Where Buddhism and Christianity diverge is the person of Jesus Christ. Very dear friend of mine is a Buddhist, I’m Christian. She told me the deal is if you do a lot of good works in this life, your next one will be better. Eventually, you get to this place called nirvana and then it’s some kind of nothingness.
She’s one of those who believe we’re all on the same path, but I told her that’s not correct. If our spiritual fulfillment depends on what WE do, then we become our own saviors. We don’t need Jesus Christ. Given this, we both agreed that the gulf between Buddhism and Christianity can never be bridged, because without Jesus Christ, Christianity becomes just another one of the 31 flavors of religion we seem to have available to us these days.
Jesus Christ is where the rubber meets the road.
That is an incorrect view. Nirvana is just the other side of the coin from Samsara. Realizing Nirvana is not ultimate enlightenment it is just a POV. Ultimate enlightenment is also not some kind of nothingness it is the realization of Dharmakaya which is the actual reality. The state of the unmanifested potentiality of all things. Rather than nothingness, which is another concept that creates a duality (if there is nothingness there must also be something of permanence to make that comparison), Dharmakaya is everything. She probably knows that but couldn't convey it to you in a way you could understand.
If our spiritual fulfillment depends on what WE do, then we become our own saviors.
She is wrong if she put it that way too. The real meaning is that there isn't anything to be saved from. Buddhist practice doesn't aim to change anything it leads to the realization that nothing needs to be changed. Everything is perfect as it is. The article talks about this.