Buddhism & The Theistic Religions Have A Lot In Common!

Written by Irene Pierce Panayi

At first glance, Buddhism seems to be very different from the theistic religions and understandably so. After all, Buddhists believe in The Buddha, karma and reincarnation while the theistic religions believe in a Divine Creator and an afterlife. I realized, however, that when you get past the assumptions that we all make, they actually have a lot more in common than you may realize.

Before I begin explaining how similar Buddhism and the theistic religions are, I want to state that Buddhists do not believe in God at all so I will quickly share my views on atheists. Even though I do believe in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, I have a lot of respect for atheists because they are simply being honest about where their faith stands today and you can’t fault someone for being honest. Being honest is a noble characteristic. We are all called to be honest. I also understand that faith can be a really hard thing to have because it involves things you can’t see or touch. In addition, sometimes the things that happen in a person’s life and the people they have around them during those instances can shape whether a person is brought to a moment of belief or not and these things aren’t always under our control, but they are in fact under God’s control so I trust the process. I always have hope that people will give God and Jesus a chance because it’s an amazing and life-changing decision, but I also recognize that it’s a personal decision, too—Just as God and Jesus give people the free will to choose and respect their decision, so do I. With that said, I will now focus on just how similar Buddhism and the Theistic religions really are. 

Given that Buddhists do not believe in a divine creator, Buddha is not meant to take the place of God or to interfere with God. The Buddha never claimed to be God or God-like or to be a Savior, Messiah or a divine creator of any sort so He is not in conflict with God or Jesus. The Buddha was a wise man and an enlightened one. Just as the theistic religions acknowledge saints, prophets and other giants as having been gifted with a wisdom and enlightenment that transcends natural norms without interfering with God (Even some pastors are considered to be gifted), Buddhists believe that The Buddha was enlightened and gifted with a unique wisdom as well. And if you learn about the teachings of The Buddha, you will see just how unique and valuable the teachings really are. They can help mankind with health, mental and emotional well-being, and many other areas.

Because Buddhists do not believe in God or an afterlife, the teachings of The Buddha do not deal with matters of faith (the soul and its relationship to a divine creator) but it deals with matters of man and man’s existence as he relates to himself, to others and to the world in which he lives. There is a difference between the two so they are not in conflict. 

Buddhists believe in reincarnation but given that they don’t believe in the soul (as the theistic religions define it) reincarnation is not about the soul or even about the rebirth of self or about the rebirth of the same body either—The Buddha himself was not even reincarnated. If neither a soul, nor the self, nor the body are involved in reincarnation then it means that reincarnation is about something else and herein opens the door to find the common ground.

If we talk about rebirth outside the realms of the soul, the self and the physical body, then rebirth is actually a familiar concept to all of us. For example, I say that I am American, Irish, German and English even though I was not born in (and have never visited) Ireland or Germany. It’s because I recognize that some part of my past was passed down to me and will be forwarded on as well. Similarly, I have Jewish ancestry in my background but was born and raised a Christian as were my parents. Does this mean that my Jewish ancestry was erased? Or is it still part of me in some way? It’s clear that the idea of “passing part of us on to others” is a concept we are all familiar with. The theistic religions also put an emphasis on lineage, which further illustrates that we all recognize that “something is passed on.” In the context of Buddhism, however, we are not passing on a nationality but something within us, some part of us—I call it the "essence of us," which I will explain. 

In the old testament in the Bible, (Numbers 14:18) it states that the sins of our father or parents are carried on in us. And we can certainly understand why that’s the case--Many of our attitudes, viewpoints, beliefs and even actions are taught, observed and learned and, as a result, can be passed down from one generation to the next and live on long after we do. For example, if you are taught to have racist views, not only was that mistake passed down to you, but you will continue to pass it on to your children and others around you with the things you do and say if you don’t change. So, even though we die and our physical body goes into the ground and our soul goes to Heaven, a piece of us ("The essence of us") can still live on in others, such as our children, siblings or friends. The concept that “we continue on in others" does make sense when you really think about it. We all do leave our “mark” behind. It also shows how both the concept of reincarnation (involving who we are—the essence of us) and the concept of an afterlife (involving the soul) are two different things that can co-exist and do co-exist. We do leave a piece of us behind but we also die and our soul moves on to our afterlife, too. Buddhism’s emphasis on the part of us that we leave behind is just as important as the theistic religions’ view of the soul because it shows that our actions and everything about us doesn’t just determine whether we make Heaven or not, but impacts so many more people who remain on earth after we leave it—a lasting imprint that we all should think about.

Buddhists believe that karma—the cause and effect of our actions—can cross lives but again, it’s not about the soul crossing lives (as the Theistic religions define it) or the self crossing lives or the body crossing lives but it’s about that something else or the "essence of us" crossing lives, which as previously explained, does happen.

The core teachings of Buddhism also focus on having compassion for others and helping others, which are also in perfect alignment with the theistic religions—Love thy neighbor as thyself and love one another as I have loved you. All believe that our actions matter—And they do! 

Not only do Buddhism and the Theistic religions have a lot in common, but they can actually help each other as well. 

Buddhism’s vast teachings on meditation and mindfulness can help people to reach a state of inner peace and contentment and to rise above the suffering of life. This peace and contentment isn’t only valuable in the realm of health, medicine, wellness and healing (which benefits all of us), but more importantly, a state of peace and contentment can become rich fertile ground on which the seed of faith can flourish. A stressed and preoccupied mind can interfere with one’s ability to focus on God and Jesus and impact one’s ability to “hear" God’s guidance in one’s life. Gaining a mastery over stress, over one’s emotions and over the desires of self can help with these areas and help a person to pray more fully, completely and productively. A person with a “calm mind” will also be in a better position to discern God’s will. As a result, Buddhism can actually help the faith of those in the theistic religions to grow and to deepen. 

As Buddhists see that their teachings don’t counter the views of the theistic religions but can actually work in a beautiful tandem with them, some buddhists may start to consider a belief in God and Jesus as well. This doesn’t mean they have to give up Buddhism to do that either. God and Jesus love people from all religions and will help anyone who asks them for help and guidance. Whether a person considers oneself to be a Jesus-believing Buddhist or a Christian who adores Buddhism and other religions like I do or some other “title” doesn’t really matter because titles and semantics aren’t really worth getting hung up on. All that really matters is that we all start to respect each other, appreciate the good in each other and perhaps even start to learn from each other so that we can all move towards love, peace and happiness in our lives, in the world at large and in the next life, too.

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Helping the world….

It’s time to get this world back to a place of peace, happiness and good health for all and bringing about the changes that we need is easier than you think. It begins with an idea. If you like an idea or new perspective, share it with as many people as you can and tell them to do the same. Once an idea or perspective catches on, change will begin. For love and peace to reign in the world, we have to try to understand each other and appreciate each other—This is the starting point for world peace! 

If you like an idea but do nothing, nothing will change. If you share it with as many people as you can, everything can start to change!