Western Religion and Eastern Philosophy Part 2

In this episode, the Bald Brothers continue their discussion on the differences between Eastern philosophies and Western religion. Specifically, we focus on the origins of Christianity and Buddhism and the similarities between the two practices and beliefs. We discuss the timeline between Buddhism and Christianity and whether the foundations of Christianity are founded in Buddhism. Our discussion follows through with the question, "What is the difference between prayer and meditation?" 

This episode finishes with a story from one of our listeners describing a difficult time in their lives. As always, we believe that one person's lived experiences can serve as a playbook for some else going through similar difficulties.

Transcript

0:00

Begin. Yeah. That's mind, body, soul. We connected with the globe. Yeah. That's mind, body, soul took some discipline, repetition and some self-control. We connected with the globe. Yeah. That's mind, body, soul. Whoa. Yeah. That's my body. Soul. Hey. Yeah. That's Mind, body, soul took some discipline, repetition and some self-control. Hey everybody. Welcome to Cirque to Soul, the only uncut, unedited podcast that is dedicated to helping you to find spiritual peace in your life. Hey, last week we focused on the origins of religion, specifically the differences between western religion and eastern religion. Yeah, that was a good discussion last week. Yes. And we wanted to understand the differences between Western religion and eastern religion. So as a review, we had two very general definitions. Western religions, which include Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, are defined as monotheistic. Now, monotheistic means that they all believe in one God. In addition, they emphasize a linear view of time in history. This means that there's a beginning, a middle, and an end of history with the focus on the promise of a future afterlife. Now, Western religions emphasize the importance of faith and obedience. Now, the eastern religions or practices include Hinduism, buddism, and Taoism, and they are polytheistic, meaning there is more than one guide. In addition, these practices tend to focus on enlightenment. Enlightenment means the awakening to ultimate truth, leading to freedom from the cycle of suffering and reincarnation. Reincarnation. Wow. The state of Enlightenment is also described as a state of supreme happiness and peace. This state is achieved through meditation and spiritual practice. Yeah. One thing though, we also need to remember that we learned that Christianity was an offshoot of Judaism. Jesus and his disciples, they practiced Judaism. Yeah. The idea of Christianity really didn't take root until after the death of Jesus Christ, and it has grown to be one of the largest religions today. Now, we also learned that there's over 1200 different sects of Christianity. Yeah. So Kim, where do we wanna start at today? Okay. You know what, let's start with the Eastern practices and let's delve into what they believe. Let's start with Buddhism, if you don't mind. Great. Okay. Buddhism. Okay. Okay. Like many of the Eastern religions, it's a practice. It's really not a religion. In other words, they do believe in God, a god's but these gods, they're not central to their belief system. But they do think it is our responsibility to, to connect with God. Buddhism was I'm sorry. Buddha was in meditation for years until he reached Nirvana, and Nirvana is another term for enlightenment. Now something. Let me pass on this. Also, there were four basic noble truths about Buddhism and these truths. They're the foundation of Buddhist's teachings. They state that suffering exists. Suffering arises from attachment and desire that suffering can be overcome and that there's a path to the cessation of suffering. Does that sound familiar? Yeah. I read all about that and, reading about it, it makes sense. It's, it sounds simple, but the rules in Christianity of 10 Commandments to sound simple, but not quite that simple. You're right, it's not quite that simple. Right now there's something else told around, they call it ethical conduct and ethical conduct. It centers around avoiding harm and creating positive actions through five precepts. So this idea of avoiding harm and creating positive actions, this is how they get to enlightenment. Okay? The first one was abstaining from taking life. This means not killing any living, being including animals. The second. Precept was abstaining from taking what's not freely given. That means not stealing or taking anything that doesn't belong to you. The third one was abstaining from sexual misconduct. This includes, refraining from harmful or exploitative sexual behavior. The fourth one, abstaining from false speech, avoiding lying, gossip, harsh language. And then the last one was abstaining from. Toxicants that cloud the mind. This principle emphasizes avoiding substances that hinders clear thinking and mindfulness, drinking drugs and those type of things. Wow. Yeah. That, you know what, that sounds very similar to the 10 Commandments. The only thing that's missing is, how should I have no other guys before me? Yes. But it sounds like the 10 Commandments. Absolutely. Yeah. And you know what, again. We know that Buddhism was 500 years. Our Buddhists predated Christ by 500 years. So when you say that, it sounds like the 10 Commandments, I just wonder if the 10 Commandments came about as a result of, this or the message God gave to Moses as the same message that he gave to Buddha. