Buddhism in the Ensign

This was truly a fascinating read. I have been on an Eckhart Tolle kick lately, and he draws heavily from these Eastern traditions.

Here are a couple of LDS parallels that jumped out at me most forcefully.

Buddhism teaches that in mortality men run the ever-present risk of neglecting the inner man, the higher spiritual forces of life. In his struggle for existence man seeks the satisfaction of his physical needs and his mind is engrossed in material things. He faces the hazard of spiritual atrophy, through involvement in the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of its riches. Buddhists believe that the only antidote is withdrawal, repairing to secret chambers and quiet places of worship where reverence for the eternal can be encouraged.

Putting off the natural man? Search, ponder and pray?

In Buddhism, all reality is one. The starting point is a belief in the ultimate nonexistence of separate personalities, and the ultimate goal is negation of ego. The Buddhist approach follows the assertion of Gotama, “all is without a self,” which is basic to the Buddhist explanation of man’s predicament.

Atonement, or at-one-ment? Surrendering to the will of God?

Thanks so much for sharing, mom3!

There is a series of articles in the ensign from that time period covering a few of the different beliefs. I found a lot of the articles from back then really informative, or a launching point for further investigation (eg the Palestinian conflict).

I must get back to them …. I gave up when the Gospel library kept on being upgraded and everytime I did that, it deleted all my bookmarks. Very frustrating!

I’ve said often that if I wasn’t Christian, I would be Buddhist. If I left the LDS Church at any point, I would be non-denominational and get more into Buddhism.

For the record Matt, I’m a Pantheist, and proud of it.

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I’ve been very fascinated with Buddhism and it’s principles and today in searching some information on it I ran across an Ensign article from 1972 on it. The article is long and I don’t know what I think of the author’s conclusion but the fact that an article that is so detailed about another religion/philosphy ever appeared in the Ensign was a total shock to me. If you want to glance at it feel free, it is long so if you don’t finish it, I totally understand.

http://www.lds.org/ensign/1972/06/buddhism

Thanks, mom3. The vocabulary needed to read this is way beyond what today’s Ensign requires.

“Benevolence is greatly emphasized, but love is disparaged.” Is this accurate? Just curious.

There is a difference between the Western understanding of “romantic love” (particularly a love that could be described in some way as possessive) and the Buddhist understanding of what might be termed “charity” – or the type of love described in Enos with his prayer of acceptance and forgiveness. I see the Buddhist version as very compatible with “the pure love of Christ” writ large across humanity – and it is far more expansive and inclusive than the theologies of most Christian denominations.

My take

is that Buddhism is wisdom mingled with the misguided philosophies of

men. It has great insight, mixed sometimes with occultic and sinister

practises. It provides great social wisdom, combined sometimes with

feudalism. It matches the greatest intellectuals, and yet also

incorporates quaint folk traditions…

-sigh-

Sorry Ray, but you know what is coming….

That sounds a lot like another religion that gets talked about on this

forum.

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That’s the intent. Am waiting for the restored dharma.