Gautama Buddha rejected eternalism because
"we cannot find anything which is permanent or which exists forever" (page 148).
Since Gautama Buddha believed everything was changeable, therefore there could be nothing that lasts, especially not forever. We did discuss this in Burning Quest - Part 6; you may have a peek back at it if you wish. Yes, many things alter and change and are in constant flux but we know that one day God will give His children an "imperishable body with our fully redeemed and renewed minds that will live forever in permanent existence with Christ in the perfection of Heaven" (Burning Quest - Part 6).
It is understandable that Gautama Buddha could not find permanence in his world. He had not met Jesus. Stemming from his belief in impermanence and his unbelief in things eternal, he rejected the idea of the existence of God (a Supreme Being) and of eternal life.
In Hebrews 13:5 God said...
"I will never leave you nor forsake you."
And in Hebrews 13:8 NIV we have the reassuring words,
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."
That spells 'comforting permanence' to me.
Jesus Christ is not of this world. He came to this world but was not of it. He, in fact, made this world. This world which will, some day, burn up (2 Peter 3:10). Gautama Buddha was correct in that sense; everything will be laid bare. Yet, when we look up to God, believing "by faith" that He is, we will see a different picture.
In Hebrews 11:6 NIV we are told...
"And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him."
I hope and pray that no one will miss out on knowing God personally and having a Father-son/Father-daughter relationship with Him. Jeremiah 29:13 NIV proclaims God's word...
"You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart."
Seek and find. It is not a futile search. Trust Him.
Here is a link that asks Does God Exist? Marilyn Adamson has some answers for you to ponder.
In Christ Jesus, we have forgiveness of sins. That is a once-for-all, permanent status. This also entitles the one who has forgiveness of sins to be made and to be seen as righteous in God's sight (Romans 4:6) and to have eternal life (Romans 6:23).
Therefore, the child of God also rejects nihilism. There is definitely life after death whether one is a child of God or not. Refer to the story of the rich man and Lazarus once again (Luke 16:19-31). The men were seen in different sections of Hades. The rich man of no faith in God was in torment. Lazarus, a man of faith, was in "Abraham's bosom" and not in torment.
Jesus spoke to the believing thief who was on one of the crosses beside Him saying,
"Truly, I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:39-43, especially verse 43).
The apostle Paul was in a dilemma, wanting to stay behind on earth for the sake of the Philippians, but also desiring "to depart and be with Christ" which he deemed "far better" (Philippians 1:23).
It is the most important action one needs to take in all of life; that is, to prepare for the after life. Prepare to meet God by accepting His offer of salvation through Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. We find in Romans 4:22-35 the work that Jesus did for us. He
"was delivered up for our trespasses (or offences/sin) and raised for our justification."
Jesus death, and His resurrection accomplished our justification and God imputed righteousness to us, to those who believe. What a mighty and wondrous God we have! He prepared the way for whoever wishes to prepare for the after earth life.
I fully look forward to living, for all eternity, in the presence of my God and King, for all eternity, in my very own God-given imperishable body. I will also be recognized by those who knew me on earth. What could be more permanent than this?
Eternalism and nihilism aside, the Buddhist longs for 'nirvana'. This is "a state", according to the wikipedia nutshell, that...
"is described in Buddhism as cessation of all afflictions, cessation of all actions, cessation of rebirths and suffering that are a consequence of affections and actions. Liberation is described as identical to anatta (anatman, non-self, lack of any self). In Buddhism, liberation is achieved when all things and beings are understood to be with no Self. Nirvana is also described as identical to achieving sunyata (emptiness), where there is no essence or fundamental nature in anything, and everything is empty."
A nothingness? An emptiness? Yet it is some sort of life after death, thus the Buddhist rejection of Nihilism. Sri Dhammananda says on page 149...|
"Buddhism accepts 'survival' not in a sense of an eternal soul, but in a sense of a renewed becoming or mental continuum...."
He continues on page 150...
"This life-stream flows on ad infinitum, as long as it is fed by the muddy waters of 'ignorance and craving'.
So there is that "permanence" of the mental continuum that gets rebirth. The permanence of the mental continuum lives until the 'vessel' it inhabits has reached that level of having extinguished all desire and sensual yearnings.
When ignorance and craving...
"are cut off, only then does the life-stream cease to flow, only then does rebirth come to an end." (Page 151).
How many vessel-lives will it take to achieve such a state? It is even recorded that Gautama Buddha took eons and eons (scroll down in link to a side bar in the link) to accomplish Nirvana. So even this 'Rebirth' theory is rather permanent; could one say, "temporarily permanent"?
