Practicing Buddhism while being a Catholic
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Greetings,
I would like to ask if it's possible for me to practice Buddhism while being a Catholic at the same time, even though there were some drastic diffference on both religion views on the idea of God.
Seek your kind advice on this issue.
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OMG! Why don't you go ask God instead of asking the people here? Ultimately you will be accountable to God not the people here.
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actually Buddhism or not, i think it boils down to personal choice.
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When you go heaven, no offense, God will pull your right hand, Buddha will pull your left hand, jialat...
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I know of Christians who also learn Dharma, practise Insight meditation and reaps result so I think it is possible.
You should look into the Christian and Catholic contemplative and mystical literature. (See: Christian Mysticism). You will find much similarities in experience with the Eastern contemplative paths.
Mysticism and contemplative path aims to realise the oneness with the divine, and beyond. As former Carmelite nun and a contemplative in the Catholic tradition, Bernadette Roberts says:
"The realization of oneness with God does not mean that we are the historical Jesus or the incarnate Christ -- of whom there is only one -- rather, it means that at this point we see Christ as "that" mystery of our being which is truly one with God, one with the Father. Though we may equate this mystery with the unknown "true self," it basically goes beyond this. This specific revelation of Christ is not the revelation of God within (God as immanent), nor the realization of our oneness with God; rather, this revelation is over and beyond the unitive realization of oneness with God."
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BTW the blog in which I posted Bernadette Roberts' article is run by me and our moderator Thusness. It is a good interview that spoke of her contemplative journey and how she chanced upon Buddhism and found an experiential account by Buddha that corresponded to her experience. (She is still a Catholic however)
In Christian Mysticism, union and oneness with God (It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me - Galatians 2:16-20) is the first major achievement in the contemplative path. But what is special about Bernadette is that she also spoke of the "beyond union" as she experienced No-Self and that "the Christian revelation breaks through self to a revelation of our Resurrection in the Body of Christ and Ascension to our Heavenly estate beyond self".
Also, in Sunyata by A.H.Almaas, a Islamic Sufi Contemplative and also a Buddhist practitioner, wrote:
If love leads the devotee to the point of the extinction of personality in the fire of truth, awareness can lead him to the point of seeing that ego does not really exist, and hence achieve the same goal of selflessness. Love melts the lover into the ocean of truth, there remain no traces of an “I”. Awareness, on the other hand, cuts through the illusion of a separate identity. It exposes the lie of ego: that it exists as a reality. Love melts ego away, while awareness is like turning on the light and seeing that there is nobody there. The outcome is the same in both cases, but the flavor of the path is different. One is more emotional, the other more insightful. The vocabularies of the two paths differ as a result. The path of love seeks union with the Beloved, while the path of awareness seeks the seeing of naked Reality. Just as prayer is the central practice in the path of love, meditation is the central practice in the path of awareness... (continued in the URL)
and as I wrote before:
...when we're talking about the core of religions, it's the mystics/contemplatives that are the 'highest level' practitioners... who seek to understand the truth of their religions not just by belief, theories or even feelings/emotions (common religious seekers may have powerful life-changing experiences or encounters with the divine force/spirit, or miracles, but Spirit/God will always seem to be "separate" from the "seeker" until they realise union/its true nature) but by complete union with the true essence of god.
But for the mystics, its a direct experience of the UNION with the Divine Presence of God, or in Hinduism they call it the realisation of the (true) Self, which is a non-personal Self, its the true self, the God-self. "God-consciousness". It's a complete dissolving of any sense of individuality into God/true-Self, a sort of non-dual experience (but not the kind of non-duality in Buddhism) and realising the true identity of luminous pure consciousness as God....
And that, incidentally, is also known as Born of the Spirit. And also Born of Water: Water here means purification from, and crucifiction, of the old egoic identity. This 'sinful' (deviated from God) egoic identity cannot enter the kingdom of God and is crucified. And this, Jesus said, was the way to enter the kingdom of God.
John 3:5: Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."
There's another video related to mysticism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUNlpyfT2LU
Tomorrow's Spirituality
The Catholic theologian Karl Rahner famously said "the Christian of tomorrow will be a mystic, or not a Christian at all." Few people have impacted Christianity in this regard as has Fr. Thomas Keating. A Cistercian monk from St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado, Fr. Thomas has spent a lifetime in deep Christian practice, and in sharing the fruits of this contemplation with countless others. We were enormously blessed to host a dialogue with Fr. Thomas and Ken Wilber in April of 2006. In today's featured video, Ken presents some of the foundational concepts of Integral spirituality.
And also:
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This is also a good book:
Living Buddha, Living Christ (Paperback)
by Thich Nhat Hanh (Author)
Amazon.com Review
If you have always assumed that Christianity and Buddhism are as far apart philosophically as their respective founders were geographically, you may be in for a bit of a surprise. In this national bestseller, Zen monk and social activist Thich Nhat Hanh draws parallels between these two traditions that have them walking, hand in hand, down the same path to salvation. In Christianity, he finds mindfulness in the Holy Spirit as an agent of healing. In Buddhism, he finds unqualified love in the form of compassion for all living things. And in both he finds an emphasis on living practice and community spirit. The thread that binds the book is the same theme that draws many Christians toward Buddhism: mindfulness. Through anecdotes, scripture references, and teachings from both traditions, Nhat Hanh points out that mindfulness is an integral part of all religious practice and teaches us how to cultivate it in our own lives. Nhat Hanh has no desire to downplay the venerable theological and ritual teachings that distinguish Buddhism and Christianity, but he does cause one to consider that beyond the letter of doctrine lies a unity of truth.
From Library Journal
In this popular work Hahn, a Vietnamese Zen monk, offers some parallels between Eastern and Western spiritual practice in an accessible style that will please general readers.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. -
Updated my previous posts.
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Dear TS
Why do you feel the need to practise both at the same time?
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to the buddha.....every human is equal
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Originally posted by *=Optimus=*:
Greetings,
I would like to ask if it's possible for me to practice Buddhism while being a Catholic at the same time, even though there were some drastic diffference on both religion views on the idea of God.
Seek your kind advice on this issue.
Hi TS , be brave to continue whatever you wish to embark on
Its in the Buddhist sutra that a Brahman practise Buddhism for him to be a better person
Written in Flower Adornment Sutra
There is some Catholic practising meditation in Buddhist organisation , i wont want to name them
Religious fanaticism should not be a cause for worry , because Buddhism is in harmony with other religion
Go on . come and ask us question pertaining to Buddhism , we wont shut u out due to any "membership " issue :)
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Originally posted by *=Optimus=*:
Greetings,
I would like to ask if it's possible for me to practice Buddhism while being a Catholic at the same time, even though there were some drastic diffference on both religion views on the idea of God.
Seek your kind advice on this issue.
Hi
It is good that you like to practice buddhism.
But if one want to stay as catholic, it could means that his confidence on buddha's teaching is not that firm. So, when it comes to those part where christian and buddhism are totally different, you may not proceed further, and your progress will be hindered.
Anyway you can do it step by step, take your time to explore more on buddhism, we will try to answer your doubts. -
I read in the saturday ST that SGH CEO, although he is a christian, attended Ajahm brahm talks and meditate also. anyone no matter what religions they are, are free to practise and study buddhism and meditate.
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SGX not SGH lol
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one thing abt Buddhism is that it is not dogmatic and doctrinal. You are entitled to think, analyse and even question the teachings, and if you think it is not suitable for you, you are free to choose other religions. that is why it is one of the fastest growing faith in the world, and in Singapore.