InLikeFlynn,
You’re OP asked what happens to Christians if Buddhism is right, not what happens to Buddhists if Christians are right, but let me address what I think you’re trying to get at.
You’re assuming that all religions claim an exclusive pipeline to salvation or heaven. This is already a flawed assumption. This tendency is strong in some forms of Christianity and Islam, but (as has been pointed out), not all Christians believe that, and it’s really not a part of Buddhism at all. The Buddhist teaching is that all Christians will go to “Heaven” eventually, but it may take many lifetimes (and not necessarily any more lifetimes than a Buddhist). Christianity is not an ipso facto obstacle to enlightenment. Jesus is himself, is regarded by many Buddhists as an enlightened individual, so you could say that ther is a Buddha in Christian heaven. There are all kinds of beliefs in Buddhism, but specific belief does not contain the risk or the consequences that it does in a lot of Christianity.
Here’s what the Dalai Lama has to say about belief:
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by InLikeFlynn *
**O.K.! I have to learn that Dopers can’t read between the lines!
And love to Hi-Jack! Let’s try it this way!
Would a Buddist monk get into heaven?
A plain and simple answer: nobody really knows.
Based upon my own experience, he would go to the afterlife that is appropriate for his set of beliefs. Is that the same as the Christian version of heaven? Again, I don’t know. My guess is that it’s not.
As for reading between the lines, you seem to be trying to coax an answer out of us that will show the foolishness of “organized religion” as you put it in the OP.
I know “Buddha” is a title, but it seems logically an inconsistant one for a figure to have in heaven, whether a Christian one or otherwise – but particularly a Christian one.
If Jesus is a Buddha he ought not to be hanging out in heaven, enjoying eternal bliss at the right hand of God, but either comming back as a Bhodhisatva to help us, or moving on to the not-existence of Nirvana …
The basic shorthand answer is that a Buddha is a being that has reached complete enlightenment and entered the state of nibbana. A Bodhisattva (the word is derived from the Sanskrit words bodhi, “enlightenment,” and sattva, “essence”) is a being that has reached an advanced stage of enlightenment and is ready to attain nibbana, but who has selflessly chosen to stay and help other beings to reach enlightenment also.
Bear in mind that this is an incomplete and very sketchy explanation. A fuller explanation would require me to write a book.
I’m sorry for the hostility vented after the “ZEN Hijack” but, the hypothesize was meant to be interpreted with a “vice versa” alternative.
I meant for Buddhism and Christianity to be swapped with any other formal religion to make my point.
Furthermore “I try not to Diss Any Religion”. Freedom of religion makes it to the top this countries “top ten list” every single time. Hi Jacking however does piss me off! My ignorance of Buddhism caused the terrible analogy at the cost of (what I thought) was a catchy little thread tittle! Peace to all offended!
I even ended up getting some great insight, although I had to wait untill the flight safely landed somewhere in China!
