by Brother Kim
If you are a former Buddhist, who has decided to believe and follow
Jesus Christ, many practical and doctrinal questions naturally turn up. Shall
the teaching of Buddha be abandoned? How shall the doctrine of Karma be
understood? Shall I stop practicing the eight-fold path? Should I continue to
meditate? Some might suggest that everything Buddhist will have to be
abandoned. But it is not so, particularly if you come from a Theravada Buddhist
tradition. There might be a shortcut. Don't let any western Christian
intimidate you in his ignorance about your noble cultural and religious
background.
The conditionality of life
There is a moral dimension of conditionality, which survives with
Christ. We should not expect that God's unconditional love for us allows us to
live our life on free-wheel. Nobody could live life in a totally wrong way
without consequences. This universe, which is created by a good God, is not only
governed by material, but also by moral laws (karma). For that reason a former Buddhist should not put aside his
understanding of bad karma, except in connection with submission to Christ.
Such would lead to lawlessness. For the sound ethic and moral of the Buddhist
world is connected with the teaching of karma. When the worldview changes, i.e.
belief in samsara is being replaced with belief in God's creation, practical
readjustment to the new freedom in Christ should only happen at a slow pace.
The search for release from the curse of reincarnation slowly gets meaningless.
Still, we could never go beyond the fact that sin leads to suffering and death
(Romans 6:23a).
It is a deep and freeing truth to accept the conditionality of human
life. As children it is of course good for us to live with limited
conditionality – if somebody at least has taken responsibility to protect our
young lives. This limited conditionality is a reflection of God's unconditional
love in the parents, who are created in the likeness of God's image. But
everyone, who grows up, must learn to accept the conditionality of life. It is
the goal of life to grow up to a life in natural submission to the regularities
of human existence. It is indeed for our good. For only in a universe of clear
causality could we feel both significant and secure. We feel significant,
because we can learn to master life, and secure, because there are certain
regularities to guide us.
Should the eight-fold path be practiced?
It might come to your surprise, but the answer is
"Yes!" And if you come from a Buddhist tradition, which does not
respect this teaching of Buddha, you will have to practice it. For Jesus Christ instructs, like Buddha did, that
you shall turn away from sensual desire and evil (2), and that you should do
your best to keep yourself from evil and develop healthy thoughts (6). This is
what John the Baptist called repentance as a preparation for the coming of
God's kingdom with Christ (Matthew 3:2). You must keep the commandments: You
shall not lie and give false testimony against your neighbor (3). You must not
kill, you must not steal and you must not live in sexual immorality (4). This
is what is taught in the Law of Moses called the Ten Commandments no. 6 to 10
(Exodus
If you believe that Jesus Christ of Israel is your
expected Maitreya, it will be easy for you. For it is written that Buddha
should be honored in life and after his death, until Maitreya comes, and then
the honor and loyalty shall be transferred to him. Then there will not be any
problems with the beginning of the eight-fold path: Faith in the "Four
Noble Truths" (1), which will have to be replaced with faith in the
"Four New Truths", which are the good news according to Jesus Christ.
"Suffering" (dukkha) is no
longer diagnosed as the central problem of man. That is
"impermanence" (anicca),
i.e. human mortality. The Four New Truths teaches about the reality of
impermanence, its cause, its end, and the way to the cessation of impermanence.
The teaching of Buddha is by no means unprofitable. On the contrary, it is
written that Maitreya shall teach the same eternal truths as Buddha did.
Therefore, you should do all, which is taught in the eight-fold path - and much
more. For the heavenly Christ can in no way be expected to keep himself within
the limitations of the earthly Buddha's teachings.
Right
protection
A
meditation begins by sitting before the Lord in solitary quietness. Therefore,
it is natural to take protection in Jesus' Name. The Lord Jesus Christ, who is
declared to be the true image of the invisible God (Colossians
It is, therefore, necessary to
hold on to the orthodox teaching about the two natures of Jesus Christ from the
church council in
The
Apostle John brings out a secondary test. A spirit from God acknowledges the
Teaching of the Apostles (1. John 4:6). The Apostle uses the expression
"that whoever knows God listen to us", by which John meant the 12
Apostles, specially chosen by Jesus Christ to extend his Teaching to the world
(Matthew
Since
Christian meditation ought be governed by right purpose, it must immediately be
remarked that mediation never should be considered as an alternative way to
salvation apart from faith in Jesus Christ. God lives in a light, which no
mental process or spiritual technique could ever bring us in touch with.
Separated from the source of life in God all men or women have no access to the
only source of permanent life (1. Timothy 6:16). Without the life through
Christ all men and women live under the condition of mortality and will have to
count on ending this life with sickness, old age and final death. But the from
life separated man or woman can be reconnected to the source of life through
Jesus Christ by faith. With his power the estranged self gets regenerated into
a new authentic person shaped in God's likeness. Therefore, it leads nowhere to
take protection in Jesus' Name with his continued practical absence in one's
life. On that background it should be clear that the concern of this guide to
meditation only is to help disciples from faith to spiritual growth in Christ.
