The Right Attitude of a Practitioner Who Believes Buddhism and Non-Buddhism

There are four kinds of attitudes we can find in practitioners who believe both Buddhism and non-Buddhism. Some people may even believe in more than two religions. In China some scholars emphasize the identification of three religions, i.e. Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, or five religions, adding Christianity and Islam. Among us today are many who believe Buddhism and Christianity. We need to know these four kinds of attitudes and adopt the right way of thinking.

 

The four kinds of attitudes are: sectarianism, syncretism, discrimination, and plagiarism.

 

I. Sectarianism

 

Sectarianism was very seriously taken in ancient times and caused many wars. For example, the Catholics fought the Protestants, as is even happening today in Ireland. Each group thinks his God is the only God and each has its own scriptures. The Catholics won't allow themselves to read the Old Testament, while the Jews do not recognize the New Testament. Each has its own sectarian practices. This is too subjective a view and these sects do not allow reasonable comparative study.

 

In China, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, those prominent officials who mixed some aspects of Buddhism in with their faith in Confucianism were not allowed to arrange their spirit tablets in the public Confucian Temple and to accept the annual offering sacrifice. Those who had strong faith in Buddhism usually said to themselves, "Why need to accept the three pieces of cold pork, when our consciousness has already been in Sukhavati?!"

 

The sectarian Taoists also did not like Buddhism. In Chinese Buddhism history there were campaigns against Buddhists called "Three Wu Emperors' Rebellions" by Taoist Emperors. "Wu" was a posthumous title which somehow meant "wild" given by public historians to that reign. Many monasteries were destroyed and many monks were forced to become layman during those times. All those emperors died at an early age.

 

In our time, Communist countries which are atheist such as China and Russia have no sectarianism at all. In the nations of the free world, like America, everybody has opened their minds and has accepted every religion. So Sectarianism is not the main topic I should talk about. Neither should it be chosen as a correct attitude.

 

II. Syncretism

 

Next we come to the second attitude which is Syncretism. It emphasizes, in effect, that every road leads to Rome. This means that from New York you can get to Rome and from San Francisco you can get to Rome, but you will pass through different places along the way. I do not think that all religions are really so similar. In my humble opinion it seems that non-Buddhist religions are more like each other than Buddhism compared to non-Buddhism.

 

Other religions establish a creator, whether Jehovah, Jesus or Brahma, and worship this special God keeping his image as a Godhead. In Buddhism, Godhood is still within the realm of Transmigration, although of the highest class. But even though first class, this Godhood is still within the laws of transmigration.

 

Many teachers say the same thing about the blending of religions, or Syncretism, that all religions, Taoism, Buddhism, the Tantras, Confucianism, are the same. Once I was invited to dinner with a Tibetan teacher and a Chinese doctor who believed in Syncretism. The Tibetan Rinpoche asked me, "Many Chinese say that Taoism is like our Tibetan Buddhism, is this so?" I said, "No. Taoism and Buddhism were even given some comparative study by the old Emperors in China." Here are some stories about Buddhism and Taoism.

 

Taoism belongs to non-Buddhism. Taoists have many Gods as the Three Qing, Three Shi and Three Di, and they also have some tantra teachings and many different schools. Some schools are just like the Hindu tantra and emphasize Divine Love; some schools just emphasize pure meditation.

 

Many years back in Kalimpong, India I was given a prophesy by an American Professor, Mr. Thomas from New York. He could see many things in the future. He never knew me but once in his meditation he heard the name "Chen," and many things about this person were told to him. "Who is this Chen?" he asked a Buddhist friend, Mrs. Scott. Scott was my reader for more than 20 years and said that I may be that Chen. Mr. Thomas wrote me and said, "On July 18, 1957 you will make a strong contact and you will impart a certain knowledge which will be expanded." This foretelling was 3 years before that date. At that time I wanted to write a book in Chinese comparing Taoism and Buddhism. It was titled "Discriminations between Median Channel, Yellow Path, Du Mai, and Spinal Column." When this writing was finished, I prayed for a protector to protect this book. All this was taken care of and when all was finished, I found in my calendar book that the exact foretold date had arrived. This book on Taoism and Buddhism has been prefaced by three very learned persons in China; one was a Taoist who was a very high disciple of a Guru who lived 300 years; one was a Buddhist for 30 years, and the last one was a Buddhist who also believed in Hinduism. They each wrote a preface and each emphasized his own religion. So this book is connected with Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism. Four words appeared in my meditative light, reading "Bei Dou Ji Shou," which means "The God of the Dipper bows." The Dipper is a big star and the God of the Dipper is worshipped by Taoists. At that time I heard a heavenly voice saying, "Wherever this book appears, thousands of Gods worship it, and thousands of sages protect it." These few sentences were repeated by heavenly voices from the Taoist Sutra of the Dipper. In my book some of the competitions held by ancient Emperors between Buddhism and Taoism were discussed as well as some of the inspirations through experiments of the Emperors. Now I will tell you about some of them.

