CHRIST AND BUDDHA — AN EXTRAORDINARY DIFFERENCE
Frederick Buechner, in his book Now and Then, has a section on his comparison of the teachings of Buddha and Jesus Christ, a topic he wrestled with when he was teaching at Phillips-Exeter Academy: Finally, lest students of comparative religion be tempted to believe that to compare them is to discover that at their hearts all religions are finally one and that it thus makes little difference which one you choose, you have only to place side by side Buddha and Christ themselves. Buddha sits enthroned beneath the Bo-tree in the lotus position. His lips are faintly parted in the smile of one who has passed beyond every power in earth or heaven to touch him. “He who loves fifty has fifty woes, he who loves ten has ten woes, he who loves none has no woes,” he has said. His eyes are closed. Christ, on the other hand, stands in the garden of Gethsemane, angular, beleaguered.…
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