Topic: Christianity scares me...

[Marc1152]

What scares me is the belief in Nirvana and other Buddhist teachings. You don't really exist at all ever. .  . . .

Hmmm.. It depends on the school of Buddhism I suppose but here is a good way to understand this.

There are Three Truths:

Relative Truth,

Absolute Truth

and both Absolute and Relative are True at the same time...   

I am Marc. But isn't this just a convention? My Mother picked the name and I go by it. But on the Absolute view of things, "Marc" is just made up. My being is  "really" something else.

Truth one: I am Marc.. This is a True statement.

Truth two : I exist in a way far beyond the mundane designations we give each other.

Truth three: Both are True at the same time, one not any more true than the other.


I am Marc and I am also more than that in ways I cant even understand. What is "Real" and then what is "Really Real".

So don't worry too much, you do exist. 

[ytterbiumanalyst]

What scares me is the belief in Nirvana and other Buddhist teachings. You don't really exist at all ever. You are like a clear bottle of sea water in the ocean floating on the top. Just being tossed by the waves until you "realize" that bottle doesn't really exist. You can only be free, cured, and find the still waters that run deep by realizing you don't even exist at all! I got comfortable with it after I first learned it 14 years ago but at the time it was a terrifying thought as I was completely open to it and came to believe it for a time.

In a way, the Buddhists are not really too far off in this belief. We cannot reach Theosis until we make ourselves nothing, of least importance, and put all others ahead of us. When the Apostles argued as to which of them was greatest, Christ showed us that the greatest among us must be the servant of all. So in order to be cured of self-love, we must practice loving others, to the point at which our own desires do not matter to us anymore.

So while the philosophy that this present world is illusory is not one which we Christians would share, we can appreciate the sentiment. Yet at the same time, we realise the truth that there is a spoon, and moreso a person who needs the spoon. The needs of that person for the spoon are greater than our desire to keep the spoon, and therefore we should give of what we have to help that person in need.

[yochanan]

It scared me at first, but I realized that we won't become gods, nor will we become God, but we will become "like God".

Become like God? -- Didn't the serpent also promise that?

 4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5  "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Gen. 3: 4-5)

Forgive me for noticing this scary similarity of Christ's and the serpent's promise.
What do the Fathers have to say?

[sainthieu]

Yes, it is scary. God wants us to be reconciled to Him while we are alive. The demands are formidable and require great effort from us.

[John of the North]

It scared me at first, but I realized that we won't become gods, nor will we become God, but we will become "like God".

Become like God? -- Didn't the serpent also promise that?

 4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5  "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Gen. 3: 4-5)

Forgive me for noticing this scary similarity of Christ's and the serpent's promise.
What do the Fathers have to say?

The Devil twisted the message. Under the Devil, instead of worshipping God, man worships himself.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

It scared me at first, but I realized that we won't become gods, nor will we become God, but we will become "like God".

Become like God? -- Didn't the serpent also promise that?

 4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5  "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Gen. 3: 4-5)

Forgive me for noticing this scary similarity of Christ's and the serpent's promise.
What do the Fathers have to say?

There's a subtle difference. Christ says, "Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me." In other words, we must die to ourselves in order to become like God. The serpent's lie was that we could do whatever we want and still become like God--a lie that is as appealing now as it was then.

[ignatius]

What scares me is the belief in Nirvana and other Buddhist teachings. You don't really exist at all ever. .  . . .

Hmmm.. It depends on the school of Buddhism I suppose but here is a good way to understand this.

There are Three Truths:

Relative Truth,

Absolute Truth

and both Absolute and Relative are True at the same time...   

I am Marc. But isn't this just a convention? My Mother picked the name and I go by it. But on the Absolute view of things, "Marc" is just made up. My being is  "really" something else.

Truth one: I am Marc.. This is a True statement.

Truth two : I exist in a way far beyond the mundane designations we give each other.

Truth three: Both are True at the same time, one not any more true than the other.


I am Marc and I am also more than that in ways I cant even understand. What is "Real" and then what is "Really Real".

So don't worry too much, you do exist. 

You sound like a Buddhist...

[ytterbiumanalyst]

What scares me is the belief in Nirvana and other Buddhist teachings. You don't really exist at all ever. .  . . .

Hmmm.. It depends on the school of Buddhism I suppose but here is a good way to understand this.

There are Three Truths:

Relative Truth,

Absolute Truth

and both Absolute and Relative are True at the same time...   

I am Marc. But isn't this just a convention? My Mother picked the name and I go by it. But on the Absolute view of things, "Marc" is just made up. My being is  "really" something else.

Truth one: I am Marc.. This is a True statement.

Truth two : I exist in a way far beyond the mundane designations we give each other.

Truth three: Both are True at the same time, one not any more true than the other.


I am Marc and I am also more than that in ways I cant even understand. What is "Real" and then what is "Really Real".

So don't worry too much, you do exist. 

You sound like a Buddhist...

Well, then it must be a good explanation of this particular Buddhist belief.