towards Nibbana; helps them end the samsaraic existence...
It is Dhamma which contains the "37 Bodhi Parshvika Dharma"
"Sathpurisa Dhamma" are the good norms accepted by beings with higher mentality (like humans).
E.g. not killing animals (although people kill animals, many have the notion that it's not good...)
These norms are commonly accepted in all religions in the civilized world...
But it is Arya Dhamma that leads to the Core of Buddhism...
Only Buddhists follow "Arya Dhamma"...
I invite all to examine Dhamma in depth before trying to compare or contrast with other religions...
There is little (or no) sense of comparing religions publicly... it hurts many to please a few...
Personally I think we should talk about religions to help others practice it; not to show off what we know...
Theruwan saranai!
Last edited:
kalyanamithra said:I am making this another thread;
http://www.elakiri.com/forum/showthread.php?t=96999
please tolerate it creating a re-post...
Theruwan saranai
Pinwath mithurani,
I will present what explained in Dhamma as "arya dhamma" and "sathpurisa dhamma"...
A person becomes an Arya Shrawaka (a True follower of Buddha) when he/she comes to Akarawathi Shraddha. Such a person has both "arya" and "sathpurisa" views; he/she is competent in both "arya" and "sathpurisa" Dhamma; he/she is discipliened in both "arya" and "sathpurusha" Dhamma...
"Arya Dhamma" is that takes people towards Nibbana; helps them end the samsaraic existence...
It is Dhamma which contains the "37 Bodhi Parshvika Dharma"
"Sathpurisa Dhamma" are the good norms accepted by beings with higher mentality (like humans).
E.g. not killing animals (although people kill animals, many have the notion that it's not good...)
These norms are commonly accepted in all religions in the civilized world...
But it is Arya Dhamma that leads to the Core of Buddhism...
Only Buddhists follow "Arya Dhamma"...
I invite all to examine Dhamma in depth before trying to compare or contrast with other religions...
There is little (or no) sense of comparing religions publicly... it hurts many to please a few...
Personally I think we should talk about religions to help others practice it; not to show off what we know...
Theruwan saranai!
Anna eheme enne ....................
Sparxrc said:
give me a five machan anna oka thamai me treand eka aramuna nathuwa ekinekage agum gana wada karanna nemai
Truth is there are some similarity (highlight the word Some )
booleanB said:පුතා පොට වරද්දගෙන වගේ
Putha danne Budhisam witharai wage ne da ??? kamak na machan comments karapan we are all brothers
gpindika said:
ehema kiyanneth Teachings eka nisa thamai ................ but if he is son of god whts the point of learning other religion ???
mama oya potha kiyawala tiyanawa sahodara ya.................. all bullshit machan ......
Reincarnation and Christianity
Reincarnation and the Bible Did the clergy rewrite the Bible, so that the passages teaching reincarnation were removed? Did the early Church fathers believe in reincarnation? Reincarnation according to Platonism
Origen and OrigenismOther early church fathers vs. Reincarnation
Why cannot Christianity accept reincarnation?
Today’s religious syncretism not only accepts reincarnation as one of its basic doctrines but also tries to prove that it can be found in the Bible and that it was accepted by the early Church. We will therefore analyze the basic texts in the Bible which are claimed to imply belief in reincarnation, examine the position of some important Church fathers who are said to have accepted it, and emphasize the basic antagonism of this doctrine with Christian teaching
Reincarnation and the Bible. Biblical texts that seem to imply belief in reincarnation
The most "convincing" texts of this kind are the following:
1) Matthew 11,14 and 17,12-13, concerning the identity of John the Baptist;
2) John 9,2, "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?";
3) John 3,3, "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again";
4) James 3,6, "the wheel of nature";
5) Galatians 6,7, "A man reaps what he sows";
6) Matthew 26,52, "all who draw the sword will die by the sword";
7) Revelation 13,10, "If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed."
1. The first text concerns the identity of John the Baptist, supposed to be the reincarnation of the prophet Elijah. In Matthew 11,14 Jesus says: "And if you are willing to accept it, he (John the Baptist) is the Elijah who was to come." In the same Gospel, while answering the apostles about the coming of Elijah, Jesus told them: "But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." The commentary adds: "Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist" (Matthew 17,12-13; see also Mark 9,12-13).
