Conversion
This is noteworthy: Dalai Lama urges Christians not to convert to Buddhism.
I wonder if His Holiness is speaking not only out of genuine goodwill, which I'm sure he is, but also out of practical concern for the integrity of his own religion. I've known enough Western ex-Christian self-proclaimed Buddhist converts to know that they seldom add much to their new religion, in the way that the recently converted Christian Asians and Africans have added so many saints and faithful to the Catholic Church. [In fact, if you want to find Christian orthodoxy in the modern world, look to Africa and Asia!] Most of the Western converts to Buddhism I have encountered, in contrast, seek belief without dogma, religion without demands, spirituality without discipline, enlightenment without effort. In other words, they are seeking something that does not exist. The Dalai Lama should tell then to watch Oprah instead.
I am not speaking of the genuine converts to Buddhism who think in the Enlightened One's teachings they have found the answers to life's questions. They do exist. [The Korean Buddhist television channel has recently discovered them; all I see on that channel these days are blue-eyed monks and nuns speaking of the dharma.] I am speaking of the Hollywood and New Age-types who have latched onto Buddhism without ever bothering to learn what it is.
This is noteworthy: Dalai Lama urges Christians not to convert to Buddhism.
I wonder if His Holiness is speaking not only out of genuine goodwill, which I'm sure he is, but also out of practical concern for the integrity of his own religion. I've known enough Western ex-Christian self-proclaimed Buddhist converts to know that they seldom add much to their new religion, in the way that the recently converted Christian Asians and Africans have added so many saints and faithful to the Catholic Church. [In fact, if you want to find Christian orthodoxy in the modern world, look to Africa and Asia!] Most of the Western converts to Buddhism I have encountered, in contrast, seek belief without dogma, religion without demands, spirituality without discipline, enlightenment without effort. In other words, they are seeking something that does not exist. The Dalai Lama should tell then to watch Oprah instead.
I am not speaking of the genuine converts to Buddhism who think in the Enlightened One's teachings they have found the answers to life's questions. They do exist. [The Korean Buddhist television channel has recently discovered them; all I see on that channel these days are blue-eyed monks and nuns speaking of the dharma.] I am speaking of the Hollywood and New Age-types who have latched onto Buddhism without ever bothering to learn what it is.
Redeemed by Our Savior, I work out my salvation with fear and trembling in Pohang, South Korea, where I live with my wife, daughter, and son and teach English at a science and technology university. Baptized a Methodist and raised a Missouri Synod Lutheran in Buffalo, NY, I spent six years as a guest of the Anglican Communion before being received by the Grace of God into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church on the Feast of Saint Andrew, my patron, anno domini 2002.
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