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Budda Book Review Essay Research Paper Book

Budda Book Review Essay, Research Paper


Book Review: Living Buddha, Living Christ


Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh is a


book that converges the ideas of Christianity and Buddhism.


I chose to analyze this book because I am Christian, and in


class I have observed similarities and differences between


the two religions. Growing up Catholic I did not always


agree with what I was taught or how I was supposed to look


at Jesus and God. I always had a guilty conscience, because


I am a sinner and Jesus died for me, and all other sinners.


There is pressure put on Catholics to live this high


standard that God has set for them to be allowed into


Heaven. Catholicism is a very strict and rigid religion.


Everything is carved in stone, cut and dry, black and white,


and no questions are to be asked. If one lives life as a


sinner and does not seek forgiveness he or she will be


rejected at the gates of Heaven and sent directly to Hell.


If one commits a sin he or she is to fear God s punishment,


and when something goes wrong God is punishing. The


perspective I have taken on life in the Catholic view is


that life is one s way of repaying Christ/God for their


sacrifice and gift of an undeserved life. Live life purely


for Him and not yourself.


I have stepped away from the Catholic church to attend


a Non-denominational Christian church. Here, I have been


able to grow spiritually more than I did growing up


Catholic. Within this church I feel more accepted because


it is more open to the perspectives of God and life. In


church it is recognized that some people do struggle and


question God, His actions, and His existence. Going to


Catholic church there was never any room for questions or


thought. Everything was laid down and if a person did not


believe or understand the Catholic way then he or she was


wrong in everything they did and was an insult to God. From


going to Christian church I have realized that life is a


gift from God and that He wants everyone to live in comfort


and contentment. His teachings simply show His followers


the way to enter His Kingdom through life. I have found in


Buddhism that through practicing mindfulness throughout


daily life one can enter the state of Nirvana. I do not


believe that the Kingdom of God and Nirvana are the same,


but I do believe that through Nirvana one can touch and gain


a better appreciation for God s Kingdom.


Living Buddha, Living Christ is an attempt to reinvent


Christian ideas in a Buddhist perspective. This book brings


together the ideas and teachings of two of the most


influential figures of history, Christ and Buddha. They


have both influenced the way billions of people around the


world live their lives. Throughout the book Hahn reawakens


the reader s understanding of Christianity and Buddhism in


order to show a connection between them. He emphasizes that


people need to be open to other religions, see their


commonalties, and not be close minded. People kill and


are killed because they cling too tightly to their own


beliefs and ideologies. When we believe that ours is the


only faith that contains the truth, violence and suffering


will surely be the result (2). This explains the


persecution of the Jews and the holy wars that are going on


right now. These people fight almost out of pure pride of


belonging to their own religion. They forget the teachings


of peace and compassion that are present in all religions.


Thich Nhat Hanh writes this book on the belief that Jesus


and Buddha s teachings agree. He says, when you are a


truly happy Christian, you are also a Buddhist. And vice


versa (197). I do not agree with the extremity of Hahn s


idea of Christianity and Buddhism being so closely the same.


I believe the two religions do have similarities and have


some common ground, but I do not believe that one is a


precise reinterpretation of the other.


First, Thich Nhat Hahn associates Mindfulness and the


Holy Spirit. The Buddhist definition of Mindfulness is


being awake to the mind; not just thinking but being


conscious of thinking; not just having thoughts but being


aware of the thoughts. Buddhists believe that the mind is


reality. Mindfulness is the awareness of the impermanent


and conditioned nature of reality. The Holy Spirit is the


energy of God that is present in everyday life. The Holy


Trinity is simply a metaphor for God. The Father, the Son,


and the Holy Spirit are ways to explain God perceptually.


The Father is the perpetual God which no one can see. The


Son, is Christ, who lived life on earth as God. The Son is


God on earth. The Holy Spirit is the energy that resonates


from Christ and God that is within everyone and everything


in the world.


Thich Nhat Hahn discusses that the similarity between


Mindfulness and the Holy Spirit is that both are healing


powers. When you have mindfulness, you have love and


understanding, you see more deeply, and you can heal the


wounds in your own mind (14). In the Bible when someone


physically touches Christ he or she is healed of whatever


ailments. Christ as a healer is an example of the


manifestation of the Holy Spirit with in Him. I do not


agree with the similarities of the healing powers of


Mindfulness and the Holy Spirit. Mindfulness is the ability


of one to clear their mind of whatever havoc is causing


them pain. Mindfulness leads to possible Nir

vana, taking


one away from the perceptual world. The Holy Spirit is not


an ability to heal; the Holy Spirit is the energy of God


which resides in everything. Jesus is God, who is the Holy


Spirit. If Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit are one how can


a person be the Holy Spirit? People can be Mindful, but


they can not be the Holy Spirit. Mindfulness does not set


people apart from a higher being. Christians recognize God


and Christ as the Lord. The energy of the Holy Spirit is


with in everyone to help them find a means of healing or


salvation on their own. The Holy Spirit does not directly


heal so therefore, the Holy Spirit is not simply a healing


agent.


