C.S. Lewis stated somewhere in one of his books (I believe that it is Mere Christianity), that all religion has some truth in it or no one would follow the religion. I have found this to be true on many occasions. Each religion has central truths that highlight a particular aspect of the human condition, and generally meet a felt need of human beings. For Buddhism, the need I would like to highlight is the four noble truths.
4 noble truths:
1. Life means suffering
2. The origin of suffering is attachment
3. The cessation of suffering is attainable
4. The path to the cessation of suffering is possible by following the Eightfold path of Buddhism.
The truth is that life does mean suffering, and that some suffering does come because of our over attachment to things other than Christ. While Buddhism states that the end of suffering is attainable, as Christians we believe that suffering does not end until we die. Finally, as Christians we believe that the end of suffering is possible. However, where we differ is that we believe that we believe we live in a broken world and suffering is unavoidable in this world. However, Christ helps us through the suffering.
Two other major human needs we see highlighted in Buddhism is the human need for mindfulness and/or meditation as well as the fact that stuff and things do not satisfy. As Christians, and indeed as human beings, religious or not, we need to remember that stuff does not satisfy, and that meditation helps along the way.
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