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Now, look, there's a few other points we need to make. Buddhist, they do believe in reincarnation and karma. So in other words the consciousness comes back for another life. They don't like the idea, they don't talk about the idea of a soul. They call it a consciousness. Now, when you are reincarnated, that knife can be the next life, can be a dog, a human. It could be a lesser energy and a heavenly rim. They believe in a couple of different levels of heaven, so you could be in a lower level of heaven or in a higher level of heaven. That next level of reincarnation is dependent upon the number of good actions that you did in your life. This is the karma. Lots of good actions creates good karma, and that allows the rebirth or reincarnation into a higher level of life. Vice versa. So if you have some negative karma following you, then you could fall back into a lesser, you could be reborn into a lesser level. Now, the idea of nirvana or enlightenment, which is one of the same, that's the act of breaking free from the reincarnations and freedom from suffering. In other words, when you get to enlightenment. You don't have to be reborn again. You don't. You're not reincarnated. You've reached that place of perfect peace and happiness. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, you become one with the whole consciousness, right? As they said, like when Jesus said in the Bible, Lord, may they be one in us, like I am one with you. Or, just become one with each other. And that whole reincarnation thing, man, I, when I first heard that, I'm like, wow. Because I always thought, man, we are going off kind of stuff here. That's okay. No, I always thought, how can all these people fit into heaven over this many years? I'm, it just, it was my old thinking, right? And I'm thinking this reincarnation thing, it makes a little sense to me. And I've got some clients that they're from India, they're Hinduism and they talk about reincarnation all the time. Do they? And the good deeds. Yeah. Deeds. How you living this life. So it's a real thing. Okay. You know what, let's stay off track for a minute. I'm gonna ask you a question. Alright? Do you think that there's a finite number of souls? There's only so many souls. Ooh, wow. Oh man, I hate putting you on the spot like this, I'm asking the question. Man, that is, you know what that's beyond my comprehension, honestly. I can't answer that question. I don't know. Let, lemme tell you why I asked Uhhuh because ago you said, how does all those people fit in heaven? Yeah. I'm like is it a finite number of soul sart? Is it something altogether different than what we think about, i, it's, I think it's hard to say because. Based on our limited thinking here. There could be souls in different planets. Yes. All across the universe. And not just our galaxy, but the universe and this, the universe is just expanding forever and ever, maybe there's not a finite number of souls. We don't know. It's just a question to think about. We'll never get the answer to that, maybe when you know our soul. Goes back now, I'm talking Western religion now, because this is what we believe our soul will eventually find its way back to God. Maybe we'll know, but who knows if we're even writing our thinking. We don't know. Yeah, we don't know. There, there's a a, it's a series and I looked at it on YouTube and it's called the Buddha Series. Now they don't use English language. You have to read the sub, the subtitles to it, but it's the story of Buddha from his birth all the way up until he died. And I got into it and it's. It's really good. And the way Buddha explains it, once you get to that certain level that you know, one level, then that's when you know the mysteries of the universe. Or the mysteries of everything. Okay. This is that level of Nirvana or enlightenment you talked about? Yes. Okay. Yes. Alright, we gonna get into that. Let me jump back on the topic now. Okay. And, we started this series, these two, these last two because we were straddling the fence, we were Christians. Yeah. But we also believed in meditation and trying to find a higher a higher level