 

Once the Emperor of Han asked the leader of Taoism and the leader of Buddhism to come to his palace to compete with each other. Mo Teng who was a famous Indian sage who taught Hinayana Buddhism in China came as well as the Taoist Leaders. The Sutras, the scriptures of Buddhism, and the Lao Zi and the Yi Jing, the scriptures of Taoism, were brought. A tower was made. The Taoist scriptures were put on one side and the Buddhist sutras on the other. Both were lit by fire to see which would burn up. The result was extraordinary. The Taoist books were all burned up and the Taoist leader, who usually could fly, found at that time that he himself was unable to do so. But when the Buddhist sutras were lit, the sutras did fly and the fire did not touch the sutras. Mo Teng himself, who had never flown before, on that occasion flew up. The Taoist founder immediately fainted and died, and the 600 Taoists present took refuge from Mo Teng. This kind of competition sponsored by the Emperor is written about in history books. Since that time Buddhism flourished in China.

 

In the Tang Dynasty, the Emperor was named Li, which was the same name as the leading Taoist teacher, Lao Zi. So it was said that as the Emperor and the Taoist leader both had the same surname, the Tang dynasty should emphasize Taoism. But actually this Tang ruler emphasized Buddhism much more than Taoism. There is a short story which is interesting. Once there was a monastery which practiced syncretism. A statue of Buddha and a statue of Lao Zi, leader of Taoism, were placed side by side in the same place. The Taoists were known to have the power to call up thunder, lightning and rain. On this occasion, lighting struck and the statue of Lao Zi burned up, but Buddha's image remained whole.

 

There is also the story of my American friend David who had a large fire in his house. Everything in his room burned except a picture of his Holiness Karmapa. Not only on this occasion, but many times such things have happened with regard to his Holiness. In Tibet such things also have happened. Any place his Holiness has taken a seat, the room may burn up, but his seat will remain. When his Holiness was in Sikkim, 100 Canadians came to see him; four were my Buddhist friends and the others were Catholics. They passed my place on the way to see him and I said, "I hope and pray that his Holiness will show some supernatural power to convert you." They went to see the Black Crown Ceremony and saw golden light; all 100 Canadians saw this and those Catholics then took refuge from him.

 

In the epoch of the Three Kingdoms, the Emperor of the Wu Dynasty asked his official, the great scholar named Kan Ze, what is the best religion among Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Kan Ze answered, "Confucianism and Taoism are religions that worship a God and encourage following one's nature to try to do something good. One is never allowed to say anything bad against God. Buddha established a religion wherein all the Gods and Dragon Kings protect him and they never say anything bad against Buddha."

 

People say that all eggs are the same; but in fact maybe the yolk inside of one is a little higher, or a little whiter, or one egg is a little rounder. They may seem the same but if carefully measured with an instrument, you would find that they actually are quite different. People tend to say things are the same, before they have scientifically tested their opinions. In China there is a story: Once there was a drinker of tea who used special water. To science water is water, just H₂O, but to this man he only wanted water from a spring of a certain mountain for his tea. His servant knew of this but once when he was sent to fetch this water, one of his buckets fell on the way back and the water spilled out. As he knew there was not enough time to go back for more, he decided to fill the bucket with river water, thinking, "I do not think my master can really tell the difference from taste." So he returned home and made the tea, but when his master tasted it, he said, "Oh, this is not right, this water is quite different!"

 

In a Chinese Medicine Book, different kinds of water have been mentioned, each with a different special medical function.

