Ever had a friend who thought they might become a Buddhist? Sounds trendy, but it’s a bit of a contradiction in terms. You see, most religions of the world—including Buddhism—don’t believe that change is really possible. Not deep, true, personal change. The circle of life just rolls on and religion is usually more about maintaining the status quo and restricting individual freedom than anything else. So how do you change your beliefs by adopting a religion that believes that nothing can ever change?
Look at Japan. It’s a society basically shaped by Buddhism, plus Confucianism and the local Shinto religion. It doesn’t believe in change. The most important personal trait here is the ability to give in and not try to change what can’t be changed—i.e. everything. There was a Christian seminar here recently on how to do counselling in a culture where people don’t believe that personal change is even possible.
That may all sound a bit strange to the modern Aussie who thinks getting into Buddhism would be a good thing to do, but that’s because of the powerful impact of the gospel on Australian culture. The things we take for granted—personal responsibility for our own decisions, the freedom to choose, the belief that personal change is both possible and desirable—are products of our Christian heritage. They arise from our understanding that history isn’t just a bunch of repeating cycles, and particularly from the power of the cross to change people’s lives. They don’t make sense in a Buddhist culture.
We owe such beliefs to our cultural grounding in Christian belief. The next time a friend says what a nice change it would make to become a Buddhist, congratulate them on their profoundly Christian understanding of life.
