Differences between Buddhism and Christianity
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What are the Differences ? We are not trying to come to a conclusion here. This will be just an intellectual discussion. We will be comparing Differences. So get cracking and start thinking what you think the Differences are. There is another thread on similarities.
Only mature people who are sure about their own faiths invited. There is no hurry. Take your time.
I hope the mods will delete the posts made by monkeys but please do it with a light touch and not be trigger happy.
Contributors please go one point at a time and do not write long posts, keep it to less than 100 words per post. You can always elaborate with another post if there are some things you need to clarify. -
For a start we shall consider being "Born Again" and "Enlightenment"
If you cannot see any Differences please post in the other thread. -
howcome no input here ?
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oops. my bad.
lemme start first.
buddhism no god. christianity got god.
buddhism no pernament soul. christianity everyone has a pernament soul.
buddhism salvation through oneself. christianity salvation through jesus christ, the rest go to hell. i like the last part. -
Uh...
Buddhism does not believe in a personal God?
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That is something I do not accept. Just for discussion sake, you know.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Uh...
Buddhism does not believe in a personal God?
I know one Buddhist, your type, not the folk religion type and everyday he comes to the office and lights an incense.
He saw me looking at him curiously and he told me that he was brought up in the Christian tradition and he is not "worshiping" the Buddha Statue.
You can say that you are not worshiping but for all intents and purposes, when you pray; ok DOMO a supernatural being; and ask Him to help and guide you; why do you deny that you have a personal "God?" -
My definition of personal God means: a creator of the universe that has a personality and is a permanent/eternal person/being.Originally posted by casino_king:That is something I do not accept. Just for discussion sake, you know.
I know one Buddhist, your type, not the folk religion type and everyday he comes to the office and lights an incense.
He saw me looking at him curiously and he told me that he was brought up in the Christian tradition and he is not "worshiping" the Buddha Statue.
You can say that you are not worshiping but for all intents and purposes, when you pray; ok DOMO a supernatural being; and ask Him to help and guide you; why do you deny that you have a personal "God?"
And the purpose of lighting incense is not to pray in Buddhism. You dont see people lighting a lot of incense in Buddhism - unlike Taoism/Chinese Folks. For my dharma centre it is only for chanting that we light incense (although can be lighted at home also, etc). The aroma of the incense that permeates the entire space has its significance. It is also known as 'the fragrance of dao de'.
You also dont see Buddhists who 'bai bai' to the Buddhist statues - unlike the chinese folks practitioners. We do formal 'Li Bai', reverence and veneration in a formal way.
Has your office friend taken refuge in the triple gems? -
Buddhism
What you sow is what you get aka Karma
Christianity Repentance will write off all your sins -
Repentance is very important in Buddhism too, it is also a very important practise of purification.Originally posted by maggot:Buddhism What you sow is what you get aka Karma
Christianity Repentance will write off all your sins
But there is no gaurantee that 'all your sins will be written off' because deep seated karma is not easily gone, and we do not believe in eternal hell and heaven. -
Repentance is very important in Buddhism too, it is also a very important practise of purification.Originally posted by maggot:Buddhism What you sow is what you get aka Karma
Christianity Repentance will write off all your sins
But there is no gaurantee that 'all your sins will be written off' because deep seated karma is not easily gone, and we do not believe in eternal hell and heaven. -
Not only what you sow is what you get. In a way, everybody knows that and every religion preaches that. What happens is that in Buddhism, what you sow is what you get from previous lives into futures lives. That is a very big difference.Originally posted by maggot:Buddhism What you sow is what you get aka Karma
Christianity Repentance will write off all your sins -
I understand exactly what you are saying.... but... you know? If it looks like a duck; walks like a duck and quacks like a duck... what is it? A duck!Originally posted by An Eternal Now:My definition of personal God means: a creator of the universe that has a personality and is a permanent/eternal person/being.
And the purpose of lighting incense is not to pray in Buddhism. You dont see people lighting a lot of incense in Buddhism - unlike Taoism/Chinese Folks. For my dharma centre it is only for chanting that we light incense (although can be lighted at home also, etc). The aroma of the incense that permeates the entire space has its significance. It is also known as 'the fragrance of dao de'.
You also dont see Buddhists who 'bai bai' to the Buddhist statues - unlike the chinese folks practitioners. We do formal 'Li Bai', reverence and veneration in a formal way.
