CATHOLICISM AND BUDDHISM FUNDAMENTALLY DISAGREE
Catholicism has these differences with Buddhism.
Catholicism says
God exists. Loving God matters most of all and it is a sin not to see this God
is irrelevant
Buddhism says
If he does then he is not much of a God and needs enlightenment the same as we
do. A God that needs wisdom, by definition, is not an all-powerful being and not
God. He does not matter.
Catholicism says
Suffering is holy when we offer it up to God
Buddhism says
Suffering is worthless - we devote everything to eliminating it. When we see
suffering as useless, we gain the purpose of combating it. We do not need to see
our suffering as useful to endure it.
Catholicism says
We meditate on the presence and nature of God
Buddhism says
We empty our minds even of God and especially of God for we must save ourselves
Catholicism says
The sins we commit on earth reduce the happiness we will enjoy in Heaven
Buddhism says
We want to be like the God as imagined by the Christians. We want to reach a
state of consciousness where we feel we are perfect and all-powerful and eternal
(note - it is not necessary to be really all-powerful). The Christians say God
enjoys that but we believe any human being can enjoy it.
Buddhism believes in living in the present rather than repenting your sins. That
would be focusing on the past. And God does not matter.
Catholicism says
Buddha claimed to have a strange experience in which he discovered the truth and
became enlightened. Buddha had a strange experience that misled him so he was
not the enlightened one.
Buddhism says
Buddha discovered the only truth that matters. The truth was already in him and
he just needed to see it. He did not get any revelation from a God. Nobody, not
even God, really can reveal to you the only truth that matters.
Catholicism says
Repentance, primarily motivated by love of God rather than the people hurt, is a
major theme in Christianity.
Buddhism says
We believe in living in the present rather than repenting your sins. That would
be focusing on the past. And God does not matter.
Catholicism says
God will quarantine evil away from the saints in Heaven so that they will
rejoice forever and ever
Buddhism says
It is better not to exist forever as there is a risk of being hurt. God may be
preventing that risk but it is still there. It is better to wish your loved ones
will go out of existence at death. There is something awry about wishing they
would live on forever when there is a chance they might be hurt.
BOOKS CONSULTED
AN INTRODUCTION TO ASIAN RELIGIONS, E G Parrinder, SPCK, London, 1957
BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY, J Estlin Carpenter, Hodder & Stoughton, London
(undated)
BUDDHISM FROM A CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE, Paul M Williams, Catholic Truth Society,
London, 2006
BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES, Translated by Edward Conze, Penguin, London, 1980
BUDDHIST THOUGHT IN INDIA, Ann Arbor Paperbacks, Michigan, 1962
CHRISTIANITY FOR THE TOUGH-MINDED, John Warwick Montgomery Editor, Bethany
Fellowship, Minnesota, 1973
CONCISE GUIDE TO TODAY’S RELIGIONS, Josh McDowell and Don Stewart, Scripture
Press, Bucks, 1992
GREAT TREASURY OF MERIT, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Tharpa Publications, London, 1992
INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Tharpa Publications, 1995
RELIGIONS OF JAPAN, H Byron Earhart, Harper and Row, San Francisco, 1984
THE CASE AGAINST GOD, Gerald Priestland, Collins, Fount Paperbacks, London, 1984
THE SPIRIT OF BUDDHISM, David Burnett, Monarch Books, London, 2003
THE WORLD’S RELIGIONS, Lion, Herts, 1982
UNIVERSAL COMPASSION, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Tharpa Publications, London 1993
WHAT THE BUDDHA TAUGHT Walpola Sri Rahula, Oneworld Publications, Oxford, 2006 –
Truly the best explanation of Buddhism possible
WHY I AM A BUDDHIST, No Nonsense Buddhism for Modern Living, Stephen T Asma,
Watkins, London, 2011 - sadly maligned but wonderful book, a gem!
