Worldviews: Hinduisim, Buddhism and New Age thinking

EXPLORING CHRISTIANITY - TRUTH

THE BIBLE
Can we trust a book written 2000 years ago?

EYEWITNESS
Did the writers of the New Testament get their picture of Jesus right?

GOD - MAN
Is Jesus really God?

RESURRECTION
Did Jesus really rise from the dead?

RELIGIONS
With so many religions, why Christianity?

SUFFERING
If there is a God, why is there so much suffering?

TRINITY
Understanding the Trinity.

SCIENCE
The complementary nature of Science & Christianity.

FORGIVENESS
What it is and why it matters?

GUIDANCE
How does God guide?

REPENTANCE
What it is and why you can't get to heaven without it.

BORN AGAIN
What does it mean to be converted and born again?

SAVING FAITH
The kind of faith that will get you to heaven

ASSURANCE
Can I know for sure that I am going to heaven?

TRUTH
What is truth and does it matter?

MORALITY
Does it matter how we live? A Christian view of morality.

THE CHURCH
God's vision for his family, the Church. A call to the churches of the new millennium.

PURPOSE
How can I find a great purpose for living?

IDENTITY
Who am I; Finding my true identity as a human being and as a child of God.

SELF-ESTEEM
How can I feel good about my self? The Christian basis for proper sel-esteem.

LIFE AFTER DEATHChristianity's Hope & Challenge.

THE CROSS
Why did Jesus Die? What the Bible says about the Cross.

Grace
The importance of grace in the New Testament.

Hinduisim, Buddhism and New Age thinking

"Suffering, rather than evil, is seen as our major problem and much of Hindu and Buddhist philosophy is a response to this"

It is obviously simplistic to lump Hinduism and Buddhism together, but they do have certain basic beliefs in common. New Age thinking tends to be an adaption of some of these Eastern beliefs to Western culture.

Reality

Everything is God. We all share the same essence or "stuff" of reality, which is spirit (Hinduism - the Brahma; Buddhism - Nirvana). This philosophy of the unity of all things has been called Monism. The basic philosophy of New Age thinking has been summed up in three pithy sayings: "All is God", "All is one" and "All is well". The New Age concept of God is impersonal, usually described as Force, Energy, Essence, Consciousness, Vibration, Principle, or Being.

Matter

This material world is unreal, a sort of fantasy or dream of some kind. The "realised soul" understands that this world means nothing and is of no value. Ultimately, salvation consists in escaping from matter. New Agers tend to put a little more value on this world than do Hindus and Buddhists.

Humans

We are one with God. Our unity with all reality is emphasised. Individual personality is underplayed.

Meaning

Meaning in life comes through realising who we are in our oneness with the divine spirit. There are no criteria for judging true from false religious experience. "I believe" tends to become "I feel".

How we know truth

Our significant learning comes from withdrawal from the world, looking within, getting in touch with our real selves, the divine within. Hinduism, Buddhism and New Age share a distrust of reason. In Hindusim and Buddhism the Ultimate is unknown and unknowable. It is neti neti, not this, not that'.

Morality

Sin is merely ignorance of the true nature of reality. We need enlightenment, not repentance. Suffering, rather than evil, is seen as our major problem and much of Hindu and Buddhist philosophy is a response to this. For some, there is no objective standard of right and wrong. As one spiritual sage from India put it, "It's not a question of whether you are good or bad...good and bad are relative. They are two sides of one coin, part of the same whole." In a similar vein, Carl Frederick wrote in Playing the Game the New Way, "You are the supreme being...there isn't any right or wrong." New Age guru Shirley Maclaine's philosophy, along with that of many other New Agers, could be summed up as: "If it feels good, do it."

Death

We die only to be reborn in a continuous cycle of rebirth - reincarnation. In our next life we will endure the consequences of our behaviour in this one - the Eastern doctrine of Karma. If we succeed in progressing in the steps of enlightenment we will eventually escape this cycle into Nirvana where individual personality will be absorbed into complete oneness with Ultimate Reality, like a wave being absorbed back into the ocean. Much of Buddhism denies the personal nature of God. New Age thinkers tend to be a little more optimistic about our continuous advance in this process than do Hindus and Buddhists.

History

Because we are caught up in this constant cycle of rebirth, history has little meaning. Eastern religion tends not to understand the world in terms of purpose. As someone has said, there is "movement and change without involving the idea of purpose."

In this worldview the focus tends to be on self, how we can improve ourselves, rather than on how we can know God, and better serve him and others. A typical statement from a popular New Age magazine says: "All paths lead to God. The true path finally becomes self empowerment: the path of self-love. Then one demonstrates that they can manifest God and no longer need to look outside themselves for this information. They have become the path themselves."