WISDOM GEMS
Reflections and Insights for your Practice
BELONGING TO JESUS RADICALLY
100% BUDDHIST &
100% CHRISTIAN?
BUDDHIST FOLLOWER OF CHRIST
September 9, 2023
Can there be followers of Christ in other religions, apart from Christianity? If so, who are these “insider” believers and disciples of Christ? They remain inside their own faith communities of origin while having been redeemed inwardly by grace through faith, indwelt by the Spirit of Christ. This possibility might unnerve dogmatic fundamentalists who have called the shots for a long time. The dominant outfit and operation of church is not uncontestable. For power is not grace. And fundamentalism is not truth.
October 27, 2023
Can a person be 100 percent Buddhist and 100 percent Christian at the same time? It depends on what you mean by "Christian" and what you mean by "Buddhist." If "Christian" means enmeshment in institutional church of whichever denomination or none, then probably no (unless a progressive one). But if it means belonging to Christ, then yes. Buddhists tend to be more open to ambiguity and plurality, so no issue there. Right practice not mere belief is the key.
September 9, 2023
Since my personal encounter of faith with the Lord, I’ve immersed myself in church life, ministry, formation, sacrificial giving, and service in myriad ways. In the end, I’ve come to realise the futility of it all. Rejected ultimately for my deep Buddhist formation and background, with implicit or explicit demand to conform to the modus operandi of corporate Americanized churchianity, it is clear that I’m a Buddhist who belongs to Jesus. Not a church “Christian.” Never was and never will be. And happier for it.