of consciousness. So let's do a quick comparison in contrast with Christianity. Prayer or meditation, or why do we do both? What do you think? Yeah. Growing up as a Christian, we were only taught to pray. Nobody mentioned anything about meditation. We just taught, we were taught to pray. But we do both now we do both because praying is just I. Telling God how grateful you are and telling God, just talking to God your problems, what you're grateful for. But then the meditation is being quiet and being still, and kinda listening to that still inner voice, which the Christianity do says something about still inner voice. They do. And but that's listening to God. So that's the reason why we do both. Okay. Me personally. Yeah. You know what? I'm glad you answered that way because that's how I think about it. Yeah. So then. What we're really saying is, yeah, we're Christians and we believe we have to pray. Yeah, there's some parts about Buddhism that we believe are true also, right? So what do we call ourselves? Everybody always wants to call somebody something. What do we call ourselves? It. Yeah, I think I call myself spiritual. Okay. Alright. Because e even, even Buddha says that you don't have to believe everything I tell you. You go on your own journey. Yeah. And you figure it out for yourself. And so that's the reason why I say I'm spiritual. Spiritual. Okay. That, yeah. That encompasses a lot. Okay. Yes. Alright, let me get to the second question as we talk about comparing and contrasting with Christianity, is nirvana the same as heaven? If not, what's the difference? Yeah, see, that's that there is the d I don't believe there is a difference, but growing up as a Christian, we just always imagined heaven as this place in the sky. Where, the roads are golden and the houses are nice and, everything is golden and Jesus and God is on the throne, and all the angels are there and everybody's just mingling. That was our, that was my thought of heaven growing up. I'm not saying it's not like that.'cause in reality we really don't know. But the whole nirvana thing is that you reach that level where you become one with God. So you have that perfect peace and kinda I guess it's like heaven, except I just don't, I don't see the, the place I guess, okay. Golden Gates. Okay. You know what I took that as Nirvana is a state of being. Yeah. It's just, you get to that because you get to that. Whereas heaven is something you're is a place that you go, it. In my mind that's, if there's a difference, that's how it's defined here on earth. Where we're going to heaven. Yeah. But we're trying tote achieve this state of being here. Yeah. On earth. And yeah. And, but you know what, it, as a Christian, that's how we grew up. If you really listen to what Jesus says, he says, the kingdom of heaven is within Right. Within. Which means you can experience Nirvana here now. Yes. You can experience heaven now, you can't, but you have to get it to that level. And there was something you said either last time or before reaching Nirvana, even the Bible, Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness. Yeah. And we are assuming that he was meditating. Yeah. And then Moses was on the mountain. Yep. I forget which mountain it was, but he was supposedly meditating and finding God also. His image changed because of his interaction Yes. With God. Exactly. Yes. They, yeah, they said his face was glowing and, he's, he had that, that glow in his face and they said he seen God, yeah. Yeah. His hair was gray and everything else. Okay. Alright. Alright. I've asked you two questions back to back. Now I got another one. Okay. Okay. And now I'm asking this one because I know you studied the Bible extensively. Yeah. Does this say anywhere in the Bible that we should meditate to become one with God? Now, I know that it talks about Jesus being in the wilderness, what we just talked about for 40 days and nights, and about Modus Moses going into the mountain to receive the 10 amendments. Is there a connection between Buddhism or the idea of meditating to reach Nirvana? And the idea of going to heaven. There was a story in the Bible, where John the Baptist was called the prophet Elijah reborn. Yeah. Now we have to understand there was 400 years between Elijah and John the Baptist. Yeah. That sort of suggested there's some basis to believe that the Christian religion believes in reincarnation. What do you think? Yeah. I've had that discussion with some people before and they're like no, there's no such and no such thing as reincarnation and Christian. And I bring up the whole John, the Baptist and Elijah thing and they really don't have much to say about it, but they still don't believe it. But I do know this when there was a verse in it might have been Psalms maybe, or I think it was Psalms, where God said, be still and know that I am God. To me that just