A Word of Note:
The discussions below are not meant to disparage higher beings in spiritual practice, teachings of Christianity, or any other religion, but to further investigate and shed light in some relevant issues of spiritual endeavors. There is no intention to directly convert others' views and beliefs, but hereby are just matters of experience being shared about threading a path to Buddhism. The tone of language had been made objective and clear as much as possible. Some Pali words have been sparingly introduced and utilized. It is recommended that readers who are unfamiliar with Buddhism to further research the meanings and concepts of the Pali words.
A Period of Roaming
Having been had born in a Christian Catholic family, I have been grateful for learning and experiencing the very good teachings of Jesus Christ. However, deep inside I had still felt and experienced some cavities in the aspect of spirituality - there were things not clear, some teachings and concepts just do not reconcile. A teacher of religion subject or priest would usually state that hardships happen to us as forms of tests by God, and sometimes sufferings and inequities are even borne by those who are good. If we had asked, "Why would a loving and perfect God let such injustices happen?" The teacher or priest would answer, "They are mysteries that we can not understand and only God knows and allows them to happen for some purpose. These had been one of the issues that remained unresolved; searching and reflecting at issues of concern in Christian teachings availed no help − after all, the teachings of Jesus Christ were being transmitted in a manner of dogma or blind faith. Such circumstances made me quite restless and doubtful even when I had attended some mass during Sundays in churches.
From years on being a student at an academic school to years of working as an employee, I have wandered into some religious and spiritual odysseys. During my days in college, I had attended some bible study sessions upon invitation from groups that adhere to the teachings of Baptist fundamentalists. Although there were bits of difference at their institution and emphasis of practice in Christianity compared to Roman Catholics they were really not an answer to my spiritual predicament. I kept myself open to other more teachings.Thus, I found myself reading Buddhist and Taoist books as well. I found Taoism more pleasant and perhaps easier and so I had thought it more suitable for me. But then, there are things that I also found vague in Taoism, perhaps I had just chosen it for convenience and indulgence. On the other hand, I found Buddhism too profound and serious that I could not grasped the significance of it's teachings. On one occasion, an office mate mentioned how calm and rested he gets from attending a session of meditation after work. I then learned that he had been attending classes at a branch of Brahma Kumaris. And so out of curiosity and interest, I inquired about the location of Brahma Kumaris temple and got myself initiated in their teachings. That occasion then provided me an introduction to formal meditation. However, their dogmatic approach of teaching truth and some conflicting concepts in their teachings made me realized that their path would not be an answer to my spiritual predicament. Learning that I could borrow more books to study and reflect, I began to read about Zen Buddhism. Afterwards, I also began to read about Tibetan Buddhism. I have noted that these two sects of Buddhism are offsprings of the original Buddhism. That point then made me realized that I should instead focus at the original school of Buddhism - I was getting confused with some bit of contrasting approaches by the offspring sects or schools of Buddhism. And Theravada Buddhism is the only school of Buddhism left following the original form of teaching of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha. In Mahayana and Tibetan school of Buddhism some other aspects had been added in their teachings and practice. These added aspects may or may not actually support the original teachings of the Buddha. Some of these offspring schools even went to the extent of changing or watering down significant teachings of Buddhism to compromise with other parties.
My previous studies with Taoism had somehow given help in understanding some hard concepts in Buddhism; some concepts in Taoism are quite similar with those being taught in Buddhism. However, Buddhism is much more profound and comprehensive in its tenets.
Now, a better understanding of Buddhism is being made through Theravada Buddhism, but the path is much harder as the responsibility of liberation has to be carried out by oneself and not by depending on a god. One should take responsibility of one's actions. In other words, one should take responsibility of one's Kamma (karma in Sanskrit).
However, an alternative path for us as laypersons if we are not ready to take an ardous path to enlightenment is to make the best of being noble human beings in order to be born in heaven or a favorable life after death. As long as a very good level of morality and compassion have been in our life then perhaps regardless of religion we may be born in a heavenly realm after this life. Buddhism is such very, very subtle teaching and practice, I do not expect though to become a full Buddhist person in this life right away, but hoped to learn many insightful and practical ways from it. There are actually many obstacles along the way, but these may be part of the trek − suffering (as mentioned in the First Noble Truth of Buddhist teachings) is one of the things in life to properly deal with; meditation, intention and precepts should not be downplayed in the practice. Even if I do not become a real Buddhist in this life, I will in the next life.
Christianity like all other religions teaches us to have compassion and practice spiritual life. It also teaches us to treat Jesus Christ as part of the Trinity of God and obey his teachings in order to be saved and reach heaven after death. However, it is also open to many other questions and has some unclear/conflicting statements. If it teaches that God is the almighty good and powerful creator of all living and non-living things in nature, God is perfect and omnipresent everywhere then why is there suffering and ignorance in the lives of created creatures? And why are there no checking of evil deeds performed by many humans? It may be argued that because of free will humans are left on their own to do good or evil. However, claimed freewill is biased if to be thoroughly scrutinized in all the people. If Christianity is the only correct religion to be followed then that would mean a great error or failure on the part of God because Christians are only a small fraction compared to the whole population of human beings on earth. It would mean that our referred God is not perfectly good because the creation of non-Christians, some babies with congenital defect, and other lower life forms (animals and virus) are ongoing.
