Keep Sight Of The Truth
You've probably heard about, or seen, the Buddhist monks that are walking from their home temple in Fort Worth, Texas through several state capitals in order to promote peace. While this sounds like an admirable journey, as Christians, how should we respond or think about this?
First, what is a Buddhist? For Buddhists the ultimate goal is liberation from the cycle of suffering, rebirth (samsara), and the causes of suffering (greed, hatred, and delusion). This liberation is called Nirvana. If one can achieve nirvana, they have finally conquered this life. When a person reaches nirvana (either on earth, which is rare, or at the point of death) they are free from all mental "defilements" as well as the cycle of reincarnation for rebirth and suffering.
On the surface, anyone promoting peace and harmony and compassion appears noble because these principles aren't inherently destructive. They typically allow human flourishing.
Compassion and kindness are similar to Jesus' teachings, as well as mindfulness and forgiveness.
However there are major differences in how we think about who we are as people. Buddhists believe that one can work for and achieve self-liberation from what Christians call sin by meditation and moral living. In essence, it is a works-based "salvation." If you are just good enough, you can be the best version of yourself.
The Bible (Jesus, the apostles, etc.) do not teach this. In fact, Christianity says the opposite. There is no one who is ever completely good nor will be completely good on this life, other than Jesus. And we can find inner peace, but only through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. And our biggest need, forgiveness of sins, can't be achieved on our own, but has to be achieved by God himself, which he has done through Christ.
So, while we may be tempted applaud the monks' effort, in reality, their effort is not much different than any other man-made religion or system of morals. Good things can come of it, but it won't lead you to salvation and won't get you into Heaven. Pray for these monks as they travel the U.S. that some brave Christians will lovingly share with them the true good news. I'm sure many have never heard it.
