Buddha remained silent

 

A few weeks ago, in my lunch break I asked some of my Buddhist Vietnamese coworkers the following question: In Buddhism belief how did man originated? Is man created as in the Christian belief of Adam and Eve or is man the by product of primordial soup as in the theory of evolution?

Such thoughts never cross their minds and they did not know what to answer! Therefore, one of my coworker, who is more faithful and active in Buddhism, called the Buddhist nun at the Temple and have her answer the question. I appreciated this and as far as I could tell the nun seemed very kind and did her best going around the question without giving an answer.

Now, I myself studied Buddhism and I am very familiar with this belief to some certain extend in understanding the basic of it. This simple belief is overwhelming and complicated when you go deep into it, so I don’t claim to be an expert.

However, my question to my coworkers and to the Buddhist nun was very easy – as the famous statement goes by Rene Descartes, “I think, therefore I am.”

So, where these thinking men such as us humans originated from?

I know that from a Buddhism belief this question is hard to answer because Buddha himself refuse to answer such questions – which are known as the unfathomable questions. The Pali texts gives 10 of those questions and the Sanskrit texts 14 questions.

These 14 questions are categorized in four groups and is concerning the existence of the world/universe in time, the existence of the world/universe in space, personal identity, and life after death.

Furthermore, the Sabbasava Sutta also mentions another 16 questions which are seen as unwise reflection by Buddha.

And these questions are:

What am I?

How am I?

Am I?

Am I not?

Did I exist in the past?

Did I not exist in the past?

What was I in the past?

How was I in the past?

Having been what, did I become what in the past?

Shall I exist in the future?

Shall I not exist in the future?

What should I be in the future?

How should I be in the future?

Having been what, shall I become what in future?

Where came this person?

Where would he go?

 

Okay, so if you are a curios person like me and are not pleased with Buddha’s attitude towards these questions which he finds unwise to answer, I would like to share with you the answers to those questions from a Christian faith according to the Bible.

The first book of the Bible is called Genesis which means the origin or formation of something. And the first sentence in the Bible makes the statement: “In the beginning God…”

The book of Genesis narrates the primeval history of the world in chapters 1 to 11, so with this in mind lets take into consideration the entire Bible and answer those questions.

1.     What am I? You are the image of God (Genesis 1:27) So God created man in his own image – In the image of God he created him male and female he created them.

     How am I? You are dead (Genesis 3:1-5) Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you would be like God knowing good and evil.” In addition you can also read Ephesians 2:1 and Colossians 2:13. You are dead in transgressions and sins; as Ravi Zacharias once said “Jesus did not came into the world to make bad people good. He came to make dead people live.” According to the Bible “there is none good but God”

Am I? Yes, you are! Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20   

That price is case you didn’t know is the blood of Jesus. According to life science humans can’t live without blood. Without blood, the body’s organs couldn’t get the oxygen and nutrients they need to survive, we couldn’t keep warm or cool off, fight infections, or get rid of our own waste products. Without enough blood, we’d weaken and die.

I would like to invite you to meditate on the word of God that says: "For since the beginning of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." Romans 1:20

My friends on the day of judgement when you have to present yourself before God you will have no excuse! Because he speaks to us through the elements and principles of our world.  Without blood you cannot get rid of your waste products, without blood you die - this is life science 101. Without the blood of Jesus you cannot get rid of the sins in your life, without the blood of Jesus you die – this is the gospel! For the life of all flesh is its blood and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins, for God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus is the Savior who will justify many and bear their sins – in our world blood transfusion is done in a way of saving a life that’s injured or ill; and sinners are saved by is the precious blood of Jesus. Are you a sinner? 

 Did I exist in the past? No! Each one of us is a unique creation of God and the human soul begins at conception. “The Lord God formed man from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. Genesis 2:7

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. Psalm 139:13-16

By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Genesis 3:19

Shall I exist in the future? Yes! “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it would be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear. Matthew 13:40-43

 

Jesus said “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both the soul and the body in hell. Are not to sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So, don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will also disown before my Father in heaven. Matthew 10: 28-33

 

So the question is where do you choose to exist in the future? Heaven or Hell? For God said: “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witness against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life! Deuteronomy 30:19

 God’s advice for you is to choose life! To choose Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

 What should I be in the future? What we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:3

Where came this person? From the mind of God! Then God said: “Let us make mankind in our own image, in our likeness.” Genesis 1:26 And the first men that He created from the dust of the ground was Adam and Eve as I previously made mention before.

Where would he go? The choice is yours – either Heaven or Hell…

God has put enough into the world to make faith in Him a most reasonable thing. But He has left enough out to make it impossible to live by sheer reason or observation alone. Ravi Zacharias.

 The unanswered questions

Dream December 10th 2020

 It started on the street with a race.

In front of me were a few small children, between 8 and 12 years old. 

The ground we were on was bright, and visible on it were stones the size and color of a river rock - a deep blue.    

The children threw those stones and keep running, they were serious and determined to run and win the race.

When I realized that I was on a race track,  I started running and pick up one of those stones and threw it away, so that I do not stumble. 

Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me. 

Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:6) 

I was told that if I got lost to stay in my position and someone will come and meet me there. I was encouraged to run as fast as I could and that I would succeed. 

Apart from the children at the start of the race, I did not see any adults participating in this race that I was on. 

The only adults I could see running up the stairs in a deserted building was a couple having sex. 

I arrived at a big train station, it reminded me of the Mitte District in Berlin/ Germany. There were many attractions and many things could be done while waiting for the train. 

Here I was in the company of my husband and childhood friends from Romania; we were all waiting in front of a restaurant and we decided to go in and break bread together. 

After that, I went for a walk and passed by a grocery store that was abundant in supply but through the window I could see that the olive oil was missing. So I went inside and looked for it, I found it and brought it to the front area for people to see it next to the spaghetti pasta. 

 Olive oil is one of the major Christian symbol besides 

water  & wine  

I was asking one of my friends, "why do you change your clothes so often?"  Personally, I only do this about 2 or 3 times a day and than I shared with her that I no longer eat as much as I used to. She replied that it makes her feel good every time she puts on a new dress and that she doesn't eats as much either.

 

The evening came and the train arrived, we started running towards it surrounded by a multitude of people. I remember my husband holding my hand and pushing us forward and we advanced through the crowd and got on the train.  

I was trying and hoping to take a look at my friends' faces and see them, but many of them were pushed back by the crowd. I was wondering why my friend's husband doesn't hold her hand like my husband does so that they don't get separated. 

My friend barely made it to the train and her husband was left behind. This train was huge and had several flights of stairs before reaching the top. I took a sit on the stairs and from above I noticed all of the people pushing each other to get on the train but without succeeding. 

Some of my friends who were in the crowd on the train platform, start running away from those people and with joy on their faces shouted : "I will see you at the next stop!" 

All over sudden for a short moment I saw my sister inside the train next to me, I was so surprised by this that I asked her: "what are you doing here - how did you made it here?" And then a yellow spider climbs up on her leg coming towards me and I began to scream and told her to smash it.  

Later I saw that my friend placed a basket on the floor in which her baby was kept and a stranger placed her bag on the floor next to the child. 

As the people on the train began to sit on the stairs looking at the crowd outside, I looked inside the train and saw a small number of people. The train was not at full capacity, most people on the board were on the stairs and the train left leaving many behind. 

As the train took off, I was overjoyed and shouted that I was finally feeling European. I felt like I was going home in a far-off land. 

~ Europe in ancient Greek language means wide face or wide gazing ~