Ever since I first started looking into what Buddhism is, I’ve been fascinated by it. In the last month especially, this fascination has grown rapidly as I started to practice meditation and mindfulness. I’ve already seen tangible improvements in my life, so this practice will continue as far as I’m concerned.
The object is raised, however: “Josh, you seem to be so against religion, especially Christianity. What is it about Buddhism that draws it to you?”
Well, there are several things about it. Let me explain.
First, when Buddhists say ‘test everything, and only believe in what you feel is true’ they actually believe it, unlike Christians who say the words and don’t really mean it. Don’t believe in karma? That’s ok! Don’t believe in reincarnation? That’s ok, too! Don’t want to chant to the white tara? That’s perfectly acceptable. Don’t believe that meditating on the suffering of others will do anything to actually improve the suffering of others? No problem.
Christians may have a hard time understanding just what this means. Basically, imagine someone walking into church and going ‘well, I don’t believe Jesus was the son of god, but he said some rather interesting things.’ Or ‘I don’t think god exists, but I like some of the moral precepts laid out in the bible.’ Is there any church that would accept this sort of thing without trying to completely convert them? Perhaps some unitarians.
Why is this important? Because I’m a scientist. I don’t want to follow some dogma. I want to discover reality as it really is. There is empirical evidence that certain types of meditation lead to tangible improvements. I’ve been able to confirm this through my own experimentation.
The second draw to Buddhism is that I see it as a way to hack your brain. I’m not going to say much more about that here.
There is a much more fundamental philosophical difference that draws me to Buddhism, and it stands in stark contrast to the philosophical basis for Christianity.
In Christianity, humans are fallible, and must be saved from on high. They have an external source for improvement.
Buddhists, on the other hand, understand that humans can improve themselves. Within each and every one of us is the potential for greater understanding, compassion, and enlightenment. Within you is the Buddha nature.
That’s a powerful idea, and one that I agree with completely. Not only that, but I think it’s a much healthier outlook on life than the self-loathing inherent in Christianity.
There is so much more that could be said on this topic and has been said. As always, this is just the way I see it.