Students from Mongolia who were Buddhist described the difficult choice to convert from the religion they had grown up in. In the stories they shared, they highlighted the ways Buddhism gave them their basic sense of morality.
The Church gave a deeper insight into where they came from and why they were here on earth. They said the gospel of Jesus Christ gave them answers to their spiritual questions.
“There’s truth in every religion,” said Altanshagai Enkhbat, a sophomore from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia majoring in business. “Growing up in a Buddhist culture prepared me to be a part of the church. I got the same lessons as a child, and when I was baptized, those lessons made my testimony stronger.”
Enkhbat is among the Mongolian students at BYU-Hawaii who converted from Buddhism. These students were asked how they made the decision to leave their faith to join another.
What is Buddhism?
Buddhism began in the late 6th century B.C.E., according to AsiaSociety.org, when an Indian prince who left his home full of riches and saw the suffering happening outside of his palace. The prince, Siddhartha Gautama, observed more suffering around the world and ended up meditating under a tree until he reached enlightenment. He was known as the Buddha, or “the enlightened one.”
After the Buddha’s death, his followers formed monasteries and spread the religion all over Asia through missionary work. Due to differences in local customs and language, sects of Buddhism began to form in other countries.
According to a study by BBC Worldwide, Buddhism has approximately 376 million followers around the world. Brought into Mongolia from Tibet, more than 53 percent of its people are Buddhist, according to a 2010 national census, with only 2.1 percent identifying as Christian.
Growing up Buddhist
Ulziibayar Badamdorj, a sophomore majoring in information technologies, explained Mongolian Buddhism has0 two separate sects. “There are two streams of Buddhism. We called them red and yellow. One based on practice and [the other] is based mantra (prayer). The second stream, [mantra], is very strong in Mongolia.”
Saruul Ochirbat, a freshman psychology major also from Ulaanbaatar, said he learned his morals through Buddhism. “It was similar to Christianity actually,” he said. “We were taught not to kill or steal and not to harm animals.
“A lot of people in Mongolia say they are Buddhist but rarely go to the temple or practice religion actively. When I was young, I observed that while a lot of people worship at the temple, they are only just going through the motions. They wear the prayer beads and recite the mantras but do not really delve deeply.”
Ochirbat remarked how the core philosophies of Buddhism are simple. He said, “over the years people add more to it and care about the little details.” He noted was similar to the Pharisees at the time of Jesus Christ.
“Of course, not every Buddhist is like this. There are millions of faithful members who make it a big part of their lives. This is just my experience,” Ochirbat said. “I did meet monks who came from India to study in Mongolia. They said in some ways, Mongolian Buddhism was off the path. The people worshipped rituals but forgot the main philosophies.”
Reflecting on her childhood in a Buddhist family, Enkhbat said, “I liked the story of the Buddha being enlightened. I hoped I could be enlightened through meditation like him. I thought the temples and idols were beautiful.
“My family was kind of an inactive Buddhist family. Like most Mongolian families, we would only go the temple once a year to receive a blessing from the monks. I was a curious child. A lot of the time I’d wonder why people prayed to idols they made in their hands.”
Despite growing up Buddhist, Badamdorj said he was looking for something higher and wondered where he could find his answers. “Many people went to the Buddhist monastery to solve their problems. They say certain prayers for money, jobs and even to find a husband or wife. I always asked myself why we couldn’t pray just by ourselves? Why we needed monks to pray for us?
“I always looked for the true God when I was a child. I always felt there was something higher above us. When I met with the missionaries [for the] first time, they told me about prayer and the eternal family. When they were talking to me, I felt I found what I had been [seeking] for a long time. This was the beginning of my conversion story.”
Making the change
“Even though I had a good childhood,” Enkhbat said, “I didn’t feel like I had a real connection with Buddha or any god. I just knew there was something out there. I believed in a heaven I could not see or understand.”
Enkhbat said the difference between Mongolian Buddhism and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were the answers the Church gave her about her purpose on earth. “The church teaches us that worshiping our crafts is not right. As soon as I heard that teaching, I felt like I’d known it all my life.”
At the time of his conversion, Ochirbat said he was at a low point in his life. “I was going through a very hard time,” he said. “I felt like I was trapped and couldn’t get out. I thought, ‘Maybe there is a god?’ but Buddhism could not give me the help I needed. I dropped out of school and was unemployed. I had no direction for the future and wanted something greater.”
Ochirbat’s aunt was a member of the Church, and after being trapped in what he described as “being stuck at the bottom,” he tried to go to church. When he attended sacrament meeting, he said, “the members seemed to shine in a way I can’t describe. They were nice and I wanted to be a part [of it].”
Reflections
“Christians and Buddhists have more in common than they have differences,” Ochirbat said. “Buddhism has the Eightfold path while our church has the Ten Commandments. They tell us similar things, like not to kill or steal.”
Enkhbat said, “I have had a very unique life so far, but growing up Buddhist gave me a lot of important lessons, and joining the church only makes my faith in God stronger.”
Writer: Elijah Hadley