[Jaroon60]

Originally Posted by warebehr

To add a little to this,

In the Bible, in Luke 17:21 Jesus spoke: "The kingdom of heaven is within you."

Considering the concept of heaven is largely thanks to the Christian religion, Jesus seemed to speak in a way that seems very aligned with Buddha.

I believe the utility of Christianity has taken the truth a bit off-course when it comes to heaven and the afterlife.

Rather than accepting what Christ actually said, many will defer to heaven as a reward for actions. I think this is largely due to the nature of humanity - which is an innocent thing, but it still complicates matters.

I believe Jesus was an enlightened man, like Buddha, who showed the world that they are wrong about God as they know it. He had to speak in parables because the audience would not accept the straight truth, and this is where the never ending circle of interpretations started.

In becoming aware of this process, I have been able to identify the utilities in religion, apart from the truths, and I do this by looking for the kingdom of heaven within me.

We have a lot to thank christian religion for......not.