Chinatown LA - Buddhism vs. Christianity
Our group went to Chinatown today.
For those of you whom don't know, I am at the IT Project LA and the synopsis of the project is to learn about world cultures in relation to Christianity, in terms of similarities and differences. I was kind of shocked what I found out about the Chinese culture from those whom know about it best, the Chinese.
I had several great conversations with some of the locals in Chinatown today. Before I had left for Chinatown, our project learned a little bit about the Chinese: like the different kinds of classifications and religious practices, so I had a small sense about how the Chinese are. During our briefing, we learned that the Chinese are generally non-religious due to the communism influence. There is a movement going on in China, but the percentage in relation to 1.3 billion people is still rather small.
One conversation that really stuck out to me was with a guy who's mother is Buddhist. He told us that the method of Buddhism is the constant strive to better your life, or nirvana. They believe in karma and reincarnation. Because of these things, the typical Buddhist will do their best to be good person, in order to make their next life better. The Buddhist believes that their actions in the present life determines the life they are born into next. It was interesting because the whole strive of a Buddhist is to get a better life in the next life, but they don't seem to have something that they are trying to pursue, like an ultimate goal. So their life is about being a good person to better their life, but their is no cap on the goodness of their future life. Some of the Buddhist also do ancestral worship, which is fairly complicated, but the point is to try to gain favor and better their life through their ancestors. Interesting...
This is fairly different from Christianity because in Christianity their is a divine purpose behind living your life the way you do. In Christianity, the first step is being able to turn away from living your own life without conviction and trusting Jesus in what He commands His children/siblings what to do. Due to the concept of being human as being imperfect, we all sin - any act that goes against the ten commandments. In opposition of Buddhism there are consequences for wrongdoings. However, there is one person who has never sinned - Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect life - meaning not sinning even once - and took the place for man's deserving punishment of death. Because He did this, man has been given the gift of living an eternal life with God. So in that, Christians strive to not only live a good life, but to also follow and believe all that God has commanded us to do. Because Christ died for our sins, He can help us be forgiven for any sin we may have committed. There is not only good habits and being nice and courteous, it's about loving God and worshiping Him for who He is.
So in a nutshell, Buddhists believe in karma and reincarnation without an end or goal; whereas Christians believe in one almighty God that gives us a free gift of eternal life in Heaven in exchange for believing in Him and the commitment to follow His commandments.
Yeah, so there you have it. It was interesting to hear what Buddhism was from someone who has experienced it first hand. In the same trip I also met a college student that was Christian with non-religious parents that do ancestral worship - worshiping your ancestors in paying respects to them to incur blessing in life. Pretty interesting experience. I was so glad that that guy was willing to talk to us about Buddhism. I have somewhat of a better understanding of what Buddhists believe. Please, if I am wrong on any part of this, let me know.
That's all I got for that. I will be posting about more religions as they come up in the project. Thanks for following. Shalom and grace to you. GOD BLESS (.V)
