A Fervor in my Head...

Or, why Christianity easily trumps Buddhism, hands down.

Alright, so if you know your Buddhism, you know that there are two major types of Buddhism, a Liberal one and a Conservative one. I don't know which is which, but I do know that they are very different: One proclaims the deity of the Buddha and requires strict adherence to a certain set of principles, the 8 fold path and so on. The other is more of a philsophy than a religion, and doesn't claim that the Buddha was a god, but merely an enlightened person. Ok, very well. There are lots of different sects of Christianity, too, but the fundamental part of Christianity remains the same in all of them, even Catholicism: Christ is the Messiah, and he is our Savior, he died in our stead, and if we accept him and what he did, and agree to repent (change the way we think and act) and confess to God the sins we have committed (on an on-going basis), we will be given (free, as in it's a gift) eternal life WITH God in heaven. A+, super. Let's go.

But here is the thing. Buddhism is a very respectable way of life, in that it teaches certain moral ideals- do no harm, that sort of thing. However, all the good works and volunteer type of stuff you are doing as a Buddhist is to get yourself closer to enlightenment, whether you are a kharma believer or not. The end goal is rather self-centered. You do the good things, sure, but you do them to make yourself better in the long run.

Now, stay with me here. Christianity may seem to be the same in that respect, but it is not. There is NOTHING we can do, ever, no deed, no act that we can do that will save our souls. Aside from the confessing/repentance/believing in Christ thing, of course. But that is where it ends. This is complicated, and it has take me this long to figure it all out, shame on me, but my mind is literally tingling with the logic of it all.

There is a well-known quote from the book of James in the Bible that goes like this: Faith without works is dead. For the longest time, I had no clue what that really, really meant. But here it is. As I said previously, Buddhists do their good deeds because that is what is required of them if they want to advance to nirvana. Or whatever. That way of life is necessary. Now, Christians need to confess and repent and believe that Christ died for us, and that He is the reason we will get to heaven, and no other. Now, repent means to change the way we think and act. Align yourself with Christ- do as he did, speak as he spoke, love as he loved- and forego all the things of this world as best you can. This alone does not save you, but only Christ, who lived the perfect life for us- He saves us. We ultimately screw up again and again, so it's a good thing, too. Now, as far as good works and faith? It is by this faith in Christ that we are saved. "But oh," you say, "what about all this repenting and loving thy neighbor and stuff? Aren't those 'works'??" Yeah, but they still don't save us.

You see, faith is not a tangible thing. You can't pick it up and toss it around with a buddy. You can't pour it in a glass and sip it. You can't grab it to your chest and hold on to it for dear life. So, how do we know we have it? Or, more importantly, how does GOD know we have it??? If you are a follower, a believer in Christ, you are a different human being. A new creation. And because of your newness, you should act differently- not because it just happens, but because you WANT to. You've just been given a infinitely huge bowl of ice cream, and an infinite number of spoons- what are you going to do?? If you truly believe that there is a huge bowl of ice cream just ready to be inhaled...aren't you going to start handing out those spoons??? It is definitely what Jesus would do. So there.

I realize that is a kind of bizarre illustration, but hey, I'm bizarre. The point is hopefully clear. Because of what we have in Christ, we should be acting kindly, being forever patient, helpful in all measure of crisis and tragedy, caring, and steadfast. Not because that is what is required if we want in on heaven and eternal life. No. But because it is what our faith ultimately brings forth out of us. What does light do? It lights up a room. What does salt do? It makes things salty. We must get out there into this world of darkness and this world of dullness, and we must show our faith, proclaim it!

This is it, folks. One life. Buddhists, you can toil away at your requirements for a good life, or you can open your heart and mind to the one Truth, and start to live, really LIVE.

Christians, show your faith. Love...LOVE....LOVVVVEEE!!!