At first sight, it may seem that these verses imply the reincarnation of the prophet Elijah as John the Baptist. The prophecy of the return of Elijah appears in the last verses of the Old Testament, in the book of the prophet Malachi (3,1; 4,5-6): "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes." In Luke 1,17 an angel announces the fulfillment of this prophecy at the birth of John the Baptist: "And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous- to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." What could be the meaning of the words "in the spirit and power of Elijah"?
First we must be aware that the Jews viewed 'spirit' and 'soul' as quite different things. The human person has a soul which will live on after physical death. The spirit is a kind of driving force, a motivation that makes people behave in one way or another. When a group of people are working to fulfill a common goal, they are said to be in the same spirit. Second, the text does not say that John the Baptist will go "in the soul of Elijah," but "in the spirit of Elijah." This means that John the Baptist and Elijah had the same "team spirit," not that one was the reincarnation of the other. John the Baptist was rather a kind of Elijah, a prophet who had to repeat the mission of Elijah in a similar context. The same as Elijah did nine centuries before him, John the Baptist had to suffer persecution from the royal house of Israel and act in the context of the spiritual degeneration of the Jewish nation. John had the same spiritual mission as the prophet Elijah, but not the same soul or self. For this reason the expression "in the spirit and power of Elijah" should not be interpreted as meaning the reincarnation of a person, but as a necessary repetition of a well-known episode in the history of Israel.
Other Gospel passages that refer to Elijah and John the Baptist confirm that this text cannot teach reincarnation. At the time John the Baptist began his public preaching, the priests in Jerusalem asked him about his identity: "Are you Elijah?" (John 1,21) John answered simply: "I am not." Another text that contradicts reincarnation as applying to this case is the story of Elijah’s departure from this world. Elijah didn’t die in the proper sense of the word, but "went up to heaven in a whirlwind" (2 Kings 2,11). According to the classic theory of reincarnation, a person has to die physically first in order that his self may be reincarnated in another body. In the case of Elijah this didn’t happen. So it must be considered an exception both to the natural process of death, and to the rule of reincarnation. Finally, the three apostles at the Mount of Transfiguration said that they had seen Elijah, not John the Baptist, with whom they were familiar (Matthew 17,1-8, Mark 9,2-8; Luke 9,28-36).
2. The next disputed text is the introduction to the healing of the man born blind in John 9,2. Considering the apostles' question: "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?", it is obvious that the first option (the man was born blind because of his sin) implies that he could sin only in a previous life. According to the classic theory of reincarnation, he might have been a cruel dictator who got the just reward for his bad deeds.
However, the apostles' question about the possibility of having sinned before birth should not necessarily be judged as indicating an existing belief in reincarnation. It rather confirms that some religious factions believed that the fetus could somehow sin in its mother womb. If Jesus had considered reincarnation to be true, surely he would have used this opportunity, as was his custom, to explain to them how karma and reincarnation work in such a peculiar situation. Jesus never missed such opportunities to instruct his disciples on spiritual matters, and reincarnation would have been a crucial doctrine for them to understand.
Nevertheless, in the answer Jesus gave, he rejected both options suggested by the apostles. Both ideas of sinning before birth and the punishment for the parents' sins were wrong. Jesus said: "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life" (John 9,3). "The work of God" is described in the next verses, when Jesus healed the blind man as a proof of his divinity (v. 39).
3. In the Gospel According to John Jesus said to Nicodemus: "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again" (John 3,3). Out of its context, this verse seems to suggest that reincarnation is the only possibility for attaining spiritual perfection and admission into the "kingdom of God." Nicodemus’ following question indicates that he understood by these words a kind of physical rebirth in this life, and not classic reincarnation: "How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" (v. 4). Jesus rejected the idea of physical rebirth and explained man’s need for spiritual rebirth, during this life, in order to be admitted into God’s kingdom in the afterlife.
