Elizabet Gilbert's book, eat pray love, is good reading. It is both entertaining and inspiring. We can learn much from both Hindus and Buddhists. I'm only on the part where she is in India so Indonesia is yet to come.
From my Judeo-Christian background I have two fundamental disagreements with both Hinduism and Buddhism. First, I disagree with their locus of evil being in material. The Judeo-Christian understanding that matter is not evil I think is very helpful. Second, reincarnation I find essential pessimistic. How depressing to think that I'm only going to get what I deserve.
The combination of these two ideas leads to a quietism that allows persons to work out their own salvation with little concern for the suffering of their neighbor. There is no need to help the neighbor because you may disturb his/her karma as he/she works his/her way to nirvana. If good works are done they are to make merit for one's own redemption.
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How lucky we are as Christians to be chosen by God, and to know that we will NOT get what we deserve when we die, but rather we will have Heaven; which as humans we will never be deserving of, but yet through the Cross the Lord has promised.
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