On Jesus and Buddha, Part I

Huston Smith, in his book The World's Religions,writes that only two men in human history have ever been asked the question, "What are you?" instead of "Who are you?" These two men are Jesus and Buddha. This similarity is rather sensational, to say the least; however, I find the differences between the two even more astounding. Siddharta Gautama (a.k.a. "Buddha") was born to nobility, Jesus to peasantry. Buddha married and fathered children; Jesus did neither. Buddha achieved "enlightenment" via a 59-day meditation session beneath a lotus tree after a six-year quest for truth; Jesus knew and proclaimed His God-hood even as a 12-year-old child. Buddha died of an illness after leading a reasonably long and fulfilled life, it seems. Jesus was cut down in the prime of life, quite possible suffering the most excruciating method of criminal execution ever devised. Buddha was quite wealthy; Jesus was homeless. Throughout his entire life Buddha rejected a divine personaity; Jesus not only claimed divinity but also demanded exclusivity in it.

Jesus is a ragamuffin. His message demands that I admit that I am a vile, helpless creature. Jesus never taught that all life was suffering; He simply suffered. He calls me to follow Him ... to the cross. God, who can bear it? I cannot. If I had to choose, I think I would have chosen Buddha. His way is easier, but he leaves out the very point Jesus spent His entire life proving...

...God loves me.

A Raw Christian...

Christianity is a hard pill to swallow sometimes. Why is it so difficult to believe in a good God who loves mankind? I suppose it's hard because if God is good and the world is rotten, then mankind must have the ones who messed it up. On top of that, Christian faith demands that I accept the fact that there is nothing I can do to make myself better. Oh, I suppose that I can do good deeds and help others, but none of them ever do any good toward making me a less angry person or more understanding of people and cultures who are different than me. How am I supposed to love my enemies when I have trouble enough showing genuine love to my girlfriend? Jesus claims to be the ONLY way to God -- at times this seems so narrow-minded. Everyone knows people who act like they have a corner on truth, and we christen them with labels like "arrogant" and "bigot." The only thing that separates Jesus from them is that He is God; if that's true, then I suppose He is justified in claiming anything.

I'm an unabashed follower of Jesus. His teachings are true ... they must be. But it's hard to believe them sometimes, and it's hard to live them all the time.