Jesus further explained the meaning of his words by referring to a well-known episode in Israel’s history: "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up" (John 3,14). That episode occurred while the Israelites were travelling in the wilderness toward the Promised Land under the command of Moses (see Numbers 21,4-9). They spoke against God and against Moses, and God punished them by sending poisonous snakes against them. Grasping the gravity of the situation, they recognized their sin and asked for a saving solution. God’s solution was that Moses had to make a bronze copy of such a snake and put it up on a pole. Those who had been bitten by a snake had to look at this bronze snake, believing that this symbol represented their salvation, and so were healed. Coming back to the connection Jesus made between that episode and his teaching, he said: "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3,14-15). In other words, as Moses lifted up the bronze snake 13 centuries earlier, in the same way was Jesus to be lifted up on the cross, in order to be the only antidote to the deadly bite of sin. As the Jews had to believe that the bronze snake was their salvation from death, the same way Nicodemus, his generation and the entire world had to believe that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is the perfect solution provided by God for the sins of the world. Therefore the kind of rebirth Jesus was teaching was not the Eastern concept of reincarnation but a spiritual rebirth that any human can experience in this life.
4. A fourth text interpreted as indicating reincarnation is found in the Epistle of James 3,6, where the ASV version translates the Greek trochos genesis as "the wheel of nature" and the RSV version as “the cycle of nature.” This could seem to be the equivalent of the cycle of endless reincarnations affirmed in Eastern religions. However, we must be aware that the context of the two words is the teaching about the need to control our speech in order not to sin. The ASV translation states: "And the tongue is a fire: the world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by hell." The tongue out of control is compared with a fire that affects the whole course of human life, thought and deed. This means that sinful speech is the origin of many other sins which are consequently generated. The NIV translation is clearer at this point: "The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell."
5. A classic example of suggesting karma and samsara in the Bible is often claimed to be represented by the words of the Apostle Paul in Galatians: "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows" (Galatians 6,7). This "sowing and reaping" process would allegedly represent someone’s acts and their consequences as dictated by karma in further lives. However, the very next verse indicates that the point is judging the effects of our deeds from the perspective of eternal life, as stated in the Bible, without a further earthly existence being involved: "The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life" (6,8; see also the entire chapter). "Reaping destruction" means eternal separation from God in hell, while "eternal life" represents eternal communion with God in heaven. In their given context, these verses cannot suggest the reincarnation of the soul after death. According to Christianity, the supreme judge of our deeds is God, and not impersonal karma.
6. After Peter had cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant in his attempt to prevent Jesus’ arrest in Gethsemane, Jesus rebuked him by saying: "All who draw the sword will die by the sword" (Matthew 26,52). Could this be the justice of karma in action?
All four Gospels give the account of Jesus’ rebuke to Peter’s initiative. Although heroic, it went against God’s plan ("How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?" – verse 54). In this case Peter was sinning and, according to the well-known Old Testament law of sin retribution, the sinner must be punished consistently ("Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man" - Genesis 9,6; see also Exodus 21,23-25; Leviticus 24,19-20; Deuteronomy 19,21). However, throughout the Old Testament this law was referring solely to one’s present physical life, by no means to future lives. Otherwise Jesus’ words would lead to an absurd implication. If he meant that killing someone in this life with a sword would require that the doer would be literally killed at his turn with a sword in a future life, then his crucifixion (which followed soon after this episode) must have been a punishment for his own sins done in previous lives and not a solution for other people’s sins, as he claimed.
7. "If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed" (Revelation 13,10). This verse belongs to a prophecy that speaks about the end times, when Satan and his subjects will have temporary power on earth. Adherents of reincarnation must be aware that it is a quotation from the Old Testament: "And if they ask you, 'Where shall we go?' tell them, 'This is what the LORD says: "'Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword; those for starvation, to starvation; those for captivity, to captivity'" (Jeremiah 15,2). This sentence was spoken by Jeremiah just before the fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile (586 BC) and expresses God’s punishment of a sinful Jewish nation which had rejected him. It is not the impersonal law of karma acting here but the will of the personal creator God. He chooses how to punish those who have rejected him. (See also Jeremiah 43,11, which uses the same words for announcing the punishment of Egypt for its sins.) The author of Revelation used this quotation for assuring those involved in the events to come that God would do justice again, as he did in the ancient times. Therefore they should act in "patient endurance and faithfulness" as Revelation 13,10 adds.
