We went to Varanasi, a city that dates back to 3,000-4,000 B.C. The Ganges River flows through the city, and Hindus believe the water provides purification from sins and can provide a direct route to heaven when one dies, thereby allowing them to escape the cycle of reincarnation. Hence it is very common to see people bathing in the water, people gathering it to sell in their home communities, lifeless bodies floating down the river, and smoke rising where bodies are burned along the shore before their ashes are released in the water. Along the shoreline there are over 100 Ghats where people can pay their respects to various gods. Hinduism as a whole recognizes thousands of gods. Because of the religion’s long history, many of the people continue to follow Hindu traditions simply because that’s what their families have done for generations and they don’t know any different. That’s the only possible hope they have.
We also went to Gaya, home of the famous Bodhi tree where Buddha was enlightened in 528 B.C. We went to numerous monasteries where various sects of Buddhism are stationed, then visited the primary temple and walked around the area where Buddha spent 7 weeks of his life. The area where he sat under the tree is fenced off and marked with flowers and a throne. People travel from all over the world to visit – they get there and sit down to meditate while facing the tree. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to wholly recognize, and become one with, god in yourself. They don’t pray to any deities because they deny any such higher power beyond themselves; instead, everything can be found and attained within oneself.
Both Buddhism and Hinduism include excellent teachings that can result in their followers becoming morally good people with high character. Both religions include teachings about love, peace, doing to others as you would have them do to you, etc. That all sounds pretty good and one can definitely see some similarities with the Christian lifestyle…so what’s the big deal? Why isn’t it ok to turn our backs and let people continue in the traditions they’ve practiced for thousands of years? Why do we as Christians have any right to claim that what we know as Truth is more correct than the beliefs of others?
Well, what exactly is Truth? The straightforward answer…Jesus is Truth. Truth isn’t an abstract concept or a list of absolute statements – Truth is a person. A person who walked on the earth at the same time when Buddhism was introduced to China, when Rome shifted from Republic to Empire, and Mayan cities were emerging in Mesoamerica. The life of Jesus really happened – He fulfilled over 400 prophecies during His brief time on earth. So why do we as Christians so often live as though it’s all just some story? Why do we so often base our beliefs in Jesus on feelings and become defenseless when others ask questions about our faith? Jesus lived. Jesus died. Jesus rose again. That’s amazing and worth sharing. Other religions may have good teachings, but they are lacking in one major area…Truth – a living God. Deception is just so deeply rooted around here. It’s like a cloud of darkness has been hovering over these religious strongholds for hundreds of thousands of years, and it’s all based on deception. Cleverly disguised lies that sound good…lies that say you just have to live a good life and that’s all you need, lies that say you have to offer sacrifices to a whole list of gods in order to move on to a better life, lies that say there is no higher authority because god can only be found within yourself. It’s all so close to the real deal yet slightly twisted. Yet as Christians we have the Truth inside of us, and it spreads everywhere we go just by our presence. Whether to Buddhist temples in India, orphanages in Romania, or the grocery store in the United States…light spreads wherever we go. And that can change the whole atmosphere of the area.
So the moral of the story is that deception is out there & takes many forms, but God is greater and already has the victory in every part of the earth. There are so many people who are desperate to find the Truth, and they try so hard to attain some sort of hope. That’s the commonality between all humans. We all try so hard to achieve more and more and never reach a level where we’ve got it all together. We lose ourselves in trying to get a lot of money, get the ideal job, look a certain way, or whatever it might be…but it’s never enough. We all have our own idols in our lives. This past week it really just opened my eyes to see physical idols with people physically worshiping them…but we’re all in that same boat whether we see it or not. We’re all lost, searching for something to fill that whole in our lives that can only really be filled by our Creator. He loves His children so much – the Hindus, the Buddhists, the Christians, the Muslims, etc… Everyone equal. The rich, the poor, the prostitutes, the alcoholics, the homeless, etc… All the same. God is wildly pursuing each person He uniquely created because He so desperately wants to have a relationship with each of His sons and daughters. It hurts Him so much to see everything we as humans try to fill our lives with to fulfill our need for Him – nothing else works. But the beauty of it all is that He’s always fighting for us; He never relents. And when we encounter Jesus, we get to join in that fight to be living examples of His glory, grace, and light to those around us.
Matthew 5:14,16 – "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden…let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
