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Is the "peace" of Buddhism different from Jesus' peace?


2/24/02      Alice

I asked a young lady named Alice at the laundromat what she believes about life after death. She said she has believed in reincarnation ever since high school where she had some Buddhist friends and was intrigued by their beliefs which were so different from her Roman-Catholic upbringing. She hasn’t really become a Buddhist yet, but remains attracted to their message of peace, both the peace that can be attained within and the peaceful way of life Buddhists preach and strive for in relating to others.

“Peace”, much like “love”, can be a lofty, idealistic goal that looks great from a distance and serves as a nice principle to base one’s life on, but gets pretty complicated and flawed when one attempts to live it out on a day to day basis. Yet Christianity, too, makes claims as a path to peace much like Buddhism does.

On the most unpeaceful night of his life, a night in which Jesus is said to have been in such anguish and earnest prayer that his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground as he anticipated his crucifixion the next day, Jesus said “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

Paul, who brought the gospel of Jesus to people throughout the Roman Empire, spoke often of that peace as he shared it. He was able to write that “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Yet Paul faced turmoil everyday because of his faith: “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.”

What transcends understanding about the peace spoken of in the Bible is how we as Christians experience it not as we pursue it directly and try to attain it for ourselves and our own good pleasure, as in Buddhism, but as we find it in pursuing something and Someone so much bigger than ourselves. Jesus found it even in Gethsemene as he submitted to the will of the Father, and He offers this same peace to us as we live for Him.

Thanks, Alice, for allowing me to record our conversation! It can be seen at https://youtu.be/4rDMA-cPb0A on my YouTube channel.

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