thoughts on jesus

[delf7]

as a newcomer to buddha's teachings and "former" christian (still sorting out things here), just curious as to what the general take on jesus is among buddhists. i'm not looking for "christian bashing" as i know buddhism is very tolerant of other religions, plus, i heard plenty of that when i was (i think) a christian.
thanx for the info.

[Fede]

An awful lot of Buddhists are ex-Christians, so there'll be a heady mix of responses.

I would classify myself as a 'nontheist': I really don't think it matters one way or another. Jesus (if he existed) is to some, a Boddhisattva.
I am sceptic whether the man, as we have come to know of him, actually existed at all.
I also don't think it is of sufficient relevance to me to ponder the question one way or the other.
But for those who do, then I wish them well.
Whatever floats their boat.

[plwk]

This should give you an idea....proceed with 'caution'...

[Nicro]

There is no official spokesperson for Buddhist, so everything people say is just personal opinion.

I think Jesus probably was a real person. Seems like a good guy, he tried to teach morality.

[Modus.Ponens]

Jesus, imo, was probably a practicioner of samadhi. I heard once on tv that there was, in India, a record of someone named Isa (Jesus in aramaic). This someone was a great master. Considering the time he lived in, and the cultural background, it makes sense that his teachings are the way they are.

So, basicaly, he was a good man with mastery over samadhi.

[mikenz66]

To the extent that a religion proposes sound ethical principles and can promote to some degree the development of wholesome qualities such as love, generosity, detachment and compassion, it will merit in this respect the approbation of Buddhists. ...
Tolerance and Diversity by Bhikkhu Bodhi
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... ay_24.html

Mike

[Mawkish1983]

I don't care one way or another.

[Claudia]

To me, Jesus seemed to be a great teacher - especially in loving kindness.

[Ben]

Greetings delf7,

Other people's "take" on Jesus isn't important. What is important is engaging in sila (moral/ethical conduct), developing samadhi (concentration/self mastery) and the development of panna (wisdom/insight). If Jesus is an inspirational figure for you - well and good.
kind regards,

Ben

[chownah]

To borrow a line from Arthur Reid Reynolds, "Jesus is just alright with me."

Also, My first thought about Jesus is that he, just like the Buddha, is dead.

chownah

[bodom]

To the extent that a religion proposes sound ethical principles and can promote to some degree the development of wholesome qualities such as love, generosity, detachment and compassion, it will merit in this respect the approbation of Buddhists. ...
Tolerance and Diversity by Bhikkhu Bodhi
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... ay_24.html

Mike

Questions and Answers with Ajahn Chah

Q: Then is Buddhism much different from other religions?

A: It is the business of genuine religions, including Buddhism, to bring people to the happiness that comes from clearly and honestly seeing how things are. Whenever any religion or system or practice accomplishes this, you can call that Buddhism, if you like.

In the Christian religion, for example, one of the most important holidays is Christmas. A group of the Western monks decided last year to make a special day of Christmas, with a ceremony of gift-giving and merit-making. Various other disciples of mine questioned this, saying, "If they're ordained as Buddhists, how can they celebrate Christmas? Isn't this a Christian holiday?"

In my Dharma talk, I explained how all people in the world are fundamentally the same. Calling them Europeans, Americans, or Thais just indicates where they were born or the color of their hair, but they all have basically the same kind of minds and bodies; all belong to the same family of people being born, growing old, and dying. When you understand this, differences become unimportant. Similarly, if Christmas is an occasion where people make a particular effort to do what is good and kind and helpful to others in some way, that's important and wonderful, no matter what system you use to describe it.

So I told the villagers, 'Today we'll call this Chrisbuddhamas. As long as people are practicing properly, they're practicing Christ-Buddhism, and things are

I teach this way to enable people to let go of their attachments to various concepts and to see what is happening in a straightforward and natural way. Anything that inspires us to see what is true and do what is good is proper practice. You may call it anything you like.

http://www.dhammatalks.net/Books2/Ajahn ... t_Pool.htm

[m0rl0ck]

My personal thots on him are that he was a possibly historical early jewish teacher. I generally admire his teachings and wish his professed followers had more respect for them. I find the symbolic ritual cannabalism of organized christianity kind of creepy, otherwise i guess i dont think much about him.

