Feminine Divine Traits : Buddhism And Christianity

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.

In many cultures, the roles of women vary reluctantly. While researching the many aspects of Buddhism, the religion is sometimes practiced differently and the roles of women differs. According to Experiencing World Religions, (Molloy, 127) Buddhism is one of the world's oldest yet most significant religions thus far. It has influenced many cultures, originating from India and making its way to migrate throughout the country of Asia, and women have been involved since the very first day. In today’s society, although men are predominantly inferior over women, women are granted the same opportunities. Just like many other societies in other countries or many other religions there are discriminations and prejucial acts against women. Although, woman are offered the second class citizenship in many Buddhist traditions, a woman's role is very important when helping maintain the religion resulting in mass population of worshipers , fulfilling the duties as caregivers and also wives to their husbands, and also providing any assistance if needed in the community. (Molloy, 127)

““Worldwide, more than eight-in-ten people identify with a religious group,” says a new comprehensive demographic study of more than 230 countries and territories conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life.” (Harper). Within the top five most popular religions, Christianity if found to be at the top with Buddhism ranked number four. With millions of people from around the world participating in these religions, one may wonder how they compare to one another. Upon exploration of Buddhism and Christianity, many similarities are found such as the importance of a spiritual master, shared values, and the followers strive for spiritual perfection. Although Buddhism and Christianity encompass many similarities within the religions, the fundamental differences in the view of God, salvation, and reincarnation ultimately outweigh their likeness.

Thousands of years ago, the Goddess was viewed as an autonomous entity worthy of respect from men and women alike. Because of societal changes caused by Eastern influence, a patriarchical system conquered all aspects of life including religion. Today, the loss of a strong female presence in Judeo-Christian beliefs has prompted believers to look to other sources that celebrate the role of women. Goddess religion and feminist spirituality have increasingly been embraced by men and women as an alternative to the patriarchy found in traditional biblical religion.

Buddhism, Christianity, and the Prospects for World Religion: Criticism on Dalai Lama’s Interview by Jose Ignacio Cabezon

The woman as a divine being and a consolidator of every belief that adheres to divinity is defined and explained in both Karen Christina Lang’s Images of Women in Early Buddhism and Christian Gnosticism and in Elaine Pagels’ The Gnostic Gospels. As analysis of religious beliefs, the works define the religious and cultural relevance of the woman in the origins of both Buddhism and Gnosticism, as well as the effects that the patriarchal society has changed in this original belief system. Both literatures assert that the role of the woman in religion serve the purpose of being the divine – or the evidence that Gnosticism is a symbol of the feminine, of celebrating the woman as the most significant element that created the world view as well as beliefs. The traditions set forth by both Buddhism and Christian Gnosticism all adhere to the celebration of the woman, her power, her purity, and her importance in shaping the world, and the men who have to purposely oblige to this belief and to create the tradition which the community should follow. Hence, both Lang and Pagels identified that woman, in her own vestal powers, is the main exhibitor of religious participation as well as the symbol of wisdom in humanity.

For instance, both traditions make use of beads during the performance of prayer. Pure Land Buddhism uses a string of beads that are fingered while invoking the name of the celestial Amitabha, or Amida Buddha. A ritual that is very close to the Roman Catholic practice of counting prayers and praying with a rosary. Pure Land Buddhism thus displays a strong resemblance to devotional Christianity, with a God-figure (Omitofo), a mediator (Guanyin), and a prayerful devotion resembling the rosary (Amore and Ching 273). The mediator for Chinese Pure Land prayer is Guanyin, a feminized version of the boddhisatva Avalokitesvara. Guanyin is very similar to the virgin Mary of Roman Catholicism, and as such is sometimes called the "virgin Mary of east Asia" (Amore and Ching 247) as the bodhisattva she acts as the assistant to the celestial Buddha; Amitabha (Omitofo in Chinese) who is seen as the giver of grace and salvation much the same as God is seen as the giver of grace and salvation and Mary as the mediator or assistant in Roman Catholicism (Amore and Ching 273). These observations display a definite similarity in prayer techniques between the traditions in question. Both traditions make use of beads as a means for counting the prayers recited, also the fact that the prayers are directed to the female assistants of the supreme deities could mean that the followers thought a female mediator to be more compassionate to the needs of the worshipper.