As can be observed, in all situations where "Biblical proofs" for reincarnation are claimed, the context is always ignored. Other passages used as proofs of reincarnationist beliefs mean, in fact, the existence of Christ prior to his human birth (John 8,58), the continuity of the souls' existence after death (John 5,28-29; Luke 16,22-23; 2 Corinthians 5,1), or the spiritual rebirth of believers in their present life (Titus 3,5; 1 Peter 1,23), without giving any plausible indication for reincarnation.
Did the clergy rewrite the Bible, so that the passages teaching reincarnation were removed?
Reincarnation and the Bible Did the clergy rewrite the Bible, so that the passages teaching reincarnation were removed? Did the early Church fathers believe in reincarnation? Reincarnation according to Platonism
Origen and OrigenismOther early church fathers vs. Reincarnation
Why cannot Christianity accept reincarnation?
Today’s religious syncretism not only accepts reincarnation as one of its basic doctrines but also tries to prove that it can be found in the Bible and that it was accepted by the early Church. We will therefore analyze the basic texts in the Bible which are claimed to imply belief in reincarnation, examine the position of some important Church fathers who are said to have accepted it, and emphasize the basic antagonism of this doctrine with Christian teaching
Reincarnation and the Bible. Biblical texts that seem to imply belief in reincarnation
The most "convincing" texts of this kind are the following:
1) Matthew 11,14 and 17,12-13, concerning the identity of John the Baptist;
2) John 9,2, "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?";
3) John 3,3, "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again";
4) James 3,6, "the wheel of nature";
5) Galatians 6,7, "A man reaps what he sows";
6) Matthew 26,52, "all who draw the sword will die by the sword";
7) Revelation 13,10, "If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed."
1. The first text concerns the identity of John the Baptist, supposed to be the reincarnation of the prophet Elijah. In Matthew 11,14 Jesus says: "And if you are willing to accept it, he (John the Baptist) is the Elijah who was to come." In the same Gospel, while answering the apostles about the coming of Elijah, Jesus told them: "But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." The commentary adds: "Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist" (Matthew 17,12-13; see also Mark 9,12-13).
At first sight, it may seem that these verses imply the reincarnation of the prophet Elijah as John the Baptist. The prophecy of the return of Elijah appears in the last verses of the Old Testament, in the book of the prophet Malachi (3,1; 4,5-6): "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes." In Luke 1,17 an angel announces the fulfillment of this prophecy at the birth of John the Baptist: "And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous- to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." What could be the meaning of the words "in the spirit and power of Elijah"?
First we must be aware that the Jews viewed 'spirit' and 'soul' as quite different things. The human person has a soul which will live on after physical death. The spirit is a kind of driving force, a motivation that makes people behave in one way or another. When a group of people are working to fulfill a common goal, they are said to be in the same spirit. Second, the text does not say that John the Baptist will go "in the soul of Elijah," but "in the spirit of Elijah." This means that John the Baptist and Elijah had the same "team spirit," not that one was the reincarnation of the other. John the Baptist was rather a kind of Elijah, a prophet who had to repeat the mission of Elijah in a similar context. The same as Elijah did nine centuries before him, John the Baptist had to suffer persecution from the royal house of Israel and act in the context of the spiritual degeneration of the Jewish nation. John had the same spiritual mission as the prophet Elijah, but not the same soul or self. For this reason the expression "in the spirit and power of Elijah" should not be interpreted as meaning the reincarnation of a person, but as a necessary repetition of a well-known episode in the history of Israel.
Other Gospel passages that refer to Elijah and John the Baptist confirm that this text cannot teach reincarnation. At the time John the Baptist began his public preaching, the priests in Jerusalem asked him about his identity: "Are you Elijah?" (John 1,21) John answered simply: "I am not." Another text that contradicts reincarnation as applying to this case is the story of Elijah’s departure from this world. Elijah didn’t die in the proper sense of the word, but "went up to heaven in a whirlwind" (2 Kings 2,11). According to the classic theory of reincarnation, a person has to die physically first in order that his self may be reincarnated in another body. In the case of Elijah this didn’t happen. So it must be considered an exception both to the natural process of death, and to the rule of reincarnation. Finally, the three apostles at the Mount of Transfiguration said that they had seen Elijah, not John the Baptist, with whom they were familiar (Matthew 17,1-8, Mark 9,2-8; Luke 9,28-36).
