Comparison Of Zoroastrianism And Buddhism

Religion is one of the oldest and most sacred traditions of the human species. Religion started off as a basic belief in an afterlife, and then further developed into tribal religions, which evolved into ancestral worship, then to polytheism, and lastly into monotheism. Monotheism in the form of Christianity is the largest religion of the modern world, and it has similar beliefs to other world religions such as Buddhism. Christianity and Buddhism are similar because both religions teach about the equality of people and that making good choices reflects the positive teachings of that religion. They are also similar in how they formed, as both broke off from another religion that was exclusive, and both became popular and spread easily

Buddhism and Christianity came about before 600 C.E. and reformed the ideals of social structure and society of their era. Both the Buddha and Christ taught during a large political collapse, focusing on the spirituality and morality of a person in society. These like monotheistic religious views both had a central doctrine but held different positions on how to acquire this truth. Buddhist and Christians teachings both challenged social norms by preaching equality among all both in gender and in statues. Buddhism and Christianity, before 600 C.E. similarly, influenced social structures by introducing social and gender equality, promoted classless beliefs systems, and an emphasis on compassion, in contrast, Christianity held political power and leadership, while Buddhism had no political authority.

Hinduism, Confucianism and Buddhism are three of the world’s most distinguished belief systems of the past and for some, still in the present. The guidelines they provided influenced the social, political and religious lives of people within the societies that followed them. Hinduism emerged when the Aryans arrived in ancient India and began to combine their ideas with those of the Dravidians, the native population. One major Hindu idea was the caste system, which influenced the social lives of its followers and provided the state with political stability. Confucianism first saw an emergence of numerous followers during the Warring States period, when many philosophers were developing ideas for how to return order to China in this era of chaos. It provided political stability to the state by promoting an ethical system with several virtues and the idea that education could allow for social mobility. Buddhism originated from classical India when many people started looking for a new belief system, as they began to reject the caste system imposed by Hinduism. Buddhism had a minimal political or social impact on its followers, but instead influenced their religious lives. There is no doubt that these three belief systems significantly impacted the lives of their followers, but the manner in which they did this varied for each. Socially, Hinduism had the greatest impact with their caste system. Politically, Confucianism had the greatest impact by promoting virtues and

According to our text, Huston Smith believed that all religions were essentially the same, whereas Stephen Prothero believes that they are all fundamentally different. These two differing opinions can be looked at further by comparing two of the world religions: Christianity and Buddhism. I believe that all religions are a mixture of both; religions are essentially the same and are also fundamentally different. Christianity and Buddhism both have similar aspects within them, and they have different aspects as well. In order to make sense of the world, one needs to have knowledge of religion and the implications it has on society (Prothero).

Zoroastrianism is a type of religion that Darius I and his successors most likely followed. It originated in ancient Iran, and the single god of goodness named Ahuramazda was believed to be in a constant struggle against evil.

During Classical period (600 B.C.E - 600 C.E), religion and beliefs had a big impact on society and culture development. They helped the societies create more special characteristics, and bring social order in the societies. Hinduism in India, and Confucianism in China, both did help to influence and improve the societies deeply. Both of them introduced their moral rules, and added classes system, but they both had differences on their goals of people’s individual responsibilities, and also individuals focus.

We can define rituals as repeated actions that provides us with meaning and significance. Symbols are a small unit of a ritual. Both rituals and symbols play an active role in religion. According to Clifford Geertz, religion can be defined as “a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive and long lasting moods and motivations in both men and women by formulating conceptions of general order of existence”. Every religion has some assembly of rituals and/or symbols that help form and shape its practices. However, do some religions have more rituals and symbols than others? When comparing Buddhism to my own religion, Christianity, Buddhism appears to have more rituals and symbols that shape their religion.