explains it. You be still get quiet and you try to realize that kingdom of heaven within you, right? As Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven is within you. It says, be still and know that I am God. To me, that means, the meditation part to me right now somebody else may see it differently, but that's just what I, the way I see it. So how did you tie that back into the idea of reincarnation? Oh, wow. To, that's just, I think that's just a belief that each, that each individual has to, either they believe it or they don't. Gotcha. I can't prove it and this whole be still and meditating. I can't prove that it means reincarnation. Only thing I can say is that it makes sense to me. Okay. Yeah. Alright, then you know what, the next thing I was gonna say was, I'm really trying to understand if there's a greater connection between Buddhism and Christianity connection greater than we know. And by default, is there a greater connection between Judaism and Buddhism? Because if, remember Christianity is a offshoot of Judaism, right? So Judaism is one of the first Western religions. And yeah. Is there a greater connection between Judaism and Buddhism? There, there probably is. Who's the first guy? Enoch was the one that walked into heaven. He didn't die or something like that. Back then, there was no tv, there's no radios. There's nothing but a lot of time to spend along out in Be Wilderness or. A lot of, and he was, he had a heart like goat, a heart like God. So I would assume that he's probably, he got connected to God some kind of way where you don't have to die and you just go up into heaven, and that's the old Testament, the Judaism part. So I, in a lot of these religions. Especially the newer ones, they take a lot from the older religions, right? They do. Yes, they do. And so I can see a a connection between those two. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Look, you know what, I'm just asking the question. Yeah. In my mind, there seems to be a really big connection between Christianity and Buddhism. Now, in my mind, I also think that the differences. Can be attributed to, translations between two different cultures and maybe the time difference between the establishment of Buddhism and the establishment of Christianity. So what I'm saying is that I believe a lot of the foundation of Christianity, the teachings of Jesus came from Buddhism. I'm just gonna put it out there. Hard, a lot of people probably won't like that, but I do believe a lot of the teachings of Jesus came from Buddhism. When we look at the five precepts, and you said it just now a few minutes ago, it sounds awful. Lot like the 10 Commandments. Yep. And the fact that Jesus and Mo Moses both were in deep meditation in order to listen to God and receive his message, in my mind, what they went through. That's the definition of enlightenment, which is what Buddhists say. Yeah. And then Jesus has said that, we should follow his lead in order to get to heaven. Yeah. Yeah. You know what he, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and light, no man goes to the follow but by me, which he was telling us. He was showing us how to do it. And Jesus never said that he was God nor he never says he was God. He says he was one with God. And even in the book of John, he says, I go to my father. The father is greater than me. He says that in the Bible. So I. Jesus and Moses, Jesus had to get to that point where he was one with God. He's not greater than God. He just became, it's an example is a big ocean, okay? Uhhuh. And you take a cup, dip it into the ocean, and that cup still has God in it. Park into the water that said the ocean is God and the water that you dip in that cup. God, it's on a lower level little G, not a big G. And but if you pour it back in the ocean, you become one with the ocean. And so that is the same way with our spirits. We, in this human body, we still have that God within us. A lot of us don't realize that, but we do. But so when we get to, we, when we die, or pass on, our spirit becomes one with. The big spirit, which is God again, right? And yeah, but the whole reincarnation thing is you come back and do it again until you can able to just get to that level where it's just pure peace, pure love and I think that's what Jesus and Moses, and not just those two, there were others. There were others who performed miracles in the Bible too, Elijah and another thing. Elijah had his disciple, Alicia? Yes. And one of them raised somebody from the dead. I forgot which one it was, but the whole reincarnation thing. I once read that John the Baptist and Jesus was Elijah and Elisha. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And Jesus probably was, I'm not gonna say which one was which,'cause I forgot I, I read that though. I'm like okay. And Jesus finally got to that level. He didn't have to come back again. He's just coming back now just to show us the way to God. Okay. Yeah, he may, he took the final step and reached that level. Okay. I got two questions and we can do this pretty quickly, but in our religion, our Christian religion, people always say you have to pray to Jesus Christ to get into heaven. I think that, what we read is. At least what I believe is that Jesus, like you said, didn't say, pray to me. But he was the example of how to get to heaven. What's your thoughts on that? Yeah, I've always thought about that too, and I just think that Jesus may have said, I think Jesus thought, maybe you can pray to me if you if you feel like you need me to be a, a connection between you and God, that's fine. But it's not necessary because even Jesus said, we call people down here, father, this Father, even Jesus said, call no man on earth, your Father, there's only one father. So I, I think Jesus, when he reached that upper level, that love level, that he don't care if you have to use him, he says, you'd pray and he said, pray and I'll go to my father on your behalf. It's not necessary. Okay. Yeah. I've never heard it explained like that, but I like that. Yeah. I like that. Yeah. And the second thing before we, close this out I'm gonna use the analogy that you used before where you put a cup of water in the ocean, you take that out. Yeah. I'm often thought, you know how people sometimes say I had a feeling I saw something. It was like something that happened before. Yeah. And I'm like, I look at that and I'm like, yes, you take this cup of water out. And this cup of water has all of these experiences. Yeah. But then when you put it back in, all of those experiences, everything that cup of water experience, now, the whole ocean has that experience also. And then you take another cup of water out, part of that first cup is gonna be in that second cup. Yes. So there are things that happened in that first cup that are gonna be in that second cup. But things that happened in that first cup are gonna be in a thousand other cups also. Exactly. Yeah. So that's, yeah. That's pretty amazing the way you, that's, I never thought about it like that, but that's pretty amazing. They always say that we are all one, right? Yeah. We are all one. We have the same thing in us. That same spirit, if you wanna call it spirit of God within you, the energy or soul, whatever. We all have that within us. Yeah. We just don't, we just don't realize that we get too busy in our lives and not, don't connect to that spirit in us, but we all have that spirit within us. And yeah. Which we, yeah, that analogy that you, you gave and then what I just said. I'm like, I believe that. And so maybe that's the reincarnation, because what the experiences that we had, they go out and they may be in a thousand other cups. So part of what I experienced, part of what you experienced are gonna be something that's gonna be in Yeah. The next cups that are gonna be pulled out of the ocean. Yeah. So yeah, it, yeah, it's there. We just gotta be still and listen or experience it or whatever. And yeah, we all can experience the same thing, it. It takes effort though. It takes effort, to be still and really listen and experience. And be con and live a conscious life. And live a con, which is what we talked about in the very beginning. Yes. That purposeful life. Yes. A conscious and purposeful life. Yes. Okay. Exactly. Alright. Yeah. Look, we talked about a lot of theories and everything else. But before we close out, just a quick review. We've said some things that are. Probably not common Christian concepts. But in, in my logical mind it's telling me that there's probably a greater connection between, the two religions that we talked about today, more, connection than there are differences now. Yeah. That doesn't mean that Mayan, in your case, I think that our faith in God has changed or diminished, but on the contrary, I think that my faith, and I'm gonna make a assumption, your faith is probably stronger at realizing that there are connections and it's not separate. Yeah I totally agree with that. I think that when I meditate or when I pray and meditate. And read the Bible. I do read the Bible alike, especially with what Jesus says. When he says the kingdom of heaven is within, you try to really connect to that spirit within and also listen, there's this guy named Yoko Nanda. I don't know if you've ever heard of him, but he's a great Indian sage. He has the book one of the most well-known books in the world. I forgot what it's called, but it's really nice. And he has these YouTube, videos and he talks about getting close to God and, the meditation and all that. It's pretty good read. And so pretty good listen. Yeah, it makes you connection to God and belief in God a whole lot stronger. Okay. All right. Yeah. Look, we had a great conversation today and as, because