Similarities Of Buddhism And Religion

Buddhism began in India 2,500 years ago and remains the dominant world religion in the East. There are over 360 million followers of Buddhism worldwide and over a million American Buddhists today. Buddhist concepts have also been influential on western culture in general, particularly in the areas of meditation and nonviolence.

““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.

Buddha shares his teaching with his followers but says it worked for him but it may not work for everyone. Every person is different so they have to find out what works for them, he gives his knowledge on what worked for him as a guide but not a definite path. Buddhism is the most physiological religion because humans can solve the human problem which is suffering on their own. Humans don’t need wealth, God, divine revelation or other people to help them, they can end suffering on their on their own with experience over belief. Buddha is also called the doctor of the soul because of his teaching and view on life. Buddha learned how to end his own suffering and then went on to help others end their suffering through his own methods or methods that worked for him. Instead of staying silent he decided he wanted to help others reach his feeling of peace. Buddhism is one of the newest religions founded and Buddha's teaching growing to impact more and more people every day.

Buddhism is seen as a way of life rather than a form of religion that needs to be closely followed and constantly practiced. The idea of “enlightenment” carries through one’s entire lifetime in an attempt to reach nirvana, which is an end to all suffering. A person’s lifetime is spent being faithful and relying on karma to eventually achieve nirvana and enlightenment, in which people embark on the path of awakening. The awakening is a very crucial aspect of the Buddhist religion, as it was Buddha’s own personal awakening and understanding of how the world works, in which he passed it on to be believed and understood by others. It’s closely related to other religions in the way that rebirth and reincarnation are the beliefs surrounding the idea of the afterlife, however Buddhism in particular is an anatta tradition, or ‘not-self,’ which often sets it apart from other religions.This complex ideal entails that one’s external self, consciousness, feelings

it to stand to other treatises on the same subject, written by his predecessors or his contemporaries. For

Historical and cultural origin: Buddhism began as a religion sometimes during the life of Buddha who lived in the sixth or fifth century BCE. Its beginning is not necessarily to be dated from the day he achieved enlightenment (530/527

Release from this cycle is only achieved by attaining enlightenment, the ultimate goal for Buddhists. A Buddha is an all-knowing being who has reached that perfect state of transcendence in which the concepts of humanities greed, hate and delusion are exterminated. Another key aspect is that upon passing into nirvana, one is never subject to rebirth again. According to tradition, the founder of Buddhism was born in 563 B.C.E. Siddhartha left his palace, renouncing his wealth and status, to find the cause of suffering. After years of searching, he found his answer and went on to teach others. When he died, he attained nirvana, the release from earthly desires and suffering, and became the Buddha. The Buddha 's teachings were written down by his followers who spread his message. These texts are called sutras. A religion began to form and new branches of Buddhism were created.

There are many similarities and differences in the christian and buddhist religions. Buddhism and christianity both have quests. In the Buddhist religion, the quest is to find enlightenment while the quest in christianity is for god's revelation through Jesus. Both religions are centered on life teachings. In Buddhism it is centered upon the life teachings of Buddha. In Christianity it is centered upon the life teachings of Jesus. Buddhism is nontheistic. Buddhists believe, that the supreme creator was not god. Christianity is monotheistic, meaning that people believe that Jesus was the son of god. Buddha acts as a savior for mankind while the christ acceptance acts as a source of salvation for people of the christian religion. In both

Buddhism got its start around 2500 years ago, a ruler named Siddhartha Gautama started question the meaning of his life. After

Buddhism, on the other hand, understands the psychological nature of humans very deeply and develops effective treatment methods. As revealed in the Flower Ornament Sutra [Avatamsaka Sutra], "Our perception Three Kingdoms arise from the mind, so do Twelve Links of Dependent Origination; birth and death come from the mind, which are extinguished when the mind is put to rest”. If we view Buddhism in this lens, itself in conglomeration with psychology has much to reveal about both practices (Williams-Oerberg, Elizabeth, 2012).

In present-day society, the globalization, briefly including economics, and culture, has become an unstoppable tendency. With its rapid development and cultural communication, some controversies have emerged. Religious conflicts are characteristic examples showing the detrimental influences of cultural globalization. It is generally acknowledged that Buddhism and Christianity are ancient and global religions; however, whether the belief in Buddhism is credible or not, has sparked spirited debate. The Christian believes the Buddha is a “shadow”, and he is not to be believed. Actually, there are some similarities in terms of histories, main figures, and beliefs between Buddhism and Christianity. In order to solve sources of conflict, the

Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama in the late 6th century. It is a popular worldview in most of Asia and has an estimated total of 535 million people as of 2010, which is around 9 to 10% of the world’s population. Buddhism has three main factions, Theravada-the most ancient form of Buddhism, Mahayana-developed approximately 500 years after Buddha attained enlightenment and Vajrayana-last of the three forms but offers a quicker way to enlightenment.

The path to spiritual enlightenment may be easier than it sounds. According to Buddhist beliefs, it can be achieved through fairly rudimentary practices and methods. Buddhists believe that following various practices and taking the proper path in life by following the Eightfold Path will bring further insight into the follower’s life and “undo” their ignorance. These teachings can even be accepted into someone’s life whether they’re religious or not. They could also easily be integrated into one’s daily routine and benefit anyone who follows them.

Buddhism is one of the most commonly practiced religions in the world. This religions has about 376 million followers worldwide (Buddhism at a Glance). Buddhist teachings focuses on the idea that “the world is suffering and the only way we can end suffering is to eliminate desire and focus on personal enlightenment” (Brodd, 151 ). The overall goal of Buddhism after achieving personal enlightenment is to be freed from the attachment of this world so they can experience Nirvana, a place of full contentment and no suffering (Brodd). I do think that there should be a sense of personal enlightenment in everyone’s life and that personal enlightenment should be a high priority. However, I do not think it should be the highest priority in a person’s

Buddhism, as a religion is an intricate and sometimes complicated set of practices and doctrines. Originating in India by Buddha, the philosophy holds that Buddhism is a path of spiritual development leading to Enlightenment and the true nature of reality. One way to fully understand Buddhism is to critically discuss the Four Noble Truths and how they lead to the path of Nibbana. According to Lopez, ‘The Buddha stated in his first sermon that when he gained absolute and intuitive knowledge of the four truths, he achieved complete enlightenment and freedom from future rebirth’ (Lopez 2014). The four truths can be understood as four types of practices which lead to the state of the ‘noble ones’.