Thursday, July 8, 2010

Buddhist Enlightenment: The Power of the Holy Spirit As Healing & Wholeness


“I declare to you that within the body…you will find the world, and the origin of the world, and the end of the world, and the path…to all goals.” 13th – Century Gilt Buddha in Wat Bovornives, Bangkok; Michael Kuh.

“I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions

Even on the male and female slave in those days I will pour out my sprit”

Joel 2:28,29

Siddhartha Gautaama known as Buddha was born in about 560 BCE. He encountered something very wonderful in his life journey. This great something was called and now referred to as The Great Awakening. Turning from a material life seeming to consist of only suffering, Buddha becomes one night an awakened man. In that Buddha was a human being and not a God. He accomplishes the perception of deity through his actions and behaviors. His patterns of gaining enlightenment model behaviors that speaks to those of the Holy Spirit. In the actions of accepting, asking, atoning and empowering, the process of Buddha attaining enlightenment and nirvana closely resemble the actions of one who is anointed with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is one part of the Christian Holy Trinity. Each of these actions will be discussed as the consistency and congruency between Buddha’s enlighten state and that of the indwelling by the Holy Spirit are elaborated upon in this paper.

“For he was Siddhartha Gautama and the understanding he attained in a night of transcending revelation made him Buddha, awakened the Enlightened One. Out of the mission he then set for himself – to impart the secret of enlightenment to all who desire salvation” (Kitagawa pg. 89). His goal was to show people a way out from suffering. A new doctrine (dharma) was written. For Buddha, only the individual can seek and find the path to inner truth and comprehension. Buddhism much like Christianity was a missionary faith. “Buddha himself commanded his disciples to ‘go forth’…for the help of the many, for the well being of the many, out of compassion for the world” (Kitagawa 97).

Unlike Christianity, one is told to be a light unto yourself in the Buddhism faith. In the Christian faith, one is commanded to be a light into the world a beacon on a hill. Why what is life to many persons but a constant journey from one differing action or thing to another. Life’s trials we are told in the New Testament Book Of James is all about suffering. It is out of suffering that we have endurance and out of endurance that we grow stronger in our faith. For Buddha, “he saw the suffering of the world in three forms: a frail old man, an invalid rack with pain and a funeral procession with weeping and mourners (Freeman pg. 223)”. It is just life. We too in our world today as Christians are faced with suffering of many kinds. We know that it too is just life. Beyond the pain of suffering is the promise by God of eternal life. It is now apparent that no we indeed have to live our lives of toil and trouble or do we.

Human beings desire things in life. There is much that we cannot possibly have. In our desires for material worth, one must look to someone or something outside of themselves. This fact makes way for the necessity of a higher power or deity who can help. The human condition whether we like to believe it or not, is one of total dependence. To make all of this take place, we must seek and then ask. Buddha sought something higher than himself. We look to the redemption of our souls through the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Once this power or source has been tapped into, we become willing and able to teach others, convert others, empower, and heal others.

“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23. A way to Nirvana is the cessation of thirst” the act of turning away from it from this thirst” (Trask pg.99). One must reject or renounce this thirst we are told. It is an act of repentance. The act of turning away from sin and choosing a new path is to repent. It is the full acceptance of forgiveness through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A part of the mystery in what we tend to believe is a circular pattern. We all experience “the other” in ourselves as we relate to others. “Preeminently, a god is something received (Paden pg. 132). This thought helps one to correlate all religious aspects with one another. Fir example, if we encounter "an other" (divinity), there is a sense of a greatness that is more than ourselves. It is this sense of that which is holy which we interpret as an awakening or power of the Holy Spirit. If we stood on a corner inside of a vacuum where there is no air and yet felt air blow by us as a breeze, we would encounter an experience greater than ourselves. It could be interpreted and labeled by us as God. It is not important that it was or was not God. It is all about the interpretation and the experience, which we tend to retain.

There is a spirit that prevails over matter. This fact can be highlighted by the experiences of those who seek faith healers. They encounter a spiritual presence that is central to their faith. The power of God or Buddha is demonstrated by what occurs through that belief. Persons are healed. People speak in tongues. Buddha is awakened while in a trance or meditative state.

The power of the Holy Spirit allows us to do all things. It is Jesus Christ’s promise to Christians that we will not be left alone. He will send us an advocate, a counselor and teacher who will guide our ways and our days. The Christian theology is one of the holy Trinity. Three Gods yet in one person. One true God. God from God. The Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son. What does this Holy Spirit offer to us as Christians? Is it consistent with what Buddha found from his enlightenment?

A place to start is to look at the aspects of the Holy Spirit that impact healing and wholeness or Christians. First, the Holy Spirit is an empowering agent for Christians. It empowers the individual and the church. The individual is empowered as a born again or anew person. The Holy Spirit then acts as a counselor and guide to direct and help the Christian discern those issues that one faces in the continued life as a Christian. Jesus told the Disciples that the Holy Spirit would make a significant difference in their lives. They would be enabled and could receive the full power of the Spirit. The Spirit is renewing in the life of a Christian. It provides one the ability to become refreshed each and every day.

Another element is that we all receive one and the same Spirit. We are in a sense merge together with one another as if on another plane of existence. We are all with God of one Spirit. True unity is achieved, as we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. We are given the power to renew ourselves. This renewal helps us to achieve health and wholeness in others and ourselves.