Meditation
in Jesus' Name is like prayer a way to seek fellowship with the Lord. While
prayer often focuses on search for the satisfaction of human needs, meditation
is the art of listening to the Teaching of the Lord in the Holy Scriptures and
relate it intelligently to one's own life. Since God is the giver of human
life, all men owe Him respect. For all the power and honor belongs to Him. For
that reason Jesus Christ also taught his disciples as among the first things to
pray according to the will of God. He said: "Your kingdom come, your will be done in earth as it is in
Heaven" (Matthew 6:10b). Therefore, we also find the various purposes
of Christian meditation in the Holy Scriptures. Here I would like to take my
starting point in the instruction of the Apostle Paul to some new disciples of
Christ:
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2).
For
a while our thoughts ought not to circle around fulfillment of human needs and
materialistic desires. In thankful trust to God's provision we let our thoughts
get renewed by the expectation of the coming
Firstly, it is God's good will that we stop
existing for the illusionary desires of the world, i.e. to stop operating from
an estranged self and dismiss any form of evil, and seek holiness. The right
attitude of the mind is to let oneself be renewed through thinking new and
clean thoughts. With this in mind we should with all our ability strive for
spotlessness and cleanness through the power the Lord gives by the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Paul teaches:
Brothers, whatever is true, whatever is
noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things
(Philippians 4:8).
Secondly, it is God's pleasant will that we
shall hear his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, meditate over his Teaching and practice
his Teaching from an enlightened faith, i.e. the Way. Jesus said to his
specially chosen 12 Apostles that they should go out and make disciples of all
nations, …. and teach them (help them) to obey everything, he had commanded
(Matthew 28:19-20). But how can one practice any Teaching, one has not first
heard about and meditated upon, and how can one practice it in a relevant way
in still new times and cultures throughout the world without first relating it
to each one's own understanding of reality and one's time?
Finally, it is God's perfect will that each
disciple shall be conformed to the likeness of his only Son, Jesus Christ. For
according to the Holy Scriptures each newborn child of God is predestined to be
formed into his likeness through the power, which He works in us according to
His Will (Ephesians 4:15). That power is Christ in us, our hope of glory
(Colossians
When
it concerns meditation in Jesus' Name the position is always without particular
importance. You can freely use the position, which personally suits you the
best. If you are Asian, you might prefer to use the lotus position, which
radiates a certain spiritual worthiness. But you could also use other
positions. You might sit in a chair or lie down or take a solitary walk in
nature. You should therefore be aware that the gift of meditation not is
limited by not being part of a particular religious elite of society. If you
can find quietness, you might as well meditate, while you do manual work in the
kitchen, in the field or at the factory etc. The matter of importance is that
the thought gets provoked by a spiritual truth, and that hereby a fruitful
process of the mind gets started.
To
memorize is an art, which many modern people seem to have forgotten. But even
if memorizing not might seem so necessary in today's world with all its
available information, the memory still has great value. For by memorizing
portions from the Holy Scriptures you build up a storage of spiritual truths in
your mind, which might comfort you in times of need and guide you in times of
trouble. To memorize different keyverses from the Holy Scriptures is also a
great step forward towards getting true knowledge about your Lord. But the
practical direction towards a life of Christ-like quality is to hear the
Teaching of Christ, meditate on the Way to understand it correctly and practice
the Way in temporary and culturally relevant forms. In your meditation let the
keyword SPACE guide you in
what general ways to use the Holy Scriptures: Is there a SIN in my life, which I should confess to the Lord? Do I
myself need to forgive somebody else? Is there a PROMISE to encourage my practice of the Way? Do I have an ATTITUDE, which needs to be
changed? Is there a COMMAND of
Christ, which I should practice? Or is there an EXAMPLE, which I could follow? (Billie Hanks, Jr. &
Billy Beacham, Spiritual Journal, Waco, Texas: Word 1988). It is a good, if
your meditation leads to a result, which you can memorize or write down for
later personal usage or for sharing with others.
These are the three honorable purposes of meditation in Jesus' Name: (1)
To seek holiness, (2) To practice the Teaching of Jesus Christ, and (3) To be
changed into Christ-likeness. If you follow these guidelines carefully in your
mediation, you are on safe course. And if something should show up, which goes
beyond the perspective of this guideline, you can trust that Christ in Heaven
himself will show you the way forward. For "we know that in all things God
works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his
purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the
likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers"
(Romans
Finally, I would advice you to stay away from yoga, which has the
purpose to seek identity with God, i.e. to operate from the perception that the
individual self (atman) is identical
with the universal self (brahma); or
identity with Buddha from the radical version of the no-self doctrine (anatta), which ultimately implies that
there is no reason to distinguish between the savior and the saved, and finally
from the Christian teaching about identification with Christ (the prosperity
teaching of Kenneth Hagin), which translated means the same as yoga. For it is
written that "a student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is
fully trained will be like his teacher" (Luke