In the first blog post of this series we compared and contrasted various principles and teachings of Buddhism versus Christianity, including: enlightenment, suffering, self-sacrifice, self-immolation, mindfulness and meditation, antisocialism, and psychopathy.
In the second blog post we looked at Buddhism’s 8-fold path, focus and concentration, effortless effort versus striving, dominion, faith, God’s faithful promises, power, bondages, slavery, and deliverance.
In the third blog post the approach that Buddhism takes to achieve mindfulness and meditation was compared with the approach that Christianity takes to achieve that.
In the fourth blog post of this series we covered karma, reincarnation, near death experiences, death and the afterlife, greater collective consciousness, selfishness, standard for goodness, the golden rule, Jesus and His mercy (undeserved forgiveness) and grace (undeserved favor), and we started looking at what Buddhism teaches about interconnectedness and God.
This next concept will undoubtedly be very controversial for many Christians, and it is rather complicated, but I will try to unpack it as simply as possible.
Quantum mechanics is a very real science as evidenced by quantum computers which are the most powerful computers in the world today. They run based on the math of quantum mechanics so even though some of the things quantum mechanics says are very hard to comprehend, we know that it is a legitimate science. The Bible says that God is light. Quantum mechanics literally shows through repeatable experiments that light is conscious of our awareness of it, and can change its location based on whether we are looking at it or not. Scientifically speaking we also know that electrons are the most basic unit of light and they are contained in all atoms. Therefore, it appears that God is light and God is literally in everything. Just let that sink in…
The Bible states that in God we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28), and that apart from Jesus we can do nothing (Jn. John 15:5). Furthermore, the placebo effect shows that the power of belief can literally heal our bodies and the placebo effect works for everyone, not just Christians. Like the Bible says, God “makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” (Matt. 5:45) But Christians have a more personal form of God in them (the Holy Spirit) and that is how amazing miracles can happen through their prayers.
Quantum mechanics actually proves that Buddhism is correct in teaching that everything is interconnected, because God has literally put Himself into everything, and that is probably how He knows everything. But God is not alive and working great miracles in non-Christians because they do not believe in Jesus, therefore they have not been given the Holy Spirit to work in and through them. The Holy Spirit is the One who does miracles through the Christians faith.
Buddhism teaches that everything is interconnected, and if God is in everything in the form of electrons then that would be true – and what an amazing truth they discovered many years before quantum mechanics found out the crazy awareness that light (God) has! But Buddhism does not teach that we can accept Jesus and have the Holy Spirit given to us so that we can have God in person living in us and working through us.
Buddhism teaches that things are impermanent and don't have any meaning, but that humans can give meaning to life through their interpretations. The first Buddha, Guatama, taught that everything that comes into existence will eventually pass away, and that life is a self-created illusion. However, Buddhism also teaches that emptiness includes everything, and that people can drop labels like "I" and "mine" to discover a deeper, freer experience. But if nothing has any inherent meaning, then life becomes meaningless and empty.
Christianity teaches that the ultimate meaning of life is to have a relationship with our Creator God and to learn to love God and other people. Life without love would be totally meaningless, and that can easily happen when a person follows the rules of Buddhism.
I practiced the 8-fold path and got rather good at it. I became so mindful and focused that nothing bothered me. You could slam on the wall right behind me to try to startle me and I would not even flinch. I was more chill than a cucumber. But I was also totally empty. I had no love inside me. To a Buddhist, love is just another attachment, other people and all their needs and drama are just unnecessary complications.
What makes religions like Buddhism so attractive is that they have very fancy spiritual ideas which are called half-truths. Someone seeking Buddhism is searching for spiritual truth, so these half-truths look appealing, but the problem is that at best they only lead to some wisdom and overall they lead to emptiness. They do not lead to life and life abundantly (Jn. 10:10). That is what Jesus leads to.
Buddhism claims that Karma is gained through good actions (such as following the 8-fold Path) and results in positive consequences, and bad actions result in negative consequences. If a person attains the right views and actions, and gains enough positivity without any negativity to hold them back, then they theoretically could achieve enlightenment. Enlightenment could be summarized as understanding and acting within the full realization of a person’s god-like potential.
But once a person achieves enlightenment, which supposedly many have, like the first Buddha (Guatama), then why don’t you see them walking around performing great miracles to help other people like Jesus did? Shouldn’t it be like in the Matrix when Neo realizes he’s in the Matrix and that he can do anything, he starts doing miraculous and impossible things? After all, if a person fully realizes their god-hood, shouldn’t they be able to perform miracles? Buddhists and other practitioners of eastern religions like Taoism will literally say that Jesus was just an enlightened person, therefore His way was just one of many ways to achieve enlightenment (interesting side note, Christianity was originally called “The Way” and Taoism literally means “The Way”).
But Jesus clearly said that He was the only way to the Father and to heaven, and He clearly taught that we are not God, but that He was and still is. He called us sheep and he called Himself the good Shepherd.
The fact that people who have purportedly reached enlightenment don’t walk around like Jesus did healing everyone and doing other miracles like turning water into wine is pretty strong evidence that believing in “enlightenment,” reincarnation, and seeing oneself as the creator God is the real illusion. If we are all just part of the greater consciousness, if we are all parts of the “Creator God,” then why can’t Buddhists perform miracles like Jesus did?
The reason is because Jesus is the Creator and He will not share His power with Buddhists in order to back up their false claims. He will however share His power with Christians and those who pray in His name. For great evidence for miracles, check out the books: The Case for Miracles, by Lee Strobel and Miracles Today, by Craig Keener. Also keep in mind that thousands upon thousands of miracles have been recorded over history, many even verified by modern medicine, and by the very definition of a miracle, which is an event that is impossible in the natural realm – if only 1 miracle has ever happened then we can know without a doubt that God exists.
The best thing that I have ever done in my life is to search for God with all my heart, because even though I was stubborn and for many years did not accept Him, finding Jesus has been the best thing that could have ever happened to me and my family. I pray that you find Him too.