 

1) Rain Water—Under this kind of water, several kinds have been listed: a) Rain water of the beginning of Spring (lunar term) is a tonic which can help beget a son if drunk by a couple. b) Rain water of the fifth month (lunar) when the damp and mildew spoil everything, can be used to wash sores or ulcers and can also help the scars of an ulcer disappear. c) Medicine rain water in the season of winter can kill every kind of bad worm in man's stomach. d) Big rain water can cure the heat caused by dampness or mildew. e) Dew water specially gathered in fall can cure scabs. f) Dew on the flowers can make a woman's face pretty and smooth. g) Dew on the calamus can cure the diseases of the eyes.

 

2) River Water: a) River flowing eastward can cure cholera. b) River flowing westward can cure malaria.

 

3) Spring water can stop vomiting.

 

4) Rocky mountain spring water can cure cholera, too.

 

5) Well water can cure diarrhea.

 

6) Blue ocean water can cure mange and kill ringworms.

 

7) Water from an old tomb can cure every kind of sore.

 

8) Water used to polish a knife can cure swelling caused by heat.

 

9) Water from the steaming of rice can cure pain at the corner of the mouth due to heat.

 

There are many more kinds of water which I will not quote here.

 

Actually every religion has its own special emphasis and every religion has its own final goal. Even all the religions with belief in Godhood have different heavens. Even greater is the difference of Buddhism which is aimed at Buddhahood and is quite apart from those emphasizing Godhood.

 

According to their philosophy, scriptures and practice, we know that some religions have the heaven of desire as the believer's final goal, others may have the heaven of form, while others again heaven of non-form.

 

For example, Confucianism emphasizes ethics, teaching man how to be good much more than how to be a good believer in God. Its followers never meditate on any stage of spirituality. They may deserve the heaven of desire as a final goal after their death. Christianity has the Bible as its only scripture in which we can only find the word "meditation" mentioned four times which is meant in the sense of "think of" and is not connected with any kind of concentration and contemplation on some philosophic truth. The believer's practice is no more than faith on God and the crucifixion, and reading the Bible; they deserve the heaven of desire as their final goal after death. Hinduism has many doctrines of meditation and many practices of yoga; the believers of this religion may deserve the heaven of non-form if they really have obtained the stage of high-self. If their meditation is deep and their Vinaya (rules or commandments) has purified their worldly desires, they may deserve the heaven of form and not of desire. Hence, all of the above three examples show that there are no two religions which are the same.

 

Buddhists transcend the high-self and obtain no-self. They alone can attain Nirvana and the Pure Land which is based upon the philosophy of Sunyata, of non-egoism. It is only Buddhism which is able to guide its believers to reach the final goal of the Pure Land and to be rid of the cycle of creation and destruction which is still found in the heavens. Heaven still remains in the realm of transmigration; even Gods themselves have to learn Buddhism in order to free themselves of continuing rebirth.

 

How can one treat every religion as the same? This attitude is wrong. The first attitude of sectarianism is too narrow and this second kind of syncretism is too wide. We must go on to the third one, discrimination.

 

III. Discrimination

 

In Confucianism it may be read, "To reach attainment, there is requisite the extensive study of what is good, accurate inquiry about it, careful reflection on it, the clear discrimination of it, and the earnest practice of it." These are the five steps of Confucianism. The fourth step is discrimination.

 

How to discriminate? Suppose you read many religious books as the Bible, the Koran, and the similar scriptures of Zoroastrianism. All these works seriously try to distinguish good from evil, to help one choose good and follow it, and also they all mention and emphasize rebirth. But still there are many different attitudes toward these things.

 

Suppose we speak of God. God as described in the Bible is quite different from the God described in the Upanishads. What the God Jehovah, the God Allah, and the God Brahma said in each of their own scriptures is quite different from the others'. So according to your own study you must learn to discriminate between these various doctrines. It is necessary to make a comparative study. For example, Mohammed is the founder of Islam. He had seven wives as, according to his scriptures, he married the wives of his masters when his master died. This adultery was considered right by him. Buddha was also married and lived in a palace of luxury before he became the founder of Buddhism. But he left his wife to become a Bhikksu. Compare these two situations. Mohammed said in the Koran, "I have my beliefs, you have yours. I do not want you to believe mine, you do not want me to believe yours." When I read this kind of talk in the Koran, I bowed my head before Allah and said to Mohammed, "This kind of talk is not so good. You must learn some Buddhism!" Buddhists would rather say, "If you wish to keep your own beliefs, that is all right; but I will try to add some teachings of Great Compassion and Great Wisdom so that not even one sentient being will be left behind and all will be enlightened."