First I will discuss how higher spiritual beings (or something that is held sacred in a religion) relate to gender inequalities. In Judaism, G-d is neither male nor female. Though the decision is very personal and there is no right answer. People who practice Islam worship Allah, god that many think of as a male. Hindu’s worship a singular god but in many forms. This is a polytheistic religion. Some forms of this ultimate divine god are female. In Christianity, the trinity is a set of three figures all considered male. In Christianity, Mary is a figure of power.

This portrays an early form of sexism, and a highly negative attitude toward the woman, showing that fundamental female qualities such as pregnancy and childbirth are irrelevant and not things to be highly valued. In the Buddha legend and during his life in general, the Buddha showed several contradictions concerning the status of women. He was said to be “torn between the culture and social system, and the conviction that women are as capable as men.”[3] Firstly, Maya, the name of his mother, means illusion in Sanskrit. However, in ancient Indian beliefs from which Tibetan Buddhism emerged, Maya was the name of the most powerful goddess who represented all material things in the universe. The Buddha also believed that the woman’s body was something impure and dirty, which then manifested itself into impure and evil personality characteristics. “The female’s defects – greed, hate, delusion, and other defilements – are greater than the male’s…Because I wish to be freed from the impurities of the woman’s body, I will acquire the beautiful and fresh body of a man.”[4] Women were believed to have uncontrolled sexuality, which was greatly frowned upon by men. The Buddha comments that “it were better that your sex enter the mouth of a poisonous snake than that it enter a woman.”[5] This rather harsh statement about male disgust toward sexual intercourse with women is the foundation of one of the biggest contradictions found in Tibetan Buddhism. Not only did

There are similarities between Christianity and Buddhism, but they also have many differences. Christians follow the word of God, prayers, the sacraments, and etc., while Buddhists follow the eightfold path, which includes morality, concentration, wisdom, and etc. The goal of Christianity is to follow the commandments of God, spread his word to everyone, and get to heaven, while the goal of Buddhism is to reach Nirvana. The process is different from Christianity, because Christians believe eternal life; people either go to heaven or to hell based on the judgement the Father gives based on the basis of brotherly love. In Buddhism, individuals are reborn into different lives after death, and their rebirth is dependent on karma, which is dependent on their actions. Even though there is ideological difference between these two religions, the core beliefs are all about caring for others, hormonal relationship between body, mind and spirit. Both religions promote love and compassion towards others in order to build strong relationships. People have to do good in order to go to a good place, either heaven, Nirvana, or a good rebirth and bad deeds take people to either hell or a bad rebirth. When we look at these two different faiths closely, it is obvious that these two faiths act as moral agents. They are holding high moral values of compassion, love, kindness and mercy. People get healed with their strong faith and religious actions. Every religion has emphasized the

The role and status of women in any religion in the word is known to be controversial.

Hinduism portrays feminine divinity in a more exalted way than most other religions do. Though Hindu goddesses are usually depicted as consorts, wives or companions to a Hindu god, cases exist in which they are worshipped independently; Tantrism for example, where it is believed that women posses more spiritual power than men, thus men can achieve divinity through union with a woman (“Tantrism”). Most villages reinforce the mother aspect of goddesses and worship them individually as their protector, regarding them as having originated in the area and thus being tied to the health and prosperity of the village (Caldwell). Others who may devote themselves to a goddess might be in order to conquer or

This paper will show in detail the comparison of the Buddhists and Christianity religion beliefs and practices. The comparison between the two religions will show the centrality is hope, faith and salvation are in Jesus Christ only, Jesus Christ alone. Jesus does not have to be proven; only the other religions have to prove themselves against the religion of Christianity. Christianity stands on its own.

The role of women in the greater society has been under scrutiny for a long time; the evidence of studies and feminist movements supports this scrutiny. Given the extent of the global cultural diversity, understanding the role of women in Buddhist traditions requires a mirrored approach where by Buddhist women are paralleled against women in different societies such as Christian or Muslim societies. This approach will help identify some of the feminine traits that may be exclusive only to Buddhism or perhaps traits that are universal. In addition to this, a historical approach may be necessary to help recognize changes that may have taken place over time through a process of evolution. In summary, this essay will try classify the significance of women in Buddhist traditions.

In the world Buddhism is practiced by about 488 million people worldwide. It was originated in Ancient India sometime between 6th and 4th centuries BCE. From then it spread to most of Asia. Christianity is the world’s largest religion with 2.4 billion followers worldwide. It originated out Roman province of Judea and spread to Europe, Syria, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and Egypt. Christianity has been around since the mid- 1st century.