Reincarnation and Incarnation

On our way back from Shangri La to Lijiang, my stepaunt began to share about the amazement she had about how in Tibetan Buddism, the belief in the reincarnation of the Living Buddha (Buddhist monks with great knowledge of medical sciences and wisdom). These Living Buddhas, whoever they are, once discovered will then be
taken to the other llamas where they are tutored in the mantras. She was sharing about how one of the Living Buddhas predicted to his disciples that he would return to earth in this specific family and time and how they would find him there based on certain signs that he would give them. The story goes that after he died, many pp went in search of the reincarnation of this Living Buddha but never made it and when they did, they apparently found him at age 6 or 10 yo.. sitting quietly in the family room, cross legged and meditating on the mantras. Quite an amazing story (was in the news apparently) by human standards i must say!

While i will not speculate on the truth of this story (i've yet to see it recorded in historic books) and i definitely do not believe in reincarnation but as she was sharing this, i couldn't help but think about the even greater miracle of the birth of Christ. That if the Chinese Buddhists would be so facinated by the story of a reincarnation of a Living Buddha, how much more the incarnation of the Living God!

Christ's birth was foretold not by a person, but many people through thousands of years, foretelling the signs of His birth and also the miracles that he would do. It is clear that God wanted people to know that CHrist's birth was not a mistake and He wanted Him to be found... appearing to the humblest of all pps, the shepherds and the wisest of men - the Three Wise Kings. Even as the Buddhists were awed by the 'wisdom' of this young Living Buddha, how much more Christ, who would sit at the synagogues, speaking, teaching and showing great understanding of the Scriptures at His young age of 12. Yet, the most remarkable of which was that Christ chose to be subject to His parents until His time had come. His ultimate teacher was God the Father Himself, never reveled in the affirmation and praises of man because He knew all that in the heart of man. Never chose to exalt Himself, but never compromising the truth of His identity as well. Beyond showing wisdom and knowledge in Scripture, Christ went the distance in performing miracles of healing, raising pp from the dead and finally, chose to die for us. No other person or saint has ever done that, to claim that they are God and finally to suffer injustice and die for love of mankind. Many would want a claim to glory, but few the claim to suffering. Christ took both in His stride, and through it all, upheld and led pp to the Truth that brings freedom.

In Buddhism, the disciples are told to seek the truth and pursue it, and now truth has come. Christ said of Himself, " I am the truth, the way and the life", so there is no contradiction.

What i have found amazing is how God is God of all cultures, and in every culture, there is a redemptive analogy to point towards Him. No culture is beyond Him and even as i write, my prayer continues that my stepaunt may come to discover the Truth that Buddha asks his disciples to seek, and come to the true freedom as children of God.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life"

"Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

 "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:31-32