Human Beings and Buddhism

¶ … Origin

Jesus said that God created human beings (Matt. 19:4) and they should worship and obey Him wholly and also love their neighbors, much as they love themselves (Matt. 22: 37-39). He also taught that human beings have immaterial souls that live on after one dies and that these souls will be reunited with bodies on the day of resurrection (Matt: 12: 26-27; John 5:28-29). Interestingly, Jesus termed human beings as spiritually "lost" (Luke 19:10) and also corrupt (Matt. 9:13; Mark 7:21-23) (Douglas R. Groothuis 2003).

Buddha did not speculate about the origins of humans. His focus was the existing human condition with emphasis on suffering occasioned by having unfulfilled wants and desires. His teachings asserted that humans cannot satisfy the needs of their souls as they do not have souls to begin with. Similar to a chariot that lacks essence and is just a composition of individual components and parts, human beings are also a composition of states or parts referred to as skandas (Douglas R. Groothuis 2003).

2. Question of Identity

Western civilization today tends to place great value and importance on things like equality, state of the environment, human rights, freedom and reason and this line of thinking might lead to less emphasis on the value of human life thereby devaluing it. Events like the Russian and French revolutions, as well as eco-fascism, peace fascism and eco-fascism are examples of thinking patterns that can place prominence of other things over human life. A parallel can be drawn between such thinking to the Christina Inquisition that happened in the Middle Ages. Importance of these campaigns and paradigms extend beyond religious boundaries and pervade our thinking habits, mostly unconsciously (Mikio Matsuoka 2005).

While Buddhism rejects the existence of a soul, the teachings of the Bible reveal that human being possesses a soul that will live eternally and the soul forms the essential identity of the person. This would imply that you don't actually have soul -- you're a soul. And because you're a soul, you have a body. Philosophers from various ages have agreed to the existence of a soul. Plato is one of them. As Jesus taught, the soul lives on for eternity and for one to see God's kingdom, they must be "born again" (Paul Dooley 2014).

3. Question of Purpose

Nothingness is where all nature is grounded and negation is really where the truth about existence lies. So, if one wishes to attain a significantly higher state and exit the layout that is influenced by constantly changing conditions and phenomena, they should rid themselves of their attachments to substances of this world. Early Buddhist teachings are proponents of this idea and push for man to emancipate himself from various factors from which they draw desire such birth illusion (Mikio Matsuoka 2005). Jesus asserted that God exists and that He was an amoral and personal God who was both involved in and wielded power over history. "Our Father who is in heaven," he instructed his disciples how to pray (Matt. 6:9 nasb). He didn't argue against Jewish monotheism but instead affirmed it (Matt 5-7) (Douglas R. Groothuis 2003).

4. Question of Morality

Dependent origination, as pushed by Buddhist teachings, is a principle that appreciates an interconnectivity of things that makes all dichotomies redundant. There is absolute good and not just good and its opposite, evil. Were the principle even involved passively in human life, the existence of humans would be enveloped by absolute good. There won't be any reason for humans to pursue the attainment of this order. Since human beings actually have to actively pursue it, it means that good and its opposite, evil, are things that humans have to battle with (Mikio Matsuoka 2005). There is a moral system called karma in Buddhism where bad past actions can cause present or future suffering. In practicing self-discipline, meditation and mental training, Buddhists believe that they can avoid suffering and pain (Scott A. Mitchell 2012).

Both Christ and Buddha stressed the importance of implementing their teachings upon their followers. Just intellectually understanding the teachings, and not doing anything with them would not yield into much. In practicing morality, people can cleanse their hearts and attain a space of love and liberate themselves from sorrow. Buddha points to this being more important than merely speculating about God's nature and the beginning and end of the world. Christ taught that God loved humans while Buddha totally refused to speculate about God's nature. This refusal to speculate about God's nature does not mean that Buddha was an atheist (Paul Dooley, 2014).

5. Question of Destiny