Not One, Not Two: Being A Christian Buddhist, Part 2

Not One, Not Two:

Being a Christian Buddhist(Continued)

Comparison of the Ten Commandments and the Ten Lay Precepts

In two churches I have attended, I have had the pleasure of leading adult classes about Christianity and Buddhism. In those classes we have spent much of the time comparing the Ten Lay Precepts and the Ten Commandments.

According to the versions below, the commandments and precepts correspond in this manner ( I will explain the less obvious ones) :

Commandments---------Precepts
1--------- 10
2--------- 7
3--------- 10
4--------- 10
5--------- 6
6--------- 1
7--------- 3
8--------- 2
9--------- 4, 6, & 9
10 8

The Ten Commandments

1^st: Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2^nd: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them…
3^rd: Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
4^th: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy…
5^th: Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
6^th: Thou shalt not kill.
7^th: Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8^th: Thou shalt not steal.
9^th: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10^th: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's. The Ten Lay Precepts 1. A disciple of Buddha does not kill but rather cultivates and encourages life.
2. A disciple of Buddha does not take what is not given but rather cultivates and encourages generosity.
3. A disciple of Buddha does not misuse sexuality but rather cultivates and encourages open and honest relationships.
4. A disciple of Buddha does not lie but rather cultivates and encourages truthful communication.
5. A disciple of Buddha does not intoxicate self or others but rather cultivates and encourages clarity.
6. A disciple of Buddha does not slander others but rather cultivates and encourages respectful speech.
7. A disciple of Buddha does not praise self at the expense of others but rather cultivates and encourages self and others to abide in their awakened nature.
8. A disciple of Buddha is not possessive of anything but rather cultivates and encourages mutual support.
9. A disciple of Buddha does not harbor ill-will but rather cultivates and encourages loving-kindness and understanding.
10. A disciple of Buddha does not abuse the Three Treasures but rather cultivates and encourages awakening, the path and teaching of awakening and the community that takes refuge in awakening. The Precepts are phrased positively here, but most versions are negative as the Commandments above.

As you see the above commandments one, three, and four correspond with precept ten because that precept takes care of the respect for the faith itself. Many would say that Buddhist practice and especially devotion breaks the first two commandments. If you don’t see the two ideals as different, as the "god" the same, then there is no difficulty. In his book R.H. Blyth also quotes this verse from Exodus, "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." He follows this quote with the Zen saying, "If there is the slightest trace of this and that, the mind is lost in a maze of complexity." He indicates that this separation of worship of one God and another is false. His comments reflect that Zen is also a kind of monotheism and the "maze of complexity" is polytheism. I believe Blyth is pointing out that these two faiths in essence are "worshipping the same god," so to speak.

During the dialogues at Naropa, Eido Roshi, a Japanese Zen master, expressed the danger of taking Buddha’s name in vain. That is saying the word "buddha" without really knowing what it is.

In the Zen tradition it is said that if you utter the word "buddha," wash your mouth; if you utter the word "enlightenment," wipe your lips. If you speak about doctrine, you are not a good Zen teacher. Two corresponds to seven because this precept also addresses the avoidance of personal abuses of attachment or egoism in regards to spirituality. Five and six are about respecting all beings.

The ninth commandment is related to the fourth, sixth and ninth precept because each of these address not doing harm to others through speech and action.

The fifth precept is the only one that does not have a counterpart in the Commandments. This is in fact one of the most difficult precepts to keep because not only western, but also eastern society encourages one to drink due to cultural norms.

The interesting thing about this study was that many in the group felt they preferred the Buddhist way of stating the rules for living your life. When you consider the seventh commandment and compare it to the third precept, the precept is much more complete. The commandment is only an example while the precept is a whole area of sin. If you also look at the ninth commandment, for example, you will see that the fourth precept is also more thorough prohibition of not just avoiding lying to your neighbor, but to anyone. Of course with both of these the Bible or Christian writings certainly say to act in this considerate way, but in this instance it is not shown so clearly.

Examining the Precepts and the Commandments shows both the differences between the two religions, and their similarity at the same time.

As I mentioned above, I have brought Christianity and Buddhism together in my spirituality. My method is just one way of doing so. The actual way it is done is probably slightly different for each person.

One of the concepts I addressed quickly is panentheism. This is the belief God is not separate from you. This is different from there being a God for each thing. It is the same God in all things. Matthew Fox has written that this development of belief in God is growing up from the idea of God as separate and "up there."

