Christianity and Nichiren Buddhism
\ Buddismo di Nichiren e Cristianesimo
Similarities between some concepts in Christian beliefs and Buddhism have been noted by various scholars.
In essence, the Christian concept of “God” and the Buddhist concept of the “Cosmic Life” share many features, such as: “the eternal”, “the creative power” , “the unborn”, as well as possessing the properties of “wisdom” and “compassion”.
One of the main differences between these two philosophies - is that “God” (or the Divine) has a personified character in Christianity (and is referred to by “he”),
while in Nichiren Buddhism the “Universal Power of Life” (Myoho) has non-personified character, (The ‘Energy of Life’ is beyond personification).
Modern Christianity teaches the concept of the “Christ within” - which is similar to the Buddhist concept of “Buddhanature”: the divine-within.
Christianity considers the spiritual aspect of life as the Ultimate Truth (God) whose existence is independent of the Universe (or that he had existed already before the Universe). On the other hand, Nichiren Buddhism considers the Ultimate Truth as the Eternal Life of the Universe itself (having both aspects; physical matter and spiritual-mind).
Similarly as in Christianity, Buddhism teaches that accumulated actions during one’s lifetime create consequences, and that death does not erase the consequences of one’s actions (good or bad). Buddhism teaches the Truth of Impermanence: living changes into death and death changes into rebirth (of karma) where the opportunity to correct one’s consequences of past actions is possible.
Based on the criteria that “Life” is the ultimate truth in Buddhism, the following may give a rough view on corresponding concepts in Buddhism and Christianity:
| Christianity | Buddhism | |
|---|---|---|
| The Divine | God | Life |
| The Origin | Uncreated, Unborn | Uncreated, Unborn |
| Time span | God is eternal | Life is eternal |
| The material & spiritual | Separate | Inseparable |
| Good and Evil | Separate | Inseparable |
| The Afterlife | Death | Rebirth |
| Heaven and Hell | Two external places | Two internal states |
The essence of Buddhist and Christian beliefs is also expressed by the behaviour of their founders in the real world, becoming role models for humanity. However - as was the case with Shakyamuni Buddha (ca 500 BC) - the events of life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth were written down by his disciples after the founder died. This fact creates uncertainty about various doctrines - attributed to the founder but cannot be verified.
The Issue of Certainty of the Founder’s Teachings
It is obvious that neither Shakyamuni Buddha nor Jesus of Nazareth had left any written document recording their teachings. If the quality of “certainty” (about founders’ teachings) is of any importance, then Nichiren’s writings come as an example of providing this certainty. Nichiren dedicated great efforts to leaving an enormous hand-written account on personally encountered events and on specific details about the scope and depth of his teachings - leaving in this way no room for doubt about the teachings he established.
Nevertheless, Nichiren’s writings - although available in written form - did not escape the tendency of his followers to interpret them in a variety of ways. This means that both Christianity and Buddhism (and in fact all religions) share this phenomenon of diversity of interpretations of teachings of related schools, each claiming to be “the correct” one. The number of Christian churches and Buddhist schools is perhaps comparably great. Amid this fact of diversity, SGI Buddhism aims at cooperation - rather than accenting differences - and focuses on “what is common” between various faith systems:
The search for what is common: Despite diversity of religious views, SGI literature maintains that it is possible to find the common thread of agreement between all religions. This can take place through creating a tendency for interpretation of various doctrines based on the perspective of ‘common humanity’.
Humanism can offer a uniting - rather than dividing - approach for people in their search for spiritual life.
Further Information
Jesus’ identity according to SGI Buddhism
The Concept of “LAW ” in Christianity