Q: How do I deal with the confusion I experience?  I still feel very attached to Christianity and to some of the Hindu  practices/prayers which I learned while studying yoga....At the same time (!) I have found Pure Land Buddhism to be something that has been  instrumental in releiving my sense of suffering and attachement...It's FANTASTIC!  But, I go to church and pray to "God" and I feel like it contradicts my  Buddhist practice...What do you ususally advise someone like me?!

A: Since each individual and situation is unique, I don't "usually" advise anything.  But I would be more than happy to offer you a few observations which I hope may be of some assistance.

In reality, praying to any deity is not a contradiction of Buddhist practice.  Remember that the Buddha kept a "golden silence" when asked about the existence of a supreme deity so as to keep people from engaging in the kind of metaphysical speculation which might keep them from working to end their suffering.  Buddhism is a search for Truth, even Pure Land Buddhism, which assists us to see that Amitabha Buddha is and represents boundless Wisdom and compassion and that the Pure Land and the Pure Mind are one and the same.  We may have different paths to Truth, but Truth is Truth.....period.  If praying to a deity brings happiness and peace to your heart, that's a sure sign that you are on the path to Truth, as different as it might seem from other paths or combinations of paths.

You are most fortunate to be benefitting from the many practices that you do, and since they are all pointing basically in the same direction, the only real contradiction is within yourself; these kinds of things are vestiges of the ego-mind.  You stated it directly: you are attached to at least one of the traditions you practice, elegant proof of the Buddha's teaching that attachment only leads to suffering.

The key question is this: are you enjoying these practices?  Are they lessening your suffering and bringing you joy?  If the answer is yes, then you should simply enjoy them, ALL of them!  What religion does joy belong to?  ALL of them!  What religion teaches us to practice love, compassion and kindness?  ALL of them!  What it all really gets down to is the manner in which you are living your life, regardless of which practices you do or don't do.

Christianity teaches that God = Supreme Being.  My question is this: is the word "Being" in that term a noun or a verb?  I tend to see it as the latter, but that's my own perspective.  Either way, the word "God" points to all those kinds of things which promote harmony and peace and avoid pain and suffering.  So does the Buddha Shakyamuni........so does Buddha Amitabha............so do all the Yogis and teachers of the Hindu and related traditions.  So you see, if we go down to the rock bottom, to the universal aspect of things, there's no reason whatsoever to feel like any one practice "contradicts" any other.  They may indeed contradict on the surface; so if you feel there's a contradiction between your Christian practice and your Buddhist practice, understand that this is a superficial feeling that is more based on one's relative, limited perspective than on true understanding.  They're just different, that's all; our great fortune as human beings is that we have just about as many paths to Truth as thereare types of human beings.

Try not to worry too much about it.  Many of us Buddhists who were raised in a predominently Judeo-Christian atmosphere experience pangs of what feels like guilt from time to time.  But much of this is from habit and from the sense of guilt that many Christian teachers, unfortunately, have cultivated in their students and followers.  The main thing is to enjoy your life and especially to enjoy the fruits of the practices and disciplines that have so enriched you.  And when it comes to the speculative aspects of your life, maybe you could try seeing God through Buddhist eyes, Buddha through Christian eyes, and so forth.  This may help you to see that all these kinds of teachings are, like the old saying goes, "fingers pointing toward the beauty of the moon." 

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