What comforting hope does anyone ever have of achieving the ultimate goal of Nirvana? Yes, one could argue that, "Hey, Gautama Buddha claimed to have and there must be others."
But how many? And can they be certain? If Nirvana is a permanent nothingness or emptiness is it truly a reward to strive for?
Oh Father God, let one and all know that You are the One and Only Supreme, and Eternal Being. In You all peoples of the earth can find hope. They can find permanence. They can find the One who paid the penalty for their sins. The One who offers salvation through Your Son Jesus Christ, who did all the work and striving for them earning righteousness for them which, You, O Father God, will impute upon them should they accept Your offer. So be it Father! I ask in Your Son Jesus' precious Name.
In the book of Jude in the Holy Scriptures which are able to make us wise unto salvation we read...
"To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy--to the only God and Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen." (Jude 1:24-25 NIV).
The follower of Jesus Christ has such wonderful assurance of salvation and of having 'done enough' to secure it forever (meaning, having accepted God's offer of salvation as being enough). We have then been given the Holy Spirit who helps to "present us faultless and blameless" before God on that great day of being called into His presence for all eternity.
Veering back to the main topic we find that Buddhism deals greatly with cause and effect. Thus consequences from good/bad deeds can be carried over from one being to the next during the Buddhist 'Rebirth' conscious-linking event.
Following that then, how can there be a God, how can there be a Creator, how can He be the "First Cause" even if He does exist?! To produce such a God, a perfect God who could create such a beautiful and amazingly awesome creation, there would have to have been a previous good and perfect being to give 'Rebirth' to this Creator God. However, if I have actually understood Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda, author of What Buddhists Believe, correctly, that perfect being would have reached nirvana and become a Buddha rendering him or her or it, unable to give 'Rebirth' to anyone or anything. Thus, I suppose, the unbelief in a Supreme Being, God, who exists.
It takes FAITH...Faith to believe God exists; that He is; that God is the Creator; the Everlasting Father; that God is the Supreme Being; that God is the 'First Cause'; that there is eternity and that there is an eternal soul.
This God is the One who created mankind & who sent Jesus to be the Savior of the world. Jesus who can give us 'rebirth' so long as we are still alive and kicking. We followers of Jesus Christ call that being "born again" (John 3:3, 7). We do not have to physically die to be born again, to 'grow' or renew our mind's mental continuum and we do not give it to anyone or any creature at the current body's death and their conception.
To be born again, is to be born again spiritually into God's family, as ourselves with all our very own mental capacity and accumulation of knowledge of our one and only lifetime upon earth. Our next 'lifetime', if you will, is after the death of our earthly body, and the lifetime in which we will spend forever with God our Heavenly Father in our imperishable bodies. Our spirit and soul never dies, nor is given to anyone/any creature.
Born again. Sins (bad/unwholesome deeds) taken care of. Penalty of sins addressed. Made righteous in God's sight; justified. Everlasting life to look forward to. It is through faith we are saved (Ephesians 2:8-9). Being saved and being born again are interchangeable terms. Being saved is a gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).
There is an after earth life that is everlasting and that is full. Full of God our everlasting Father. Full of joy. True, there will be no more afflictions, sorrow or tears. All actions will be to honor and glorify God our Heavenly King. We will be empty of selfish thoughts and actions but full of God and delight in Him. We will be fundamentally ourselves, yet as God's children, we will have the fullness of a perfected relationship with Him.
We will joy in our God and sing of His love that moved our hearts and minds to be where He is for all eternity, in permanent dwelling with Him. None of this by our own effort but all of God's effort in atoning for our souls. There is the belief in Buddhism that one can share out ones' merits with others. Well, Jesus shared all of His merits, so to speak, giving freely to anyone who wishes to accept them. He bought our pardon. This did not diminish Jesus in any way yet we human beings can benefit 100%. No wonder we will be singing songs of praise, honor, glory and power unto Him (Revelation 5:13).
Look at this peek we have of the joy in heaven from Revelation 7:9-10 ESV...
"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne and to the Lamb."
I'm going to be part of that multitude in time to come and for all eternity in the presence of God and Jesus my Redeemer. I pray all who read these words will be too. May you know the joy and rest Jesus offers and freely gives to all who have faith to believe and receive.
This song rendition by the Gaithers brings the glory and joy of heaven in reasonable facsimile, or at least how I imagine. The song The Old Country Church.
~ERC 2018~
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