Buddhism

In a chanting book received from a Thai Buddhist temple there is a section entitled “The Five Subjects for Frequent Recollection”. Four of these concern suffering, especially emphasising that the chanter has not “gone beyond” suffering. The fifth subject is kamma (karma) and it is implied that if one is to “go beyond” and attain […]

In a chanting book received from a Thai Buddhist temple there is a section entitled “The Five Subjects for Frequent Recollection”. The first four of these concern suffering and the fifth, clearly related, concerns kamma (karma). The four concerning suffering are as follows:
I am of the nature to age (or decay),
I have not gone beyond […]

In a chanting book received from a Thai Buddhist temple is a section entitled Going for Refuge. The monk chants three times that he goes to the Buddha for refuge, to the Dhamma for refuge and to the Sangha for refuge. Then he chants:
Pay homage to the Buddha; this will bring great power.
Pay homage to […]

In a chanting book received from a Thai Buddhist temple there is a section of salutations to the triple gem, the three refuges: the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. The “Salutation to the Sangha” is translated from the Thai as follows”
Of good conduct is the Order of the Disciples of the Blessed One.
Of upright […]

In a chanting book used by monks in a Thai Buddhist temple is a section of salutation to the triple gems or three refuges. The Salutation to the Dhamma is translated as follows:
Well-expounded is the Dhamma by
the Blessed One, to be self-realised;
to be but approached to be seen;
capable of being entered upon; to be
attained by […]

In the chanting book I received from a Thai Buddhist temple the first section, “Pay Homage to the Triple Gem”, is followed by “Salutation to the Buddha”. The translation from the Thai reads as follows:
Such indeed is the Blessed One,
exalted, omniscient, endowed with
knowledge and virtues. Gone beyond,
knower of the worlds, a guide
imcomparable for the
training of individuals. […]

I took a group to a Buddhist temple on Saturday. I was kindly given a copy of the chanting sheets used by the monks and lay devotees, translated from the Thai. The first section is entitled “Pay Homage to the Triple Gem”. This is followed by salutations to each of these “gems”, also called the […]

When Buddhist conceptions of Christ are positive they are typically highly mystical. So, having just described the hallowed presence of the Buddha, Thich Nhat Hanh continues,
When a sage is present and you sit near him or her, you feel peace and light. If you were to sit close to Jesus and look into His eyes […]

The Dalai Lama stretches to the limit the idea that everything has a cause, observing that the Buddhist Scriptures
do not assert an independent creator of the universe. Assertions of an independent self or an independent creator contradict the presentation that things arise merely in dependence on their causes (Joy of Living, 166; my boldfacing).
This Buddhist […]

Prolific and highly influential Buddhist scholar Thich Nhat Hanh illustrates one of the barriers that prevent Buddhists from believing Christ, namely the pre-conception that the Buddha is the ideal model and all others models must be assimilated to it. He assimilates Christ in this way so that Jesus ends up being but another expression of the […]