The Zoroastrian concept of God incorporates both monotheism and dualism. In his visions, Zarathustra was taken up to heaven, where Ahura Mazda revealed that he had an opponent, Aura Mainyu, the spirit and promoter of evil. Ahura Mazda charged Zarathustra with the task of inviting all human beings to choose between him (good) and Aura Mainyu (evil). Zoroaster taught that man must enlist in this cosmic struggle because of his capacity of free choice. Zoroastrianism is a highly ethical religion in which the choice of good over evil has cosmic importance. Zarathustra taught that humans are free to choose between right and wrong, truth and lie, and light and dark, and that their choices would affect their eternal destiny. The Zoroastrian afterlife is determined by the balance of the good and evil deeds, words, and thoughts of the whole life. For those whose good deeds outweigh the bad, heaven awaits. Those who did more evil than good go to hell. There is an intermediate stage for those whose deeds weigh out equally. Many of Zoroaster's ideas, including ethical monotheism, heaven, hell, angels, demons, the resurrection of the body, and the messiah figure, have notable parallels in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Some of the differences between Zoroastrianism and buddism and Hinduism is that the Iranians worshipped ahura who was a God and the Indians worshipped devas which were gods. Similarities between them were the exchange of ideas. Merchants and scholars would travel from

I believe there are some beliefs from Zoroastrianism that overtime made their way into early Rabbincal Judaism and therefore into modern Judaism. These connections are possibly due to the similar time frame between the creation of both religions, as well as both Zoroastrianism and Judaism being based out of the Middle East. Some similarities these religions share include: both have Pagan influence by connecting with location and nature; neither acknowledge/mention Jesus; both are monotheistic in belief; claim their God is all knowing and the creator; believe in/use angels in teachings; view women and men as equals; are convinced there will be no second coming; and lastly, practice prayer and doing good deeds. There are also some main differences

Religion has been a major focal point in any society and in any culture. Starting from the first civilizations in Sumer and Ur to the vast metropolitans of today like New York and London, religion has been around and played a key part in lives of people. Possibly two of the oldest religions in the world, Judaism and Zoroastrinism share distinct qualities that are still alive today. Both religions are practiced but Zoroastrianism is not as popular as it once was. Meanwhile, Judaism is one of the world’s largest religions. These two religions are similar in the way that they are designed and practiced throughout history.

“Rivers, ponds, lakes, and streams—they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do—they all contain truths,” said by Muhammad Ali. Religion is the belief and reverence for a supernatural power and powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe (2003). The religions I’ve chose to compare and contrast would be non denomination/ Christianity and Buddhism. Each religion would be broken down by their religious belief, religious ritual, and religious experience. The definition of these religious things are: religious belief is a statement to which members of a particular religion adhere, religious ritual is a practice required or expected of members of a faith, and religious experience is the feeling or

The book written by author “Peter Clark” mainly for general public and students to give them brief idea about how Zoroastrianism was founded and along the way it also gives the detail explanation of their principal of the religion. Author Peter Clark also briefly explains the influence of Zoroastrianism on other religion such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Author Peter Clark also talks about “A living faith – Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is a religion founded by a priest named Zarathustra Spitma or Zoroaster far back in the 1200BCE, with the principle belief of an almighty God or “the One” Ahura Mazda and the context of a cosmic battle between the good and evil forces.

Those who went to India were met with different climatic conditions and hence had to change their lifestyle. This would include their religious beliefs but they kept some of the Vedic beliefs. For those in Iran most of the Vedic practices were lost and only few of them were left of which were in the Zoroastrian religion. Zoroastrianism was a monotheistic and messianic which most teachings revolved round prophet Zoroaster, this would lead to very few similarities between this religion and Hinduism. Vedic tradition which was a common factor was slowly eliminated in the Zoroastrian by use of the teachings and in the end severing any connections between the two.

Compassion is basically considered to be one of the most virtues in almost all religious traditions such as Buddhism and Christianity. Buddhism and Christianity are two different religions but both of them are interrelated. Both religions have hope of life after death, hope of reincarnation of Buddhists, eternal life of Christians, but live consciously. Both Buddhism and Christianity were founded by spiritual leaders and masters who tried to prove a way of salvation. Based on religious writings, this paper explores the way Buddhism and Christianity are different and in what ways they similar from the point of salvation, life after death, and love.