 

Buddha always emphasized this Great Compassion and did not just try to convert everyone to his religion. When I was young, I was a faithful Catholic and followed my father, went to church, worshipped very earnestly and had a good Catholic teacher. But I read the Old Testament where God is spoken of as being very angry. I thought, "How can I learn from anger?" We know that an important scripture in Hinduism is the Gita. The first part is a very exciting story: Krishna is the charioteer and Arjuna is the king who doesn't want to fight. Life is not easy for a man, why should he fight and kill his relatives? Krishna tells him that to fight is his duty and that he should have no fear as He (Krishna the God) is on his side. I compared this with various Sutras. I knew that this story was composed by some scholar and not by God. The people of India are weak and do not want to fight, so that they just naturally developed a religion which uses this tendency to an advantage. Actually, there is no such Krishna in history. We know the historical truth of Buddha, and where and when he was born. But Krishna is not a man, but a God in the myth of Hinduism.

 

So we must make an objective comparison among the various religions. Many speak about their God as omnipresent. In the Bible Jesus says, "I am the Truth." Buddhism never says such a thing for the Truth should not be personified. The Truth is, was and will be. Can it be that before Jesus there was no truth? That, before Jehovah, the Dharma was not the Truth? Each religion says it is the Truth—which is correct? We must examine the scriptures of all, and then choose the most profound and correct one.

 

Many religions say that God is omnipresent. Buddha said that the Dharmakaya is omnipresent. Who is really omnipresent? A baby asleep in his small cradle may feel he is omnipresent. A small boy who plays under the table may feel that he is omnipresent. We should at least accept the widest definition as being omnipresent. The Bible says that God created the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars. The Universe is just under the sky. But Buddha talked not only of things in this world, but of many, many Buddhist worlds, such as the Pure Land, and he can name each world. Man can count some of the stars and know their names, but not all the stars in the sky. Buddha described beyond the skies, the many, many other Universes. All are mentioned in his Sutras. You can objectively compare where there is wider thought about the Universe—in the Bible or in the Sutras. What is omnipresent must include everything, so which scriptures are more inclusive? You must be objective. You must objectively see what is most worthwhile and valuable.

 

The Gospels of the Bible describe Jesus. There are books in Buddhism which describe Buddha. You may read and see which is more profound. You must have a discriminating attitude. If you know that God is God, you must also know Buddha is Buddha. You should compare these objectively—what is Buddha and what is God? You must look into the scriptures, the philosophy, and the practices of a religion, and then compare the various Gods.

 

Buddha once said to Brahma, "You always conceive of yourself as a Creator, but I will tell you the truth. As you have done many good deeds, so you have become a God, and because you are a God, whatever you think, happens. This is quite right. But this is not really creation." Afterwards Brahma converted to Buddhism but he wanted to compare supernatural powers. Buddha replied, "Yes, why not?" "How to compare?" Buddha said, "I will hide myself and you point me out." Brahma thinks he is omnipresent and can go everywhere, while Buddha always said he is a man, so how can he hide himself? So Brahma agreed. But actually the result was this: When Brahma hid himself, Buddha immediately pointed him out; but when Buddha hid himself, Brahma could not point him out. Why? Brahma's universality is under the sky and heaven. Buddha knows this dimension quite well. But Buddha is always in the Sunyata, in the void. So he cannot be pointed out. After this contest, Brahma took refuge in Buddha. I have published a booklet, "A Praising to All the Gods" (Booklet No. 59), wherein all the Gods, Indra, and Brahma serve Buddha. The Gods are much wiser than us. If the Gods worship him, why do we not?

 

Suppose you were to speak like an atheist and say that there is no God. History often speaks of atheism and belief in Godlessness. Some Buddhists have also said that there is no God, only Buddha. This is quite wrong. Some say God is higher than Buddha, so we must worship Buddha as a God. We must worship God not too much and not too little, but we must discriminate. Why? For example, once there was a Chinese scholar who was a fine calligrapher. He had a servant who ground the ink as Chinese ink must be freshly ground and not stored in a bottle. Many people would come to ask his master to write for them as his writing was so good. One day, nobody came and the master wanted to write as it was his habit. So the servant, to make his master feel better, said, "Your writing is very good." The master got very angry. "You don't know. If your writing is equal or better than mine, then you may say that I am good. But how do you know? You speak a lie. You are not able to criticize me." To give too much praise is also not good.

