How to Get to Heaven...Just Do Good?

Today was passing by the car park like any other days and something caught my eye. Normally I would see a Christian car sticker that shouts Lord's promises but today it is a Buddha image with the words "Heaven? Just Do Good" I wish I can take a picture of it because it really shows the main differences between the teachings of Buddha and Christianity.

As you know, the Book tells us that human nature is already been tainted by sin or similar to bad kharma in some ways and we need Christ to actually meet God's level of holiness before be able to accept Christ to enter heaven. Sounds easy enough yes?

So Buddha teaches that human are by nature, good (anti-thesis of what Christians believe) and thus be able to reach nirvana (their heaven in some ways) by doing more good than bad.

This post reminds me of a book titled "The Lotus and The Cross" by Ravi Zacharias. The book described an imagined conversation between Buddha and Christ. Very interesting read indeed.

Anyway why I am persuaded to be a Christian is strengthened by a study on the claims of Buddhist teachings. The primary reason is the question where how one would know if one has attained enlightenment.

Put it this way: If you go for a test, how would you determined if you pass or fail?

In the same way, life is a test and like it or not, we are told that there is a pass and fail in life...you pass, go to heaven, you fail...go to hell...literally.

So the generally teaching about Buddhism is that there is a system that can determine if one pass and thus reach nirvana, the question is who is the examiner? Who sets the standards? Why I ask this question is that even the Buddha refuses to acknowledge that he is a god but yet he can attain enlightenment (so in another words, a student knows he has passed because he sets the standards himself and yet refuses to acknowledge that he set the standards in the first place).

One thing about Buddha's teachings is that he shows the ability to know right and wrong or in another words we called it conscience. But conscience invoked either joy or guilt when a particular action is done and it requires a yardstick. So where does that yardstick comes from?

I think the answer comes from the Bible...and the 10 commandments is another way to re-interpret the conscience into a form that all can see and read. Ultimately, the 10 commandments shows us something that our conscience already shown but not easily dismissed. We can ignore our feelings and thus conscience...however we can never dismiss a yardstick made known.

Let's just entertain the thought if both Buddha and the 10 commandments are right.

When we are kids, we knowingly cry for food, get into fights or snatch things out of selfishness and self-preservation... karma thus get affected

When we got older, we got angry, seek revenge or just plain nasty...karma affected again and so we feel guilty and then try to do good things to patch up all the bad things.

What if we think we can patch everything up but got angry with someone uncontrollably? Or what if we forgot about something bad that was not patched up at all?

So when will it end? When can we reach nirvana? When can we actually know that we patched up everything and do good beyond our bad things?

Until we die...you say? Isn't that as good as not telling me my exam syllabus and ask me to study only to fail when my results are out? Ain't that a bit too late?

Or what if there's no circle of life (yes yes..from the lion king...a very subtle teaching of buddhism in a cartoon) but that we only have this one and only life? Of if the circle of life is true, then ain't believers ought to do so much good that they will get out of the circle as soon as possible?

Now the bombshell is this. For Buddha to know what is good or bad, and enable him to know how to measure good actions versus bad actions he need someone who knows what is good or bad. In Genesis, man ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (it rings doesn't it)...and that cause us to have a conscience, and conscience demands perfect obedience to the unwritten law in order to get right with God.

Since so many avoid conscience so easily, then the law has to come to shove it in our face to let us know what we do can be right or wrong... so that we know where our passing grades are.

Once we know the perfect adherence to the law is so impossible, then we are doomed to either be in the circle of life (would one go through life on earth again?!?!?!...not me definitely) or face death (I think death is a better choice than to go through the circle of life since the former has an end. Can you imagine going on a road trip with no destination?)

That's where the teaching of the Bible that man has no great future apart from Jesus because of our failure as God's image is so real. To say that we are able to cover all our sins and sin no more so as to earn more credit/karma for the future life just speaks of arrogance in one's flesh. Jesus has taught that the mere thought of sin is sin in itself already.

Just Do Good so I can get to heaven? I think we need something more than our actions...we need a totally new spirit, a new body and a new outlook towards the life that is to come when Jesus comes back.