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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. Cool, thanks 
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.
Quote: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?Quote: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!
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. Buddhism in the west, is of course, little like the Asian version.
Quote:Atonement, or at-one-ment? Surrendering to the will of God?
No quite different. One’s pantheism, and the other is uniting yourself with the will of God.
Quote:Putting off the natural man? Search, ponder and pray?
Buddhism talks a lot about what we’d think of as the natural man. You’re right on here.
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!
SamBee wrote:Life_Journey_of_Matt wrote:Atonement, or at-one-ment? Surrendering to the will of God?
No quite different. One’s pantheism, and the other is uniting yourself with the will of God.You don’t have to take it to complete pantheism. Maybe God does have some attributes that are more easily explained from a pantheistic viewpoint vs. an anthropomorphic viewpoint. Have you ever considered where the “Light of Christ” might come from? Without or within? Some would say it emanates from everything.
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. SamBee wrote: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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For the record Matt, I’m a Pantheist, and proud of it. Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
Yeah, cwald, I saw that one coming. 
mom3 wrote: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.
Ann – It was quotes like that Quote:“Benevolence is greatly emphasized, but love is disparaged.”
which made me a little unsettled. Much of it I liked, but one of the meditations Buddhist is called Loving Kindness and it is all about loving yourself, then choosing an easy person to love and pondering on them, and choosing a hard person to love and pondering on them. For me it is very therapeutic and helps me feel or stir feelings towards genuine love and caring in my relationships with people.
Maybe someone who has studied more can add to it, but Buddhism seemed to me to invite and encourage love and benevolence.
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. It’s easy to see how people would talk past each other on this subject. I see Western romantic love not being a particularly high aim, but what about the love of parent for child, etc. I think I’ve been influenced by the stereotype of serene-to-the-point-of-cold-and-detached. It’s always interesting to take a closer look and realize that EVERY religion is evolving – like on the last page where he talks about Buddhism being “under pressure to reform and to re-evaluate its place in national histories and world civilizations.” I remember early on reading about a significant number of Buddhists just like me – seriously concerned about finding ways to “StayBuddhist.”
cwald wrote:SamBee wrote: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.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
That’s the intent. Am waiting for the restored dharma.
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