 

You must be faithful. If you are good, you are good; if not good, then not good. For example, Moses met Jehovah; Jesus never met Jehovah. He may have prayed and saw him in his spiritual state, but he never really saw him as Moses did. Jehovah has so much light that he forbid Moses to come close to him. The light of Jesus hurt Paul's eyes, but Buddha's light never keeps anyone away or hurts anyone. Buddha's special light is composed of both profound wisdom and great compassion. Wisdom-light, if not mixed with compassion light, can burn and harm. The great compassion is symbolized by water, while profound wisdom by fire. The latter is very strong and should not be touched; Paul touched it and had to suffer for many days and could not see. If it is mixed with great compassion, it will be balanced by the water; that is why Buddha's light had many functions to bless, but not to hurt.

 

If I say something wrong and it is not the truth, God and Buddha both will punish me. But I say God's light is according to the Old Testament, I say that Jesus' light is in accordance with the New Testament, I say Buddha's light is no different from that described in his Sutras. We must believe God as God is, must believe Buddha as Buddha is. Both only admire me and do not punish me. If I say God is not real God, or Buddha is not really a Buddha, I might be punished by both. What I have said before is all true and I would not be punished.

 

I also said in my book of Homa, that to confess sins done under heaven, God and Jesus may be asked for redemption, but to confess sins against Buddha or Dharma, one should ask Buddha for redemption. This is because God and Jesus are in heaven, and Buddha and Dharma are in the state of Sunyata Dharmadhatu which is beyond heaven. By saying it in that way I do not reduce the power of God or increase that of Buddha. Hence God and Buddha will both like my faithful talk. You must treat God as really God, not more or less. This is the right attitude. Everyone knows that I have praised Jesus and have given many fire sacrifices to him with tears. I praise him from the bottom of my heart. I would not say that which is not true.

 

I have written a book titled "Still More Please" (Booklets Nos. 22 to 25) which contains some advice to all my Christian friends and readers. Within this book there are more than ten chapters; each chapter begins with a Christian doctrine to which I add some teachings from Buddhism on the same topic. Here I want to talk about the crucifixion and will repeat some discussion about the sacrifice of Jesus and about a Buddhist sacrifice.

 

Every Christian knows that before crucifixion, Jesus prayed to have such a bitter cup removed from him. My Catholic father explained that this was human nature. But the Bodhisattva Jing Ai's cruel self-sacrifice was given out of great compassion and free will and he never wanted the cup removed as Jesus did.

 

This story is written in history. It was said that there was a non-Buddhist emperor who had killed many monks but who especially admired the Bodhisattva Jing Ai and wanted him to marry his daughter. Jing Ai escaped to the mountains. He cut his own flesh and hung it upon pine branches. He wanted to write his great vows with his blood, but it had become white not red, so he could not do so. He let his blood drop on the way up the mountain and vowed: "May every man and woman who sees my flesh or my blood get full enlightenment!" At last he held his own heart within folded palms faced toward Buddha Amitabha in the West and died.

 

He had no human nature left in his Bodhisattva sacrifice. Is this not a little better than Jesus' crucifixion? Jesus knows! God knows! As the crucifixion is the best doctrine of Christianity and easily influences and aspires Christian faith, it has been promoted by the fathers of the church for long periods of time throughout the world. But the sacrifice of the Chinese monk Jing Ai remains an old Buddhist story and has never been promoted by the Chinese. It is not known to the whole world.

 

After widely studying every religion, accurately inquiring about them and carefully reflecting on them, the next important step is to discriminate clearly among them. Some doctrines may be similar, while others may be particular. Then one should choose the particular one which is more profound in its philosophy, more fruitful in its practice, more ultimate in consequence as his main religious performance, and practice those secondary ones as a compliment and reference to the main one. This is just as I myself do as I believe in Buddhism as the only single religion which has discovered the truth of non-egoism, but I need God and Jesus' helpfulness for promoting the Buddha Dharma in the West where Christianity flourishes. I also believe that those who control the spiritual stage of this area are able to help me in the propagation of Buddhism. Hence my fifth step of earnest practice is and will always be continuing.

 

This attitude of discrimination is extremely right. Anyone who follows this will be helped by Buddha himself and all his eight kinds of protectors among which God is the first kind, and the Dragon King is the second.

