Customer Reviews

Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

The celebrated Vietnamese Buddhist monk writes (speaks) to all those who feel it necessary to abandon the Christianity of their childhood. Hanh explains the similarities between Jesus/Buddha and Christianity/Buddhism, hoping to convince Westerners that it is possible to bring the two traditions together in one's life.

This book is recommended for any spiritualist, but mostly for the Buddhist struggling with his/her innate sense of Christianity, or for the Christian who wishes to incorporate Buddhism into his/her life.

This is a beautiful book that you can open to any page and wisdom is revealed. This book gives examples of how to walk in peace and compassion and gives the why to walk this way. It also explains the differences and similarities between Christianity and Buddhism. I highly reccomend this book to anyone who is seeking answers and reasons.

If you have any interest in comparative religion you need to read this book. Hanh is a master of poetically clarifying the parallel essence of both Christianity and BUddhism. His reverence for Jesus and his noble existence as a Vietnamese monk allow for the beauty of both belief systems to soothe you soul. It is a fluid continuation of "Living Buddha, Living Christ". It allows Buddhist to love Jesus and Christians to love Buddha. It is a very important book and subject for our world.

Like many other readers of this book, I have been exploring the parallels between Christianity and Buddhism for many years. While many in Western Culture immediately shun this idea, the parallels between the two faiths exist. Thomas Merton's work in this area opened many doors of dialogue in Western Culture on this front. In more recent times, Thich Nhat Hanh has offered to continue the exploration.

Much to my disappointment, I found this book to be slanted to the audience that is already Buddhist and struggling with reconciling an affiliation toward Christianity. Viewing the book from an opposite perspective made me feel somewhat isolated. The book is essentially a series of discussions led by Thich Nhat Hanh in which Christianity and the life of Jesus is placed in a Buddhist perspective. Heavily laced with discussion of Dharma, the dialogue frequently loses sight of Christianity or gives an explanation is much too simplistic.

Parts of the book are really worth reading. However, the flaws I found in the book may create a feeling of isolation with some readers. Yet the flaws I find in this books may allow this book to be of greater use to other readers. As an alternative, I would suggest "The Good Heart" written by the Dalai Lama.

Going Home is not so much a well thought out book as an informal conversation between the reader and Thich Nhat Hanh. It is as if we were on retreat with master Hanh and had a chance to speak with him about our roots and our values and what they mean to us in our life. It doesn't matter whether we are Christian or Buddhist. We are able to find our way home with either set of teachings or preferably, both.

As in most conversations, we are likely to find ourself going over ground we have already covered, but each time with the master to guide us, some new element is added for us to think about. The master does not judge us, but accepts us as we are and, in fact, teaches us to move away from making judgments to a genuine attempt to understand the unique importance of the family and background of each individual. This is the rock on which to build our life. For some whose family background is part of their problem of finding balance and wholeness in their life, the challenge of accepting what can't be changed and understanding the suffering of those who have come before us may be too great a task without help from thoughtful and caring friends.

This conversation with the master will also be difficult for those people who come to the discussion with an absolute conviction of the truth value of their religion. Clearly, the master sees himself as both a follower of Jesus and the Buddha and he sees no contradiction in his position. For the master, Jesus and the Buddha are truly brothers. They both loved others unconditionally and wanted only the best for everyone. Their lives were perfect examples of death to a self that had any concern for personal gain. They owned nothing and lived on the charity of others. What little material possessions they acquired, they freely shared with others. The only thing that was truly theirs was their life which they freely gave for the good of the world. Also, Jesus and the Buddha were brothers in suffering. They did not avoid the legitimate suffering of their lives and used their suffering to grow into the most complete human beings the world has ever known.

These conversations with the master have less to do with religion than with right living in the present moment. For the master yesterday is a memory and tommorow a dream. Now is the time to live with Jesus and the Buddha as our brothers. We are one family and the master encourages us to rejoin our family if, like the prodigal son, we find ourself lost and alone.

When I first received Going Home I looked at the print and expected it to be an easy read, which it is. However, the writing is so easily understood, and the message so clear, that I'm now reading it for the third time and each time I learn more than the last. I recommend it completely for those of us who have beliefs that won't fit into a nice, neat little box under the title of organized religion. I'm now buying all the books by this author.

Siddartha Gautana, a crown prince of ancient Nepal, conquered Mara (illusion) and became Buddha (enlightened one) after meditating under the Bodhi tree for 40 days.

Jesus of Nazareth, a carpenter, fasted and prayed in the desert for 40 days and was tempted by the dark One, after which he became Christ (the annointed one)

Whether you are fervant in your Christianity or immersed in your Buddhism ... the fundmantal intention of any legitimate world religion ... is to evolve the soul and character of a person.

This is a dialogue that forges forward a holistic view of comparative religion. Jesus taught forgiveness and compassion. Buddha taught detachment and compassion. Many of their lessons were not written down until centuries after they were gone from Earth. By their fruits you shall know them .... for while many cults have vanished upon the death of a founder ... both Christianity and Buddhism flourished even more as time unfolded. Despite an oral tradition these two world religions became dominant in the world.

There is much mystery still on the origins of religon. However, Buddha and Christ would probably get along if they were in a room together. So why shouldn't their followers. True faith is love and healthy fear born of respect not fear born of ignorance.

Thich Nhat Hanh has a wonder here.

Thick does a great job of summing up the reality of spirituality. He makes it all so simple, we are all one no matter what. He says it in words that we can all realate to and i can assure you my life has changed because of what he has written in this book

This book is different from many of his other books. It is alittle more in depth about Buddhism. It is still a quick read, andlike his others it is very uplifting.

For searching Chistians and Buddhists,Thich Nhat Hanh validatesthe ancestoral roots and traditions that take us back to Jesus andBuddha. As a Christian, I began the book expecting a conversion toBuddhism. However the author stresses the importance of honoring your religious roots (whatever they might be) as a foundation on which to build insight into other spiritual beliefs. If the foundation for your religious beliefs is strong you won't be threatened by the comparison between Buddhism and Christianity. While reading this book I chuckled at the thought of a mainline Protestant author being bold enough to write a book comparing Jesus to other great spiritual leaders.