Buddhist "Icon" of the Pure Land

I will always be grateful to Buddhism, especially Mahayana Buddhism, for being a vital stopping point on my journey to truth. Through the liturgy of the Pure Land or Shin Buddhist school I learned about the concept of Nembutsu - trusting in "the Name that calls." Simply stated the Shin school of Buddhism - ("Shin" means true, or Orthodox, in Japanese) teaches that enlightenment or salvation is purely a gift, provided on the merits of the Source of Infinite Life and Light (Amitabha), and by practicing Shinjin, or "True Entrusting" in this "Other Power" one becomes now and forever a citizen of the eternal Pure Land.

When I was introduced to Orthodox Christianity I thought that it had copied the Buddhist teachings - after all, I thought, Buddha had appeared on earth 500 years before Christ. But as I did research I found that Mahayana Buddhism had not really developed its teachings until around the 8th Century C.E. and as I studied Orthodox teachings I had several "Deja-Vu" experiences. For example, the Mahayana philosophy teaches that the Buddha, or Awakened One, has several bodies, or aspects of existence - the underlying essence being the Dharmakaya body (defined as timeless, permanent, devoid of characteristics and free from duality. The spiritual body of the buddhas.) I compared this to the teachings of the Orthodox Church on the "nature" of God. God is one in essence and absolutely unknowable - God is, according to Orthodoxy, above all nature; not a being because He is above all beings.

Whoa, the unknowable essence - the Dharmakaya sounds like a description of that!!!

As I study more and more about Orthodox Christianity - the church of Pentecost - I find that its truth contains all truth that other religions point to - yet it fulfills them all because Lord Jesus Christ is the source of all life and light "the light that enlightens the whole world" - John 1:9.



Orthodox Christian "Trinity" Icon

Rublev's Trinity Icon - Russia 14th Century