 

IV. Plagiarism

 

The fourth attitude we will talk about is plagiarism. What I mean by this is taking aspects of other religions and calling them your own. In England there is the Christian Yoga Society which takes many kinds of Yoga and combines them with the Bible. They find all the aspects of Yoga in the Bible and follow the practices of Hinduism and yet call themselves Christians, making excuses to combine the two religions. This is very unfaithful. This kind of practice is not good and will be punished by God and by Buddha. In Hinduism there is a form of worship called "Bhakti and Karma Yoga." This Christian Yoga Society calls the acts in the Bible of curing people and raising the dead as "Karma Yoga." You may say it is like Karma Yoga, but it is not really the same as the Karma Yoga of Hinduism.

 

Lama Govinda writes about Tibetan Mysticism but the diagrams are from Hindu books. I have told him, "You plagiarize; this is not so good." It is from Hinduism, and Buddha also would not like it. He said that the mantra OM has three parts, but this is also from Hinduism. Actually, Buddhists also used Sanskrit. Buddha gave a definition of each letter of the alphabet, so there is an explanation of this word also based upon Buddha's philosophy. We should not take Hinduism for Buddhism. It seems very prideful and Buddha would not like this. Buddhists can explain the whole alphabet very profoundly; it is all connected with non-egoism. If you examine this yourself, you will find that it is better than Hinduism which emphasizes the high-self.

 

American students pick up a little doctrine from every religion but never go into the deep part of philosophy. They are like the dragonfly which touches a tiny space of water and then goes on to another space. A boy wanders through the zoo enjoying first the peacock, and then the elephant, and then the sheep. There are those believers who belong to many different groups, sampling a little here and a little there, all very superficially. This does not matter. But if you want to practice deeply as some monks do for many years, and you do so with more than one religion, then something harmful may happen and this is not good. If you practice Buddhism deeply, then a Buddhist protector will come to you. If you practice Hinduism, then a Hindu protector will come and so on with all religions. The founders of religions all have great compassion, but the protectors can have anger and fight with each other. Then you will get tired and get headaches and many distresses. The protector watches you and knows your mind. If you practice Buddhism while thinking Buddha is not really as high as Jesus, then the Buddhist protector will harm you. This is because your practice has gone deeply and you influence God and the protector so they guide you. If you practice rightly, he will protect you very well. If you practice wrong, he will punish you. It can be very dangerous. If you have the right attitude and believe that God is God and Buddha is Buddha, the protectors will not punish you and you will always have a peaceful and long life.

 

Plagiarism in literature is very common and has no danger of influencing lives. As Voltaire (1694-1778) said, "All the makers of dictionaries, all compilers who do nothing else than repeat backwards and forwards the opinions, the impostures, and the truth already printed are termed "plagiarists"; but honest plagiarists arrogate not the merit of invention."

 

But plagiarism in religions is very dangerous. It can cause the anger of Buddha's protector and God's anger, too. As each founder of a religion has supernatural power, he knows what his teaching is and what is borrowed by the plagiarist from others. The result of plagiarism in religion is to kill the spiritual life of the believer. For instance, if a Buddhist believes that the Bible contains every teaching of Buddhism and converts to Christianity, he will fall into transmigration. Or, if a Christian believes Buddhism, but treats Buddha as a God and does not understand the specialization of Sunyata practice and treats heaven the same as the Pureland, he will fall into transmigration, too. It is a problem also not only falsehood or truth but also ascending and descending. That is why it is very dangerous. The sin of a plagiarist of religion is much greater than that of literature.

 

Eventually every God of every religion has his wisdom and is able to know what a Buddha is. My Booklet No. 59 "A Praising to All the Gods," which was translated from the biography of Gautama Buddha, has mentioned how many Gods have protected Buddha Gautama. Buddha surely knew who those Gods were. Buddha also taught all his students to remember the benefactor Gods and to ask for God's help. One should neither believe only in Buddha nor believe only in God. Take refuge from Buddha, and ask help from God. Buddha is in the Sunyata which is out of transmigration, but God is in the first station of transmigration and yet has the power to help human beings who are in the third station and have no power. If we take refuge in Christianity and aim at that heaven as Nirvana, we will fall with the heavens. Hence the doctrine of Buddhism should not be plagiarized by Christians. This is my sincere advice.