| EASTERN/NEW AGE | BIBLICAL |
| Creation is an illusion and God (nondual Hinduism) or Buddha nature/mind is the only reality (Buddhism); creation is God (pantheism); creation is a manifestation of God and contains God (panentheism) | God created the universe (Gen.1:1; Neh. 9:6; Ps. 102:25; Heb. 11:3) |
| God, or the Absolute, is beyond knowing (Hinduism; Gnosticism); there is no creator God (Buddhism, Taoism); God is impersonal as the Source, as the Universe, or as the “Divine” (New Age) | God is made known through His word & through Christ |
| The true nature of reality must be sought (Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism); reality is a manifestation of thoughts, fears, past lives (New Age) | Objective reality (Job 12:10,11; Ps. 24:1,2) |
| True Self is an extension or part of God (New Age); individual identity is an illusion or result of false beliefs (Hinduism, Buddhism) | Self is real, separate from God (Gen. 1, 2) |
| Self is a set of impressions & desires (Zen Buddhism) | Self is unique identity; individual (Ps. 139:13-16; Matt.10:30) |
| All is connected by one force or energy (chi/ki/qi/prana); there are no distinctions (Monism) (nondual Hinduism; Taoism; Buddhism) | Man is distinct from God and the rest of His creation, made in God’s image; no life force (Gen. 1, 2) |
| Body & Matter/Spirit duality: matter is evil/illusion & spirit must escape or transcend matter (Gnosticism, New Age); matter and body have no substantive reality (Buddhism); the body is irrelevant and each lifetime is lived ina different body (Hindu reincarnation); matter is energy but denser than spiriutal energy and the body will be transcended (New Age) | God created matter & it was good; the bodies of believers in Christ will be redeemed(Gen. 1 & 2: I Cor. 15:35-58) |
| Death is not final; reincarnation & re-absorption into the Godhead or the One or Source (Hinduism; New Age); extinguishing of self (Buddhism) | Man lives once & dies; afterlife is as an individual with or without God (John 5:24, Heb. 9:27) |
| The rational mind, as part of matter, is a barrier to enlightenment & must be transcended, usually by meditation (Hinduism; Zen & Tibetan Buddhism; New Age) | God advises using rational thinking, reason & order (Is.1:18; Matt.22:37; Rom. 12:3; I Cor. 14; Phil. 4:8) |
| Enlightenment through meditation, transcending the material world, and/or realization of divine nature (Hinduism; New Age) | Salvation only through Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12) |
| Liberation is following the Noble Eightfold Path and freeing oneself of all desire (Buddhism)
Short link: http://tinyurl.com/2s6th3ds |
It is right to desire God/Christ (Is. 55:6; John 14:6; Acts 17:12) |