1. Introduction
Every religious and philosophical system begins with a fundamental question: What is ultimately real?
In Christianity, ultimate reality is a personal, living God—Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer—who exists beyond and within creation. In Buddhism, ultimate reality is not a divine being but the true nature of existence itself, described as emptiness (śūnyatā), dependent origination (paṭicca-samuppāda), or suchness (tathatā).
While Christianity grounds its metaphysics in the being of God (ontology), Buddhism grounds its understanding of reality in process and interdependence (phenomenology). Each offers a distinct yet profound vision of what it means for something to be, and how humanity relates to the ultimate source or truth of existence.
2. Ultimate Reality in Christianity
2.1. God as Creator and Sustainer
The Christian worldview begins with the declaration: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1). God is the source of all being, distinct from creation yet intimately involved in it (Acts 17:28). Unlike the cyclical cosmology of many Eastern traditions, the biblical narrative is linear—creation, fall, redemption, and consummation—reflecting a purposeful divine plan.
God is understood as eternal, omnipotent, and omnipresent, whose existence is independent and self-sufficient (aseity). All other things exist contingently, deriving their being from God (Aquinas, Summa Theologica I.3). The created world is therefore good but dependent, sustained by divine will rather than impersonal law.
2.2. The Trinity and Relational Being
In Christian theology, ultimate reality is relational. God is revealed as Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19)—not three gods, but one divine essence in three persons. This mystery expresses that relationship, love, and communication are intrinsic to the nature of ultimate reality itself (Barth, 1956).
The Son (Logos) reveals the Father (John 1:18), and the Spirit communicates divine life to creation. Thus, existence is grounded in communion, not isolation. To be fully real is to participate in divine love, the source and goal of all that exists.
2.3. The Word (Logos) and the Structure of Reality
John’s Gospel presents the Logos—the Word—as the creative and rational principle through which all things were made (John 1:1–3). This affirms that reality possesses order and intelligibility because it arises from divine reason. Matter and spirit are not opposed but unified under the will of the Creator.
Hence, ultimate reality in Christianity is personal, purposeful, and self-revealing. Truth is not merely correspondence to fact but participation in God’s own being—“I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
3. Ultimate Reality in Buddhism
3.1. The Principle of Dependent Origination
Buddhism offers a radically different vision of reality. According to the principle of dependent origination (paṭicca-samuppāda), all phenomena arise in dependence on causes and conditions: “When this is, that is; when this ceases, that ceases” (Samyutta Nikāya 12:1). There is no independent or eternal entity—everything is interdependent and impermanent (anicca).
This understanding dismantles the notion of a permanent self (anattā). Ultimate reality is dynamic flux, a process rather than a being. The universe operates by causal law (Dharma), not by the will of a creator deity.
3.2. Emptiness and Suchness
In later Mahāyāna Buddhism, the concept of emptiness (śūnyatā) became central. It does not mean nothingness, but the absence of inherent, independent existence. Things exist only in relation to others, like waves in the ocean—real yet without fixed essence (Nagarjuna, Mūlamadhyamakakārikā).
The realisation of emptiness leads to freedom from attachment and dualistic thinking. The ultimate truth (paramārtha-satya) is “thusness” (tathatā)—seeing things as they truly are, beyond conceptual distinction.
Hence, ultimate reality in Buddhism is non-personal, ineffable, and experiential. It cannot be grasped by logic or language but only realised through direct insight (vipassanā).
3.3. The Dharma as Law and Reality
The term Dharma in Buddhism has multiple meanings: the Buddha’s teaching, the moral order, and the ultimate nature of reality itself. To live according to Dharma is to live in harmony with the true structure of existence. There is no creator God behind it, but rather an eternal pattern of cause, effect, and interdependence—law without lawgiver (Gethin, 1998).
Thus, Buddhism sees reality as self-ordering and self-disclosing through insight, not divine revelation. The enlightened one perceives this truth intuitively and ceases to cling to illusions of self, permanence, or possession.
4. Comparative Philosophical Analysis
| Concept | Christianity | Buddhism |
|---|---|---|
| Ultimate Reality | Personal, Creator God (Trinity) | Non-personal process (Dharma, śūnyatā) |
| Nature of Being | Eternal, self-existent, relational | Impermanent, interdependent, void of self |
| Ontology | Being as participation in divine life | No fixed being; all is becoming |
| Knowledge of Reality | Through revelation and faith | Through meditation and direct insight |
| Goal of Understanding | Union with God; eternal life | Enlightenment; cessation of craving |
| Metaphysical Structure | Linear creation and redemption | Cyclical arising and cessation |
| Language of Truth | “I AM” (Exod. 3:14) — being itself | “Emptiness” — absence of independent being |
Both traditions aim to overcome ignorance, but their methods and metaphysical presuppositions differ. Christianity affirms ontological fullness—being grounded in divine presence. Buddhism affirms ontological emptiness—freedom from delusion about inherent existence.
Where Christianity speaks of communion with God, Buddhism speaks of awakening to the Dharma. Both see reality as intelligible and ordered, but one interprets this order as personal will, the other as impersonal law.
5. Convergent Insights
Despite their contrasts, certain convergences exist:
- Transcendence of Ego: Both call for liberation from self-centredness—Christianity through surrender to God’s love; Buddhism through non-attachment.
- Mystical Realism: Both traditions recognise that ultimate reality transcends ordinary perception and language.
- Moral Transformation: To perceive truth rightly demands ethical purification and compassion.
- Immanence and Transcendence: Christian mysticism (e.g. Meister Eckhart) and Buddhist thought (e.g. Zen) both stress that the ultimate is both beyond and within the world of phenomena.
These parallels demonstrate that, while their metaphysical grammars differ, both traditions guide adherents toward truth, transformation, and peace through a reorientation of perception and desire.
6. Conclusion
For Christianity, ultimate reality is God—personal, loving, and relational—who freely creates and sustains all things. For Buddhism, ultimate reality is Dharma—impersonal, self-regulating truth realised through wisdom and compassion.
One begins with divine revelation; the other with experiential insight. Yet both converge in affirming that ignorance and self-centredness obscure reality, and both promise freedom through transformation of consciousness.
In Christianity, the end of ignorance is communion with God; in Buddhism, it is nirvāṇa, the extinction of grasping. Each presents a complete cosmology and soteriology built upon its understanding of what is ultimately real.
The next study, Part 4: “The Human Condition,” will build upon this foundation by comparing how each faith understands human nature, the origin of suffering, and the moral challenge of existence.
References
- The Holy Bible (NIV 2011). London: Hodder & Stoughton.
- Aquinas, T. (1947) Summa Theologica, trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province. London: Burns Oates.
- Barth, K. (1956) Church Dogmatics II/1: The Doctrine of God. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.
- Gethin, R. (1998) The Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Nagarjuna (trans. Garfield, J. L., 1995) The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Rahula, W. (1978) What the Buddha Taught. Rev. edn. London: Gordon Fraser.
- Williams, P. (2009) Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations. 2nd edn. London: Routledge.