Saturday, December 4, 2010

How Dukkha Came Into the World - Bible's Version

The Bible tells us that "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth Genesis 1:1 NASB)." "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day (Genesis 1:31 KJV)."

It was very good. Everything were component/conditioned things but there was no dukkha.

Now in the middle of the Garden of Eden was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). Now Man already had the knowledge of good because everything that God created was very good (Genesis 1:31), but he did not have the knowledge of dukkha. Now there was a great saleman in the Garden, who would persuade Man to know dukkha.

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1-5 NASB)"

It is true that God has the knowledge of good and evil, but because He is unborn 不生, unoriginated 不有(非緣起), uncreated 非造作, unformed (un-fabricated) 無爲(之維度), He is not affected by it. But Man, being a conditioned / component being, cannot handle dukkha without being affected. But the serpent packaged dukkha as something nice to have. It is a wonderful to have the knowledge of good and evil. The emphasis is now on "knowledge", a special knowledge that God has, but selfishly withheld from Man. So Man wanted the "knowledge" and through him, now all men have this "knowledge". When imperfection comes, perfection will go away. It is not possible to be perfect and imperfect at the same time. Life is now dukkha.

"Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12 NASB)." "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23 KJV)." "For the wages of sin is death; (Romans 6:23 KJV)"

Now that sin had entered the world (i.e. all the conditioned / component / created things), everything is dukkha. Nothing is perfect.

But God, the unborn 不生, unoriginated 不有(非緣起), uncreated 非造作, unformed (un-fabricated) 無爲(之維度), is the only Being that is able to save because He is the Unchanging One. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8 NASB)."

Every serious religion or philosophy is aware that salvation can only come outside time and space, from eternity. Even Buddha knew this:
"There is an un-born, un-become, un-made, un-fabricated. If there were not that un-born, un-become, un-made, un-fabricated, there would not be the case that emancipation from the born, become, made, fabricated would be discerned. But precisely because there is an un-born, un-become, un-made, un-fabricated, emancipation from the born, become, made, fabricated is discerned. (Udana VIII.3; Nibbana Sutta; ‘Total Unbinding’).
"比丘們,不生、不有(非緣起)、非造作、無爲(之維度)實有。若無不生、不有、非造作、無爲(之維度),則不能辨知從生、有、造作、有爲的解脫。
然而,正因爲不生、不有、非造作、無爲(之維度)實有,才得以辨知從生、有、造作、有爲的解脫。(自說經) 8:3"

"For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:15 NLT)." "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23 KJV)."

How does God saves us? "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 NASB)" Jesus, "who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, (Galatians 1:4 NASB)" "Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. (Philippians 2:6-8 NLT)" "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10 KJV)"

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