Has your office friend taken refuge in the triple gems?
Why does it look so similar? Why does humans have this need to pay obeiescence to a supernatural? Even Buddhism that disavows all gods and yet the do the same thing as the believers. Why is that so? -
Respecting NOT WorshippingOriginally posted by casino_king:I understand exactly what you are saying.... but... you know? If it looks like a duck; walks like a duck and quacks like a duck... what is it? A duck!
Why does it look so similar? Why does humans have this need to pay obeiescence to a supernatural? Even Buddhism that disavows all gods and yet the do the same thing as the believers. Why is that so?
http://www.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=188976
We do not pray to the image , but bow in honour of what the image represents,the Noble Qualities of the Buddha, as do the Catholics to the Crucifix. -
When people hold memorial services, for example, they do not expect the dearly departed to know. Yet if I am not wrong, Buddhists expect Buddha to know that they are doing that?Originally posted by neutral_onliner:Respecting NOT Worshipping
http://www.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=188976
We do not pray to the image , but bow in honour of what the image represents,the Noble Qualities of the Buddha, as do the Catholics to the Crucifix. -
sorry don quite understand your statementOriginally posted by casino_king:When people hold memorial services, for example, they do not expect the dearly departed to know. Yet if I am not wrong, Buddhists expect Buddha to know that they are doing that? -
i think u should read up more before you comment..... it would be much tastefulOriginally posted by casino_king:That is something I do not accept. Just for discussion sake, you know.
I know one Buddhist, your type, not the folk religion type and everyday he comes to the office and lights an incense.
He saw me looking at him curiously and he told me that he was brought up in the Christian tradition and he is not "worshiping" the Buddha Statue.
You can say that you are not worshiping but for all intents and purposes, when you pray; ok DOMO a supernatural being; and ask Him to help and guide you; why do you deny that you have a personal "God?" -
I hope you don't be too sensitive. No harm intended, just trying to understand something that is difficult to understand.
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Maybe I should ask in a different way.
What is the purpose of Buddhist ceremonies? Is there no reason other than showing respect? What is the significance? -
Buddhism did not pester and "forced" pple to join..but Christianity try very damn hard pestering u to believe in jesus and all other Gods are evil and dirty etc etc etc tat their onli God is the real stuff and tat Guanyin Tua Pek Kong etc etc are all ghost devil...Buddhism u wana believe believe...dun believe fark off.... well tats the differ between the two of them
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Then what are the Dharma talks for? What are the books about Buddhism for? Not to spread the Buddhist faith?
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The books is there who wana take take wat...nv forced..If Christian i think they will pester u from boonlay to ang mo kio just to take their book of christ...Somemore Buddha more steady admit tat he got wife...unlikely jesus christ so hum chee got magdalene dun dared to admit must keep quiet...Well thks to Da vinci code the whole world knows now jesus got gf hehehehehe Bravo all the gods in world got gfs one ................Bravo the world is not as innocent as we think it is....Bravo fark all of u no life motherfarker including myself...Bravo duno born come out for wat also....Life is meaningless
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aiyo.....
i also have a strong feeling that somehow that what da vinci code is true but also it is not in certain ways (minimum). well truth is always not beautiful.... cover here cover there isn't that illusion - pretty packaging but inside so many distortions. lies cannot be hidden forever, they will surface one day. nature of the law is nothing is eternal that applies to everything.
i'm definitely going to watch that movie - da vinci code. who cares they spinning for money or not that ain't my problem. what matters is the info or the entertainment. once the movie finishes, i don't stay behind with the movie.
take it easy...... drop it easy...... -
wah lao... how come become Da Vinci Code the movie?
What about Journey to the West the movies? Not so nice to say that they are "real" right? -
hahaha...Originally posted by casino_king:wah lao... how come become Da Vinci Code the movie?
What about Journey to the West the movies? Not so nice to say that they are "real" right?
Journey to the West is just a novel.To put it in today context the characters r no different from superman,sipderman,batman..etc..They r for entertainment
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monks accepting demons and guding them on the pain to enlightenment doesn't seem dat impossible.Originally posted by neutral_onliner:hahaha...
Journey to the West is just a novel.To put it in today context the characters r no different from superman,sipderman,batman..etc..They r for entertainment who knows?