Breath is an important aspect of the Holy Spirit. “Both Hebrew and Greek languages – the original languages of the old and New Testaments use the same words for spirit, wind, and breathe. Edwin Hatch, Anglican minister and lecturer at Oxford, addresses the Holy Spirit as the ‘Breath of God’ in a prayer hymn that portrays the transforming power of the Spirit in the life of the believers” (Smedes, 159). Breath is the source of life. It begins life and it ends life.

The Holy Spirit is transformative for Christians. It allows one to gradually change actions towards a new direction. For Christians, they can achieve the power to live a new life oriented around Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

It is by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives that we are able to begin to become more like Christ in all that we do, say and behave. The Holy Spirit is creating and sustaining for Christians. It is in that fact that the health and wholeness benefit the person. The Spirits pours out charisms for service into the world. They are for teaching, haling, miracles, prophesy, tongues and the discernment of spirits. All of these gifts are given to individuals for the good of all. They serve to make the one and the many stronger.

There are several questions that surface as one seeks to look at the relationship of the Buddha’s enlightenment and the power that is given to all believers by the Holy Spirit. Questions such as these seem to drive any discussion of these two religious systems. Questions such as:

q What is the role of the Holy Spirit in Christianity?

q How does it function to obtain healing in individuals?

q How is the concept of wholeness and healing facilitated by the Holy Spirit?

q What is the key aspect of Buddhism that speaks to wholeness and healing?

q How are they similar and yet different?

There is a distinct similarity between the Buddha’s desire to find an insight into reality and the materiality that existed in the world. He would label the material world as the human need for greed in one’s life. In this quest, Buddha goes back to a meditative practice to try to achieve holiness.

Throughout the New Testament, Jesus is stopping along His journey to pray and meditate. It was in these times that Christ would listen to His heavenly Father for the chosen will. Buddha achieved the highest knowledge and became Buddha in the meditative practice. “Now that he was the Buddha, the “enlightened one” Siddhartha Gautama was in a state of complete redemption and could have entered nirvana” (Freeman 225).

Buddha sought to gain freedom within himself. He in some accounts speaks to the trial that he endure while awaiting enlightenment. We too face trails all of our life. We are tempted by the materiality of the secular world. We face fear, doubt and uncertainty most days. It is not until we receive the power of the Holy Spirit that we too like Buddha become enlightened. Once this acceptance has taken place, we are new creature as new creation in Jesus Christ. Our spiritual life is just as amiss as was the Buddha prior to his awakening. In Buddhism “when someone makes a sincere commitment to the true path of spirituality, there arises certain trails that test one’s resolve” (Mitchell 18). It is said that these trails come form a person’s attachment to the world and all we desire. In Christ, we are supposed to be unattached to things of this world also. When Jesus is first calling His Disciples. One by one he tells them to “come and follow “. The emphasis is on leaving behind all that you feel sacred to in the world. Christ even goes so far as to say one is to leave your own family to follow Christ. We are more able to do this action when we have become empowered by the Holy Spirit. “One must have the faith or confidence to go ahead in the holy path despite these obstacles” (Mitchell 18).

It is interesting that Buddha during his awakening sought contemplation into the truth about his existence in this world. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. One can appreciate the common thread that penetrates both of these thoughts. Buddha’s enlighten path could be one in the dame ass the workings of the Holy Spirit. It is the mystery of faith that we believe as to what is the truth for us. For Buddha, he ascended to a high state of awakening (bodhi). His thoughts on the dependence of all of humanity and creation are congruent with Christian thought. This thought is also consistent with the Christian idea of dependence on the Lord for providing everything. Jesus tells us that we should look at the lilies of the valley they don’t do anything for themselves and yet God takes care of them.

The awakening of Gautama made it possible for him to be in a way self-redeemed. In Christianity this act of salvation comes as an unmerited free gift by the grace of God. We do not earn it. It is within each of us. In the state in which it is within us as prevenient grace is through the power of the Holy Spirit. When we accept Christ into our hearts, we activate this prevenient grace, which in turn through the power of the Holy Spirit awakens us to new life or rebirth. We are said to be born again or born anew. It is this Christian theological belief that mirrors the “knowledge” that Gautama gained from his enlightenment. The Buddha’s concept of knowledge is not merely an intellectual understanding that is gained. It is “a special religious knowledge a knowledge which goes far beyond the limits of reason and the intellect” (Freeman pg 228). Buddha is a human being who by the power of grace that had been given him receives salvation. In addition, as is the case with a Christian, Buddha has been born anew. He now possesses the power of the Holy Spirit which can be utilized for healing, teaching thee truth and for learning true knowledge that goes beyond reason.

Buddha in this awakened or enlightened state is congruent with the Christian theology of the Holy Spirit. Buddha’s knowledge does not come from outside him. Therefore, it was inside of him all of the time. It was only activated when he made an internal decision to give up control of his life. A life that was one of continuous suffering to him. “Buddha is a human who has awoken from the darkness of error to live in freedom from selfishness, greed and ignorance” (Freeman 230).

Buddha was at a spiritual state where he could accomplish much. As the Holy Spirit empowers persons so Buddha is empowered. Karma in Buddhism functions as good works for a Christian. The fruit of a Christian’s faith is the god works that are performed. Karma means action or works. It is consistent with the Christian idea of works. It is the quality, which shows itself in the thoughts words and deeds of an individual.

Another idea that is congruent with Christianity is that of the unity of the church. Buddha believed that the individual parts made up the whole. In Christianity from St. Paul, we are told that the church as the body of Christ is made up of many members that function as one whole.