I'm in a committed relationship with Jesus Christ and have been for some time, but I'm also in love with Buddha. Both Jesus and Buddha know about the other, and neither have said a word for or against what I'm doing. Buddha was my first love - I've known him for a great deal longer than I've known Jesus - and I don't want to give him up, but Jesus is my primary lover and I've been feeling increasingly guilty seeing Buddha so regularly. Perhaps I should call it off with him? I know that Jesus is here for the long term, and I fully intend to devote the rest of my life to him, but Buddha means so much to me. Am I cheating on Jesus, or is this a polyamorous relationship?
Responses (2)
You really should learn the doctrines of whatever you claim to follow. You apparently have listened to somebody tell you about Jesus when in fact they didn't know anything about doctrines either.
It is not reliable to let people tell you what the bible says. Many people will make up stuff because they don't know what it says, and many will make up stuff because they wish it would not say what it says. You just have to read it for yourself. Read a chapter of Proverbs every day. Proverbs has 31 chapters so you can keep your place by just looking at a calendar. There is no religion or nothing in Proverbs and you don't have to believe anything. Just read to find wisdom. When you are comfortable with that, then read the bible from Romans to 2 Thessalonians over and over until you start to remember what it says. That is the part that applies to Christians.
Your relationship to Jesus is entirely defined by Romans 10:9 & 10.
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Christianity is membership in a family: the family of God.
Buddhism is a philosophy: a way of looking at the world. No relation to Christianity.
As long as you are a Christian or a Buddhist, you will live and die without realizing God. To realize God, you must go beyond Christianity and Buddhism, you must realize that both are religions which are good but they cannot give you God. If you want to find God, you have to realize God. The temple of God is within you, says the Bible, God lives in the temple of your heart. The Buddha said - Apna deep kudh jalao, in English - Light the lamp within. Therefore God is within you, whether you have a relationship with Jesus or Buddha, these are just kindergarten feelings or pre-mature feelings which must evolve to spirituality, the university which will make you realize God.
I think you misunderstand. I know the Bible very well, and I attend church and several other Christian fellowships. I've been a committed Christian for several years now and have no intention of stopping. All I was wondering was whether I can practice Christianity and Buddhism simultaneously.