Unity Church obviously influenced by Buddhism?

[Toxikmynd]

Among other Eastern religions, but the Unity Church goes as far as saying (not literally but technically) Jesus was just like Buddha and that we all have an inner Christ.. I like Unity because it gives people more into Western style religions a doorway into the Eastern religions. Yet this is pretty ridiculous in my opinion. Does anyone else see any similarities?

 

[George-ananda]

Among other Eastern religions, but the Unity Church goes as far as saying (not literally but technically) Jesus was just like Buddha and that we all have an inner Christ.. I like Unity because it gives people more into Western style religions a doorway into the Eastern religions. Yet this is pretty ridiculous in my opinion. Does anyone else see any similarities?

It doesn't seem ridiculous to me at all. It provides a pathway to the realization that it is all One. My belief is God resides in our heart (inner Christ).

 

[Unveiled Artist]

The history is dissimilar, but what they both stood for is very much in sync. The only difference is the source and the practices themselves. Christ got His words from His Father. Buddha got His Words from observing Himself and the world around Him which lead to His enlightenment.

They are similar in that:

Christ told us to follow His Father by celebrating His Life, Death, and Resurrection with communion with others.

The Buddha said "As long as the followers of the Way hold regular and frequent assemblies, they may be expected to prosper and not decline. As long as they meet in harmony, break up in harmony, and carry on in their business in harmony, they may be expected to prosper and not decline. (Mahapartnibbanna Sutta)

Both said they we have a holy nature within us. Christ said that everyone is pulled by God (so no one person is alone and just all of the sudden say "I want to believe") and He said that those His Father Has chosen as well as those who are willing to say yes, have the Holy Spirit within them--new nature.

The Buddha said that we all have a Buddha Nature (Mahayana) to which we are always aware of when we are not attached to things that Christ and The Buddha said were sins such as greed, killing, lust, and so have you.

"There is no fire like greed, no crime like hatred, no sorrow like separation, no sickness like hunger of the heart, and no joy like the joy of freedom. Health, contentment, and trust are your greatest possessions and freedom your greatest joy. Look within, be still, free from fear and attachment, know the sweet joy of living in the Way." (Dhammapada)

What separates the two is is Christ said look to His Father. The Buddha said look to yourself.​

Other than that, Christianity is an eastern religion (eastern origins), so I wouldn't be surprised if someone eastern concepts mixed in Christian faith. The Buddha was alive long before the Church came to be.

The Buddha's teachings are eternal. "Since I attained Buddhahood the number of kalpas that have passed is immeasurable...constantly I have preached the Law to convert millions of living beings to enter the Buddha Way. [You-His disciples--think] I appear to enter nirvana but in truth I do not pass into extinction. I am always here, preaching the Law." (LS pg 21)​

Among other Eastern religions, but the Unity Church goes as far as saying (not literally but technically) Jesus was just like Buddha and that we all have an inner Christ.. I like Unity because it gives people more into Western style religions a doorway into the Eastern religions. Yet this is pretty ridiculous in my opinion. Does anyone else see any similarities?

 

[Toxikmynd]

The history is dissimilar, but what they both stood for is very much in sync. The only difference is the source and the practices themselves. Christ got His words from His Father. Buddha got His Words from observing Himself and the world around Him which lead to His enlightenment.

They are similar in that:

Christ told us to follow His Father by celebrating His Life, Death, and Resurrection with communion with others.

The Buddha said "As long as the followers of the Way hold regular and frequent assemblies, they may be expected to prosper and not decline. As long as they meet in harmony, break up in harmony, and carry on in their business in harmony, they may be expected to prosper and not decline. (Mahapartnibbanna Sutta)

Both said they we have a holy nature within us. Christ said that everyone is pulled by God (so no one person is alone and just all of the sudden say "I want to believe") and He said that those His Father Has chosen as well as those who are willing to say yes, have the Holy Spirit within them--new nature.

The Buddha said that we all have a Buddha Nature (Mahayana) to which we are always aware of when we are not attached to things that Christ and The Buddha said were sins such as greed, killing, lust, and so have you.

"There is no fire like greed, no crime like hatred, no sorrow like separation, no sickness like hunger of the heart, and no joy like the joy of freedom. Health, contentment, and trust are your greatest possessions and freedom your greatest joy. Look within, be still, free from fear and attachment, know the sweet joy of living in the Way." (Dhammapada)

What separates the two is is Christ said look to His Father. The Buddha said look to yourself.​

Other than that, Christianity is an eastern religion (eastern origins), so I wouldn't be surprised if someone eastern concepts mixed in Christian faith. The Buddha was alive long before the Church came to be.

The Buddha's teachings are eternal. "Since I attained Buddhahood the number of kalpas that have passed is immeasurable...constantly I have preached the Law to convert millions of living beings to enter the Buddha Way. [You-His disciples--think] I appear to enter nirvana but in truth I do not pass into extinction. I am always here, preaching the Law." (LS pg 21)​

It is true that Christianity is Eastern in origin, but it's become a western religion. You have lots of good points, but I was just saying how similar the Unity sect is with Buddhism, not the whole of Christianity.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Ooh. I dont know anything about the unity church

It is true that Christianity is Eastern in origin, but it's become a western religion. You have lots of good points, but I was just saying how similar the Unity sect is with Buddhism, not the whole of Christianity.

 

[Vishvavajra]

Among other Eastern religions, but the Unity Church goes as far as saying (not literally but technically) Jesus was just like Buddha and that we all have an inner Christ.. I like Unity because it gives people more into Western style religions a doorway into the Eastern religions. Yet this is pretty ridiculous in my opinion. Does anyone else see any similarities?

I'm not familiar with the church in question, but what you describe is in fact a legitimate way of reading Paul, and it seems to have been one that a number of Christian sects accepted in the early days of the religion (the ones who would later be labeled as Gnostic). I'm pretty sympathetic to it myself, not just because I'm a practitioner of Buddhadharma, but also because my own reading of Paul and Jesus, going back to the original Greek, is basically along those lines.

In my opinion, if you approach early Christianity through the lens of Buddhist thought, a lot of things that didn't make any sense before suddenly start to come together. They're parallel traditions in a lot of ways. I don't think there was any direct influence there, but it's a case of people in different places and cultural contexts coming to some of the same realizations. But then of course the early Christians are couching it in specifically Judaic terms, so it comes out seeming very different. But the basic soteriology might have been more similar than people think, on a practical level. A Buddhist could very easily see Jesus as a bodhisattva or even a solitary Buddha who was using the skillful means of appealing to the cultural assumptions of the people around him, while also trying to get them to see something deeper.

The thing is, Orthodox Christianity (i.e. pretty much the source of all extant Christian traditions today) took a sharp turn away from that way of thinking, taking the tradition in a direction that isn't very compatible with Buddhist thought anymore. So any groups today that try to bridge that gap get seen as oddballs and heretics.

 

[Sand Dancer]

I attended a Unity service this morning. I like the message that no specific religion holds all truth. We are all trying to be close to God in our own way.

 

[Unification]

Among other Eastern religions, but the Unity Church goes as far as saying (not literally but technically) Jesus was just like Buddha and that we all have an inner Christ.. I like Unity because it gives people more into Western style religions a doorway into the Eastern religions. Yet this is pretty ridiculous in my opinion. Does anyone else see any similarities?

All the texts generally mean the same, universally. Every human has a brain, a mind, and a heart no matter what religion. The problems, and all problems stem by taking the outward and literal and historical meanings instead of the internalized spiritual meanings. It's truly beautiful seeing the exact same truths in all other religious texts. Internalized.