As some readers may know, my path to Christianity was circumspent, and began with the discovery of the Four Noble Truths, the "Creed" of Buddhism. It goes something like this:
1. All life is suffering (our undisputable state of being)
2. Suffering is caused by desire/attachment (the cause of that state of being)
3. There is an end to the cycle of suffering (the hope of cessation of the affliction)
4. The Eight-fold Path is that way (the cure for the disease)
The Four Noble Truths, from an anthropological standpoint, made sense to me at the age of seventeen. Suffering (dhukka, better translated as "dissatisfaction") for me was experiential; I lived it. Most of us experience this dissatisfaction without even realizing it--that there is, or should be, something more to this life than fleeing experiences, temporary expiation of existential loneliness, and the hamster wheel of chasing after carnal satisfactions that don't last.
It also made sense that our chasing of these mirages of temporary respite in this life was due to the desire for permanence--a permanence which may itself be a mirage.
One would end up a nihilist if they stopped there, but the carrot of hope--hope which is essential to human fulfillment--would encourage an inquisition into a cure, and a physician for the disease. Did one exist? Did any man ever transcend this eternal cycle of samsara, the world of illusion and desire? For Buddhists, the answer is yes, and that man was the Buddha (meaning, "one who is awake"), who achieved this permanent state of detachment and prescribed the cure for others to follow: the Eight-Fold Path (which we don't have to get into).
Siddhārtha Gautama (who would be later known by followers as Gautama Buddha) was born in Nepal about 500 BC. He was a prince, born into a wealthy family, and lived a pampered, sheltered life as a young man. He had everything he could want or need. One day, he wandered away from the palace and encountered a sick man, an old man, and a dying man. It rocked his world, and he realized this was the eventual state of all men.
When he encountered a holy man, he abandoned his former life and became an extreme ascetic. Neither extreme--complete indulgence, or complete denial, gave him the peace he sought. Eventually he sat under a tree (the bhodi tree) and vowed not to leave until he "woke up" from this nightmare existence. It is said this is where he achieved enlightenment (Nirvana) after 49 days of meditation, and then in an act of compassion, eventually shared this "way out" with his first disciples.
For most Buddhists, or those who practice Buddhism, one can spend their whole life trying to achieve this state, and never achieve it. The belief in reincarnation (which is, of course, incompatible with Christian soteriology/anthropology) states that one will be "reborn" into other states after death (human and non-human), and will continue in this cycle for all eternity until the state of Nirvana is achieved and they are finally freed from the hampster wheel of desire.
* * *
Christians are not (or should not be, at least) religious syncretists. Buddhist practice is incompatible with Christian belief, and should not be encouraged. That doesn't mean, however, that there are not some commonalities in the human condition. With regards to the Four Noble Truths of Existence for a Buddhist outlined agove, a Christian may find some overlap and truth (small 't') here as they relate to this "problem" of old age, disease and death.
Modern man suffers because of his attachments to an idea of permanence in this life--that the one-night stand will satisfy the desire for love or physical pleasure; that the discomfort of want can be satisfied by food or drink or technology; that the people we care about will not die or leave us; that we will live forever. We chase these transitory pleasures, these mirages, and tell ourselves "this time, it will last." But it doesn't, and never will.
St. Augustine knew this state intimately, and wandered himself in the desert of carnal desire, learning, and esoteric philosophy looking for an oasis that wasn't a mirage. What he found was the gospel (the Word), and, ultimately, the Way (which is Christ).
Like all Christians (and unlike disciples of Buddha), Augustine found that the path to transcendence of our mortal, corrupt state did not rest in his own abilities or determination, but in the God-man Christ. In conquering death by death, and in his great compassion and love for mankind allowing us to share in his divinity by partaking in our humanity, Christ did what no mortal man could do--restore us to friendship with God the Creator and give us eternal life after we pass from this world. It is grace, not self-determination, that frees us from the bondage of sin and redeems our fallen nature. For the Buddhist in their philosophical/religious world-view, your escape depends entirely on you and your efforts. For Christians, your salvation depends entirely on Christ and faith in him that redemption is possible.
There is no greater contrast between a believing Christian and a secular non-believer (or lukewarm Christian) than in a hospice ward (old age), a hospital (disease), and a funeral (death).
We know that as a result of the Fall of man, we do not and will not live forever here on earth. All men grow old, and in doing so we revert to almost an infantile state of helplessness and dependence. For the Christian who grows in wisdom and acceptance (detachment from the idea that we will or should live forever) during their earthly life, we know we are soon passing to our eternal reward. We appreciate good health, but not as an absolute, or something to be clinged to--unlike those in the world who obsess about their bodies and cardiograms. Our spiritual preparation in this life will determine how "well" we age, as St. Robert Bellarmine says, "those who live well will die well."
For believing (Catholic) Christians, physical suffering too can be redemptive. Because Christ physically suffered as a man, we can endure our physical suffering as partakers in his nature as a man. Our physical bodies are not our permanent state of existence; it is the soul that lives forever. And yet even then, our physical bodies are not cast off like snake-skin, but will (in faith and hope) be redeemed and glorified in the resurrection of the dead. While the secular man seeks every respite from suffering and discomfort, the Christian will enter into his suffering and offer it up in union with Christ's, and for the salvation of souls.
And because Death was conquered once and for all by Christ on the cross, the believing Christian should have no fear of death. His sentence, should he die in a state of grace and penitent, is Life, and life eternal. Christians in this state of being do not despair at the end of this earthly life, or shudder at the thought of being "reincarnated" into some lower level of existence, but rejoice in entering into eternal reward in Heaven with the communion of saints. Funerals, then, are somber but joyful affairs for the believing Christian when one has this faith, hope, and assurance, while their secular counterparts struggle to make sense of where a man goes after he dies.
For the Christian believer, the Way is not a formula or a prescription, but the man Christ himself who opened the door to Heaven for us to join him there in spiritual union. The way out of dissatisfaction, craving, and transcendence does not depend on meditating our way to perfection, but in abandoning ourselves to the man Christ who offers by the free gift of grace an exit and assurance of salvation. We are not to be reborn in perpetuity, but redeemed eternally, both body and soul. It is in faith, hope, and charity that we devote ourselves to this Way, working out our salvation with joyful anticipation for what awaits us after old age, disease, and death.
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