{"id":76977,"date":"2019-08-11T19:30:17","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T01:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=76977"},"modified":"2019-08-11T20:57:22","modified_gmt":"2019-08-12T02:57:22","slug":"tentative-meditations-of-a-non-buddhologist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/08\/tentative-meditations-of-a-non-buddhologist.html","title":{"rendered":"Tentative meditations of a non-Buddhologist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Buddha<\/a>
A first- or second-century AD seated image of the Buddha from Gandhara
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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In my teens, I did a bit of reading on Buddhism<\/a> (e.g., some Alan Watts, a dab of D. T. Suzuki, and, of course, Herman Hesse\u2019s Siddhartha<\/em>,\u00a0which was really in vogue among young aspiring intellectuals in late-1960s California) and I\u2019ve done a little bit of reading on Buddhism since then, as well. \u00a0But I\u2019m by no means an expert on Buddhism, and I don\u2019t claim to be.<\/p>\n

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So I\u2019m going to sketch out a line of thinking here and invite anybody who does<\/em> know anything about Buddhism to weigh in, to tell me whether I\u2019m completely off base or not:<\/p>\n

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My impression is that, in a certain sense, Buddhism and Christianity (certainly the LDS understanding of Christianity) are polar opposites in their conception of the nature of human salvation.<\/p>\n

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Buddhism is focused on overcoming or escaping suffering. \u00a0Buddhism\u2019s \u201cFour Noble Truths,\u201d purportedly the heart of essence of the teaching of the Buddha, are<\/p>\n