Spiritual Conversation with a Buddhist - Kingdom Colission

“Tell me about your spiritual journey” is a question that opened up a spiritual conversation with a buddhist. This open ended question gave the person the open ended space to start taking about their spiritual views.

The conversation continued when I asked “what drew you to budhism?”. As he talked, I listened with an ear to understand. Eventually he made the claim that “all roads lead to the same place”. I had to fight the urge to jump and and correct him. Thankfully, I didn’t and let him continue.

Then he made the claim that “suffering is an illusion”. This was my spot. The philosophy of Budhism short changes human suffering and I wanted to insert a few ideas for him to think about.

(Suffering is important in spiritual formation. God often works through suffering and hardship as we grow and develop, it’s often the hard things that deeply work out our sanctification - to become more Christlike.)

In this open conversation, the guy opened up about a spiritual experience that he had. He had an experience where God spoke to him in his spirit. He displayed great openness and vulnerability as he talked about a personal experience with the Lord.

The conversation ended after about 40 minutes and I tried to let him share his story without judgement and I let him have the last word.

As I stepped back from the conversation, I realized that my goal was to him him see reality the way that Jesus saw reality. Sometimes Budha’s assertions are in conflict with how Jesus saw the world.

Christianity equally holds the spiritual life and physical life simultaneously. Budhism teaches to reach enlightenment, one must see the physical world as an illusion and to look to the ultimate spiritual reality.

So often, the value of a conversation like this is to reflect after the conversation. When I think about this dear soul, he is missing out on the worship experience. It’s a grave shortto have a worldview that lacks worshiping the Christian God who came to earth and offers eternal life freely, and free you from the bondage of sin.

Salvation is not earned, it is received. The inaccessible God opens up a restored relationship that redeems the person from the inside out. Where the love of Christ rules in the heart and flows out to all interactions.

I don’t know if this conversation had any direct impact on this dear soul, but it is my hope that shining a light on the shortcomings of Budhism philosophy and comparing it to the teachings of Christ.