I do feel though that Mindfulness can be used to


understand and seek the Holy Spirit as long as it is not


used to leave the perceptual world to hide in Nirvana.


Mindfulness is a way to become aware that selfhood is an


illusion. According to Nhat Hahn, mindfulness reveals the


conditioned nature of people s lives, thoughts, perceptions


and actions. Then by recognizing the conditioned world, one


is able to leave it in order to walk peacefully with in it.


I see it plain and simply as losing your head. The mind


becomes empty and far away. The world is what it is,


chaos, life itself is filled with stress, turbulence,


illness and, unhappiness. Mindfulness does not get rid of


or change the perceptual world, it simply allows one to get


away for awhile. In comparison to Mindfulness, the Holy


Spirit gives people a crutch to lean on and the energy to


transform when they need help. The Holy Spirit does not


offer a place to hide, but rather a way of facing the world


and dealing with it.


Next, Thich Nhat Hanh associates Nirvana with the


Kingdom of God. Buddhists and Christians know that Nirvana


or the Kingdom of God is within our hearts. Buddhist sutras


speak of Buddha nature as the seed of enlightenment that is


already in everyone s consciousness. The Gospels speak of


the Kingdom of God as a mustard seed planted in the soil of


consciousness (167). The Gospels are an emphasis of the


growth of God s kingdom from such a minute origin. How can


Nirvana be compared to the Kingdom of God, when Nirvana is


simply a state of consciousness? Nirvana is an enlightened


state of consciousness where one feels no struggles. The


Kingdom of God is everything physical, psychological,


tangible, and intangible, the perceptual world we live in


today, and the Heaven or Hell we will live in tomorrow. God


is the Creator of all, Heaven and Earth. He and His


creations are not a mere state of mind.


Also, Hanh tends to place people on the same level as


Jesus. We are of the same reality as Jesus. This may


sound heretical to many Christians, but I believe that


theologians who say we are not have to reconsider this.


Jesus is not only our Lord, but he is also our Father, our


Teacher, our Brother, and our Self (44). If Jesus is our


self, then he can not be our Lord because we would be one in


the same. In order to have a Lord or God there has to be a


follower or a believer. Christ or the Holy Spirit resides


within everyone and everything, but everyone and everything


is not God. God is the Creator and therefore, He is only a


part of everything. Many Buddhists are atheists and do not


believe in an everlasting God. This is why Hanh does not


recognize that people are not Jesus and can not become


Jesus. Hanh has overly merged the concept of mindfulness


and becoming mindful with recognizing the Holy


Spirit/Jesus/the Father as simply God.


Overall, in Living Buddha, Living Christ, Thich Nhat


Hanh attempts to connect the religions of Buddhism and


Christianity. I find Buddhism to be extremely contradictory


in its concepts and teachings and an easy way out of


life/reality. I agree with Hahn that people should not be


close minded about other religions, because I believe that


aspects of one religion can supplement another religion.


For example, the concept of Mindfulness in the Buddhist


tradition can be applied to Christianity in a way of just


touching and appreciating life and the world. What I


disagree with is that Mindfulness and the Holy Spirit are


the same. The Holy Spirit is God s energy within everyone


and everything that perpetuates people s lives and the world


around them. Next, Hanh tries to associate Nirvana with the


Kingdom of God. The two are incomparable simply because


Nirvana is more of a state of mind, while the Kingdom of God


encompasses the world and everything in it, whether it be


physical or psychological. Nirvana is a way of almost


attempting to escape God s Kingdom. Finally, Thich Nhat


Hanh writes that Jesus is within ourselves and that many are


just too blind and ignorant to recognize Him. I believe


that everyone is God s child, and that people are a part of


Him, because He is the Creator. It is not possible that


people can become Jesus or exactly like Jesus because then,


there would be no Lord or God. Living Buddha, Living Christ


is an attempt to converge the ideas of Christianity and


Buddhism. The two may supplement each other s concepts, but


their concepts are clearly not the same. As a Christian,


this book has opened my eyes to the likenesses and


differences of Buddhism to Christianity. By learning about


Buddhism in perspective to Christianity I have been able to


reaffirm my beliefs in the Christian Faith.

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