2. The next disputed text is the introduction to the healing of the man born blind in John 9,2. Considering the apostles' question: "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?", it is obvious that the first option (the man was born blind because of his sin) implies that he could sin only in a previous life. According to the classic theory of reincarnation, he might have been a cruel dictator who got the just reward for his bad deeds.
However, the apostles' question about the possibility of having sinned before birth should not necessarily be judged as indicating an existing belief in reincarnation. It rather confirms that some religious factions believed that the fetus could somehow sin in its mother womb. If Jesus had considered reincarnation to be true, surely he would have used this opportunity, as was his custom, to explain to them how karma and reincarnation work in such a peculiar situation. Jesus never missed such opportunities to instruct his disciples on spiritual matters, and reincarnation would have been a crucial doctrine for them to understand.
Nevertheless, in the answer Jesus gave, he rejected both options suggested by the apostles. Both ideas of sinning before birth and the punishment for the parents' sins were wrong. Jesus said: "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life" (John 9,3). "The work of God" is described in the next verses, when Jesus healed the blind man as a proof of his divinity (v. 39).
3. In the Gospel According to John Jesus said to Nicodemus: "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again" (John 3,3). Out of its context, this verse seems to suggest that reincarnation is the only possibility for attaining spiritual perfection and admission into the "kingdom of God." Nicodemus’ following question indicates that he understood by these words a kind of physical rebirth in this life, and not classic reincarnation: "How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" (v. 4). Jesus rejected the idea of physical rebirth and explained man’s need for spiritual rebirth, during this life, in order to be admitted into God’s kingdom in the afterlife.
Jesus further explained the meaning of his words by referring to a well-known episode in Israel’s history: "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up" (John 3,14). That episode occurred while the Israelites were travelling in the wilderness toward the Promised Land under the command of Moses (see Numbers 21,4-9). They spoke against God and against Moses, and God punished them by sending poisonous snakes against them. Grasping the gravity of the situation, they recognized their sin and asked for a saving solution. God’s solution was that Moses had to make a bronze copy of such a snake and put it up on a pole. Those who had been bitten by a snake had to look at this bronze snake, believing that this symbol represented their salvation, and so were healed. Coming back to the connection Jesus made between that episode and his teaching, he said: "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3,14-15). In other words, as Moses lifted up the bronze snake 13 centuries earlier, in the same way was Jesus to be lifted up on the cross, in order to be the only antidote to the deadly bite of sin. As the Jews had to believe that the bronze snake was their salvation from death, the same way Nicodemus, his generation and the entire world had to believe that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is the perfect solution provided by God for the sins of the world. Therefore the kind of rebirth Jesus was teaching was not the Eastern concept of reincarnation but a spiritual rebirth that any human can experience in this life.
4. A fourth text interpreted as indicating reincarnation is found in the Epistle of James 3,6, where the ASV version translates the Greek trochos genesis as "the wheel of nature" and the RSV version as “the cycle of nature.” This could seem to be the equivalent of the cycle of endless reincarnations affirmed in Eastern religions. However, we must be aware that the context of the two words is the teaching about the need to control our speech in order not to sin. The ASV translation states: "And the tongue is a fire: the world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by hell." The tongue out of control is compared with a fire that affects the whole course of human life, thought and deed. This means that sinful speech is the origin of many other sins which are consequently generated. The NIV translation is clearer at this point: "The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell."
5. A classic example of suggesting karma and samsara in the Bible is often claimed to be represented by the words of the Apostle Paul in Galatians: "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows" (Galatians 6,7). This "sowing and reaping" process would allegedly represent someone’s acts and their consequences as dictated by karma in further lives. However, the very next verse indicates that the point is judging the effects of our deeds from the perspective of eternal life, as stated in the Bible, without a further earthly existence being involved: "The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life" (6,8; see also the entire chapter). "Reaping destruction" means eternal separation from God in hell, while "eternal life" represents eternal communion with God in heaven. In their given context, these verses cannot suggest the reincarnation of the soul after death. According to Christianity, the supreme judge of our deeds is God, and not impersonal karma.