of this, I think that next week we'll start and talk about the idea of heaven and hell. Yeah, you're laughing. Yeah. With that we'll begin discussing the idea of Satan and hell, Buddhism doesn't say anything about a hell, but it's prevalent in our religion. Yes. And I think this is a good time to talk about it and try to understand how it affects our lives and, our path to creating that purposeful life. Yeah. That'd be nice. Okay. Do we have a story today? Yes. Yes. Yes. Our story today comes from Jason, and Jason writes, they say, when you're told you're dying, something inside, you either breaks or burns brighter. For me, it was the latter. It started with a cough that wouldn't quit, but I chalked it up to the change in seasons. I've never been one to rush to. The doctor always figured a little prayer and some soup would do the trick, but the scans don't, didn't lie. Stage four Wow. Words I never thought I'd hear attached to my name. At first, the world dimmed. The air felt heavier. Every step of chore. People spoke to me like I was already halfway gone. Polite, smiles and tilted. Heads filled with pity, but I wasn't ready to surrender. Not to the cancer, not to the fear. I remember sitting in the parking lot after my diagnosis, hands shaking on the steering wheel when I said out loud, God, I can't do this. And in the silence that followed, I didn't hear a booming voice or see a holy light. I just felt like I wasn't alone in the car. That's how it started. My mornings became sacred rituals. I'd open my eyes and whisper. Thank you. Not for the pain or the prognosis, but for the breath still in my lungs for the chance to love my family. One more day, my Bible stayed closed. It's pages worn from use margins filled with scribbles and terrace stains. Psalms 46, 1 became our anchor. God is our refuge and strength and an ever present health and trouble. I recited it until I memorized it and it became a part of my daily routine. My body weakened over time, but my soul felt stronger. I started writing letters to my children. They're still young, too young to understand all this, but I wanted them to know their father wasn't just sick. He was brave. He believed in a love bigger than fear. People would ask if I'm angry at God, and maybe in some moments of depression or desperation I was. But more often I found peace and surrender. Faith isn't a magic wand. It didn't erase my illness or promise a miracle, but it gave me a lens to see the beauty and the mess, hope and the heartache. One evening my wife and I sit on the back porch watching fireflies flicker against the dark sky. She asked if I was scared. I told her the truth, yes, but not of dying. What scared me was leaving her, the kids, the warm cup of coffee in the morning. The sound of rain on our roof. All the simple little things, and yet my faith tells me this isn't the end, that beyond this body there is something eternal. I believe in that promise, not because I need to, but because I felt it. And the quiet moments and the kindness of friends who show up with food and prayers and the stillness of 3:00 AM when I feel most alone yet somehow comforted. Today I watch my youngest daughter dance at her school play. While watching her in that moment, I forgot the tubes, the pills, the hospital bills. I just felt pure, unfiltered joy. That's the thing about knowing your days are numbered. It sharpens your senses. You savor more, forgive faster, love deeper. And while cancer has taken much from me, it's also given me this clarity of understanding that each day is a gift, not guaranteed, but full of grace. No, I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I do know what holds me. Wow. That's powerful. Okay, thank you, Jason, for sending your story. We hope that you have found some peace and purpose in your life, and we believe that your lived life experience is someone's playbook for dealing with the storms in their lives. James, your story will help someone to find the strength to deal with the storms in their lives. Okay, so this will close our podcast for today. Thank you for joining us today on Cirque Soul. We hope that it sparked some new thoughts about the purpose of life. If you would like to send us some questions for discussions or if you'd like to send your story. Please email though. Email these to CDU soul444@ggmail.com. At C-I-R-Q-U-E-D-U-S-O-U l444@gmail.com. And if you found value in today's episode please share it with someone who might benefit from it. Don't forget to like and subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes. And remember, your spiritual journey is unique to yours. But you are never ever alone. There'll always be others to help you through the storms in your life. So take care of yourself, take be kind to yourself and be kind to the world around you. And until the next time, have a great day in paradise. And drop my.