This is fun tho

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

I don't care one way or another.

+1

Though I saw this recently, and it brought a wry smile...



Metta,
Retro.

[Stig]

Book of Q

[delf7]

thanx for the answers. i was just curious. i had been gradually falling away from christianity in the past several years because it just wasn't making any sence to me anymore. as i studied it more & more, the less & less comfortable i became with it. it just didn't seem "right". i finally fell away for good when i asked myself if i truely "believed" & i could not answer "yes, 100%" anymore.
i am still a little confused as to who (or IF) jesus actually was, and i doubt i'll ever know. well, maybe someday.

[Alexei]

i am still a little confused as to who (or IF) jesus actually was

"The Son of Man", one of the many Judaic teachers of that time. Like John the Baptist or Essenes.

But they just didn't gain such incredible world-wide popularity.


By the way John the Baptist was a pretty famous figure and there was a lot of people who believed that he had resurrected. In the from of Jesus (!).

And it seems resurrection was a common event at that time :)

King Herod heard this, for his name had become known, and he said, "John the Baptizer has risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him." But others said, "He is Elijah." Others said, "He is a prophet, or like one of the prophets." (Mark 6:14)
At that time, Herod the tetrarch heard the report concerning Jesus, and said to his servants, "This is John the Baptizer. He is risen from the dead. That is why these powers work in him." (Matthew 14:1)
Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" They said, "Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." (Matthew 16:13)

[Tex]

Greetings,

I don't care one way or another.

+1

Though I saw this recently, and it brought a wry smile...



Metta,
Retro.

That's tremendous.

[unspoken]

Through what I understand, I just take up possibility to understand more about Jesus Christ

So what I think Jesus is actually, a man whos past life was a celestial being who lived in the realm of Brahma( the rebirth realm is something like what you will reborn to, human,animals,bugs etc. But Brahma realm is a realm that is almost the top of the form realm) So what happened is, the Brahma is not a omnipotent omniscient being. But he is the king of his kingdom, the people ruled by him do have powers that a celestial beings should have in there. And when Jesus rebirth, due to his lacking of remembering his past life, he was only able to recall some memories. God, what we called Brahma is the king who rule his kingdom in heaven, those who do good will be there and stuffs like that, is mentioned by Jesus. But ofcourse, since Jesus was previously a celestial being, he too had abilities or 'powers' that actually still remained in him. Jesus is not a buddha, not one who freed from all defilements, so there's a catch when he preach and teach people to do good and behave well. During that time, the 'dark ages' where people behaving badly, those people do not have much wisdom in them, so Jesus had to used a metaphoric way to teach folks the way to behave, to do good, how to be free from problems. But since folks that time are not wise enough, the interpretation is not accurate, they pass down verbally from one person to another until the day paper invented. The bible written by the people is not 100% accurate to what Jesus taught. And we do not know did Jesus said he die for our sins, or maybe the people 'think' he is doing that for them. I not sure whether Jesus resurrect or resurrect in their heart. And I not sure did he said something about the coming prophet, there comes an extremist who called M of I said he is the last prophet. He initially invert everyone gently, but after that when he started to brainwash people, he got more power. So what he did, he started this new religion and slaughtered massive Jews, he claims the words he spoke is the word of God. There goes the long chain of suffering introduced by a man's delusion, followed by the followers' stupidity.

If there's something that you do not agree, can just quote it up. That is what I presume. Not 100% accurate. And this do not represent all the buddhists' word

[Blind Summit]

i had been gradually falling away from christianity in the past several years because it just wasn't making any sence to me anymore.

For me Christianity only started to make sense once I studied Gnosticism. I firmly believe that the Christianity of the Church differs significantly from the Christianity of Christ.
Just my opinion...

[Kim OHara]

I firmly believe that the Christianity of the Church differs significantly from the Christianity of Christ.
Just my opinion...

We could say, equally truthfully, that the institutional Buddhism of modern Buddhist countries differs significantly from the Buddhism of the Buddha.
And perhaps some of us would say that Buddhism only started to make sense once we studied the suttas.


Kim