6. After Peter had cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant in his attempt to prevent Jesus’ arrest in Gethsemane, Jesus rebuked him by saying: "All who draw the sword will die by the sword" (Matthew 26,52). Could this be the justice of karma in action?
All four Gospels give the account of Jesus’ rebuke to Peter’s initiative. Although heroic, it went against God’s plan ("How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?" – verse 54). In this case Peter was sinning and, according to the well-known Old Testament law of sin retribution, the sinner must be punished consistently ("Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man" - Genesis 9,6; see also Exodus 21,23-25; Leviticus 24,19-20; Deuteronomy 19,21). However, throughout the Old Testament this law was referring solely to one’s present physical life, by no means to future lives. Otherwise Jesus’ words would lead to an absurd implication. If he meant that killing someone in this life with a sword would require that the doer would be literally killed at his turn with a sword in a future life, then his crucifixion (which followed soon after this episode) must have been a punishment for his own sins done in previous lives and not a solution for other people’s sins, as he claimed.
7. "If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed" (Revelation 13,10). This verse belongs to a prophecy that speaks about the end times, when Satan and his subjects will have temporary power on earth. Adherents of reincarnation must be aware that it is a quotation from the Old Testament: "And if they ask you, 'Where shall we go?' tell them, 'This is what the LORD says: "'Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword; those for starvation, to starvation; those for captivity, to captivity'" (Jeremiah 15,2). This sentence was spoken by Jeremiah just before the fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile (586 BC) and expresses God’s punishment of a sinful Jewish nation which had rejected him. It is not the impersonal law of karma acting here but the will of the personal creator God. He chooses how to punish those who have rejected him. (See also Jeremiah 43,11, which uses the same words for announcing the punishment of Egypt for its sins.) The author of Revelation used this quotation for assuring those involved in the events to come that God would do justice again, as he did in the ancient times. Therefore they should act in "patient endurance and faithfulness" as Revelation 13,10 adds.
As can be observed, in all situations where "Biblical proofs" for reincarnation are claimed, the context is always ignored. Other passages used as proofs of reincarnationist beliefs mean, in fact, the existence of Christ prior to his human birth (John 8,58), the continuity of the souls' existence after death (John 5,28-29; Luke 16,22-23; 2 Corinthians 5,1), or the spiritual rebirth of believers in their present life (Titus 3,5; 1 Peter 1,23), without giving any plausible indication for reincarnation.
Did the clergy rewrite the Bible, so that the passages teaching reincarnation were removed?
"The Secret Book of John is the most significant and influential text of the ancient Gnostic religion. Part of the library of books found in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945, this central myth of Gnosticism tells the story of how God fell from perfect Oneness to imprisonment in the material world, and how by knowing our divine nature and our divine origins - that we are one with God - we reverse God's descent and find our salvation." The Secret Book of John: The Gnostic Gospel - Annotated & Explained decodes the principal themes, historical foundation, and spiritual contexts of this challenging yet fundamental Gnostic teaching. Drawing connections to Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, kabbalistic Judaism, and Sufism, Davies focuses on the mythology and psychology of the Gnostic religious quest. He illuminates the Gnostics' ardent call for self-awareness and introspection, and the empowering message that divine wholeness will be restored not by worshiping false gods in an illusory material world but by our recognition of the inherent divinity within ourselves.
Pinwath Y2K,kalyanamithra said:
This Deshana might help get a glimpse of the core of Buddhism... It touches some (not all) of the deep aspects; but sufficient to see what Buddhism is if examined carefully...
It's based on Atthiraga Sutta:
http://www.gautamabuddha.ca/bana/sinhala/011_Aththiraga_sutta.mp3
Only if you want to: try to find significant point in it that is found in another religion... you'll not.. because the core are different...
I am sorry to have been forced to say this...
Your assumption that you know Buddhism is wrong; you've probably been deceived by 'childish' articles (including what posted at the beginning of this thread) that compare religions (yes, this kind of comparisons are in vogue these days)...
(why childish? because it's just paralleling some phrases extracted in an ad-hoc manner... not even scholars with a taste of literature do such comparisons...)
As I've said before all religions are different (for sure Buddhism is different from all others); we should accept and honor their diversity..
What to follow is a personal decision... so it's not good to criticize or give wrong interpretations of other religions...
Thanks...
Theruwan saranai!
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