Jesus and Shakyamuni Buddha have become, for me, two great teachers, who reached the highest spiritual level possible in one’s life. To equate this level of realization with Buddhism, one must see that all beings have such potential. R.H. Blyth quotes the Christian mystic John of Ruysbroeck, to point out this potential.

God is a common light and splendour, enlightening heaven and earth, and every man each according to his need and worth. This he compares to the buddha-nature within each of us. There cannot be another person or being that is higher or separate from you, ultimately.

To follow both faiths, you must also adopt the rules of both of them. I have examined the Commandments and the Precepts, and I find they don’t conflict.

I consider Christianity to be the religion of my youth and culture. Buddhism has become my practice as I have become an adult and has influenced my conduct as an adult. Both of them are part of who I am. I cannot give up the way both of them speak to me. Thich Nhat Hanh once commented, regarding families in which the parents are

of two religions, that their children have two roots because they have "both the Buddha and Jesus within their life."

Making these faiths one in yourself, requires examining the ideas and beliefs of both and redefining them, or you could say internalizing them. Making the ideas true to yourself can bring these faiths together easily. However I have heard of Christian Buddhists who have conflicting beliefs. One of them is on a list-serve, which I manage, where we discuss the idea of being a Christian and a Buddhist.

I think if I am willing to allow for contradiction in my beliefs I am not compromising anything. There are definitely, IMHO[in my humble opinion], differences between the two, but if I allow these differences and realize that the language of each is just a finger pointing to the moon (not the moon itself), I believe that I can embody both traditions. Logically, it doesn't make sense that a person can hold two contradictory opinions at once, but I think it is possible if we do not try to 'hold' on to them too hard( and insist that 'this' or 'that' in particular is the 'Truth'). There is some controversy regarding those who practice both religions. Some people certainly say that you can’t practice two religions. Well, strictly speaking I don’t think of myself as doing so. I believe I have made them the same in my own practice. For others they exist as separate, which is fine. I believe I am digging the "same hole." By delving into both I actually verify the validity of each by their commonalities.

The future of Christian Buddhists

I believe that the population of Christian Buddhists will continue to grow. People are just beginning to realize that it is a valid identification. The real truth is that one’s religion cannot really be defined because it is so individual. Christian Buddhist is a convenient label to work with until there are no labels. I hope the term can empower people, instead of their guilt about enjoying other practices might.

I doubt that there will someday be a church in the U.S. that is specifically for Christian Buddhists. There are certainly some churches that acknowledge and support members who are open to other faiths. There are also Buddhist organizations which support practitioners examining the faith they were born with. There are also Unitarian Universalists who are perhaps the closest to such a church. UU may be the closest thing to having no label.

However people often need to attend services at both a church and a temple. For myself I find that a church service can cause me to feel "at home" since it has been so much a part of my life. By the same token a group meditation or Buddhist ceremony can inspire me to deepen my practice and faith. For me to practice only Buddhism or Christianity would be denying part of who I am and have become.

Jack Engler, who was raised Christian but had later converted to Buddhism, participated in a dialogue between Christians and Buddhists in which everyone participated in services together. He found that Christianity had not stopped being relevant for him.

So I went up and took communion. And when I came back to my seat I realized that something had been disconnected in me twenty years ago was reconnected. It was a profound moment of healing, of something coming back together again.
Bibliography

(in order cited)

Thich Nhat Hanh , Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers, Riverhead Books: New York, 1999

Joseph J. Spae, C.I.C.M., Buddhist-Christian Empathy, The Chicago Institute of Theology and Culture: Chicago, IL 1980

Susan Walker, Ed., Speaking of Silence, Paulist Press: New York, 1987

King James Bible, http://www.genesis.net.au/~bible/

R.H. Blyth, Buddhist Sermons on Christian Texts, Heian International Publishing Company: South San Francisco, CA, 1970

Matthew Fox, Wrestling with the Prophets, Harper San Francisco: San Francisco, CA 1995

Sue Woodruff, Meditations with Mechtild of Magdeburg,

Marcus Borg, Meeting Jesus again for the First Time, Harper San Francisco: San Francisco, CA 1994

Dom Aelred Graham, Conversations: Christian and Buddhist, Encounters in Japan, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich: New York, 1968

D.T. Suzuki , Manual of Zen Buddhism, Eastern Buddhist Society: Kyoto, Japan, 1935

San Francisco Zen Center, http://www.sfzc.org/Pages/ethics/ethics05.html

e Groups List-serve, "christian-buddhist" on http://www.egroups.com/,

Back to "Writings"

HOME