Just the thought of God being born human and eventually being put on the cross to suffer and die is travesty. But Christianity teaches that Jesus as God-the-Son was sent by God-the-Father to earth to serve as sacrificial lamb to cleanse the sins of those who may believe. So, in this manner it is depicted that God is loving and merciful. In that process, God also suffers like humans from the concern and sacrifices made to save mankind. Such then show that God also suffers and is not perfect.
The New Testament bible that had been formed after Jesus and all his apostles had been executed by Roman soldiers require lot of examination with regards to its writers. Christianity is usually taught about Jesus Christ as being part of the devine trinity of absolute God. It refers to other people with different religions and objects of attention as being pagans. It is to be noted however that Christianity that was promoted by the Roman empire during ancient times as well as other Europeans that followed and colonized other countries were mostly done by force. The Christian religion, thus, was misused and thru politics proclaimed righteous. Thus, the proliferation of Christianity is a mistaken identity of true faith.
If any other religion such as Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, etc. similarly advocates itself as the only righteous or correct religion in teaching about the true, perfect God then it would also be a mistake.
However, a very important teaching to note in Buddhism is that kamma or volitional action is responsible for the creation of beings.
Although Buddhism also does not directly answer all your questions, the answers for those not apparent may be revealed after you try to penetrate more deeply into life with time, reflection, and meditation. Buddhism's ultimate goal is not just to be born or reborn in heaven, but to attain Nibbana and finally Parinibbana which is the final release from ignorance, samsara and suffering. Buddhism, unlike most other religions, teaches that all of us who are under the realm of samsara (humans, Devas, Brahmas, animals, ghosts, demons, etc.) live temporary lives in temporary worlds − subject to impermanence, subject to the cycle of being reborn and re-death. Even though gods and angels live very long lives compared to humans they also are not eternal in their state. Note that the Revelation 12 of the Bible depicts a disharmony or war in heaven, two groups of angels fight each other. Michael and his group of angels were summoned by God to fight against Satan's group. Satan's group were defeated and thrown down to earth. Were Satan and his group of angels then reborn as humans? How can one say that heaven is perfect, eternal, and without suffering as claimed in Christian teachings. In the bible, it is also written that Jesus had been born here on earth and had died on the cross when he was a man which depicted that he also had to go through rebirth and death in this world.
These depictions of God and Angels go along with the teachings of the Buddha that although Brahmas and Devas live in great bliss in heavenly realms and possess very superior power than human beings they are still subject to anicca (impermanence), dukkha (but the suffering is very much less and more subtle than those experienced by humans), and anatta (non-self).
The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to free us from suffering by attaining Nibanna. According to the Buddha, we live in the realm of samsara − experiencing continuous repetition of cycles consisting birth, life, and death whether we be gods, humans, animals, ghosts, demons, etc. As we are all subject to Anicca or impermanence, there are no eternal worlds; heavens and hells are only temporary. Therefore, it may be useless to search for the all powerful and perfect God in our realm. The only way for us to be liberated from the continuous cycle of samsara is to purify ourselves until we attain Nibbana and finally Parinibbana.
Having shared such profound teachings may I ask you the question, "What is your final spiritual goal − is it to eventually go to heaven and meet God or is it to attain Nibbana?"
The Buddha had already transcended our realm long time ago after attaining Parinibbana. Who knows how would it be like when one has already attained Parinibbana. Just a matter of speculation, perhaps one can now find and be with the God(/s) or Creator(/s).
If Buddhism is to be treated as religion, one may acknowledged that its tenets were not intended for all people to follow - the Buddha did not declare his teachings to be strictly imposed on everyone. Buddhism can address the problems of extremism by the advocating its teachings of the Middle Path.
Moments of Deliberation
Some of the issues about the belief in God that should be considered for deliberation are "We are born in this world without clear proof of God;" and "Which religion teaches about true God?" Perhaps one may speculate that under some circumstances, but out of diversity each of us is born from parents who may be practicing certain religion, agnostic or atheist. However, all of us who believe in God or Almighty Creator based our religion from an ancient founder − who lived at different period (and is already dead), different country, and different culture. How could we ascertain that our God and religion is the true one? As we have been born and lived under these circumstances, it may be inferred that a compassionate and reasonable God would not expect all of us to know or adore the same entity of God or Gods or form or follow the same religion .
Another issue which may be considered by us as humans is the vulnerability of our life in this world − one of the Buddha's most controversial teachings is the avoidance of asking favors from God/gods thru prayers. How then are we to treat this matter during times of desperation? Praying is deeply embedded in the culture of Filipinos. As laypeople, under certain circumstances such as life and death situations, asking for mercy from a Dhammic Brahma or Deva thru prayers may not transgress our practice of Buddhism. However, note that this Brahma or Deva is not considered as the real almighty creator of the universe or God, but as a supernal and spiritually evolved being.
At the same time, it would be nobly well to express our earnest gratitude to the Buddha, Brahma, Deva, parents, teachers, benefactors, etc. for any blessings or wholesome benefits received.
Metta,
RLM