Religion has been a central part of the culture in human life for as long as man could remember. The man has the urge to believe in something to keep life going and most importantly to engineer virtues and morals. Each religion has practices and distinctive beliefs that keep its people living in harmony and give them a purpose in life. Christianity is one of the conspicuous religions in the world with followers almost in every continent. Having been spread by missionaries, it has a significantly huge number of followers in some continents. Buddhism, on the other hand, is a religion that started in Asia, India to be specific. Over time it has spread across all neighboring continents, and to date, we can attest to have met Buddhists and also seen their religious practices. This essay compares Buddhism and Christianity in both beliefs and religious practices.
Christianity started thousands of years of years ago with people believed to be followers of Christ. Christ was a person believed to be God’s son who was sent to earth to liberate people of their sins. His name was Jesus Christ and was sent to earth to show light to the people. He then suffered and was crucified so that the people of God could gain salvation. Christ lived a holy and morally upright life that all Christians should emulate. Christianity, therefore, entails people seeking salvation from the sin of man and emulating the life of Christ as the only way to get to heaven where there is no suffering.
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Buddhism began with Buddha, a high-born prince who lived in as until his adulthood where he left. His name was Buddha Shakyamuni and was a prince in Lumbini at around 624 BC (About Buddhism, 2007). He left his luxurious life when he was 29 years to go the wilderness in search of inner peace. Buddha stayed in the wilderness for quite a long time until he came upon a sacred tree where he gained enlightenment. It was on this tree that Buddha also gained inner peace and had an insight of how life ought to be. When he left the wilderness, he had a call to teach, and that’s how the teachings of Buddhism began. He taught of meditation and the need for people to gain salvation from worldly sin and human suffering. He also taught of gaining internal peace and taking care of the welfare of other people as some of the things that will liberate ma (About Buddhism, 2007).
Evidently, Buddhism and Christianity possess some similarities and differences. First, both religions have a belief in human salvation (Diffen, 2017). They both believe that humans are in bondage of sin and human suffering hence they need salvation. For that reason, their religious practices are wired towards seeking salvation. Secondly, central in their religious practices is taking care of the welfare of other people. Both religions preach of taking care of other people as a good deed. As a Buddhist or a Christian, it’s not only a religious act to take care of other people, but it’s also a way of attaining liberation from suffering and peace with oneself.
Patently, both religions seek peace. They seek peace within one person and peace with other people. This is because the human soul is troubled hence peace is part and parcel of attaining salvation. In both religions, there is special teaching which its members have to learn. As a new member, one has to learn these teachings and internalize. Christians are taught the teachings of Christ according to the Bible while Buddhists are taught the teachings of Buddha.
The two religions also have vast differences that place them at worlds apart. For Christians for instance, there is a belief in God as the creator of the universe and Jesus Christ as his son (Diffen, 2017). All Christians, therefore, go to a church where they worship God and pray through Jesus Christ. Buddhists, do not consider that the universe was created the universe or a universal God who might have created the world (Diffen. (2017). They believe in the existence of things as unending and that things exist as caused by other things. They believe the universe is just a realm among other realms. To them, people are ever reincarnated into such realms where there might be peace or a lot suffering. They also believe that when one is born on earth, it signifies a death in another realm. For that reason, Buddhists do not worship or even pray as Christians do. Instead, they meditate in meditation halls. The aim of such meditation is to gain inner peace with oneself then spread it to other people.
Another significant difference entails death and reincarnation. According to Christianity when people die they are not reborn in another world, but their souls await judgment. In Buddhism when people die they are reborn in other realms such as the realm of titans, the realm of heaven or even the realm of hell (Diffen, 2017). The death and reborn is a continuous series of suffering in a human's life, and one can only escape from it through salvation.
Well, many people who are not familiar with Buddhism might be led to think they worship idols. Personally, I didn’t perceive the Buddhist religion to base on meditation solely. Consequently, the research changed the perception of Buddhist religion being based on the worship of idols but instead it’s clear that Buddhists do not worship, but instead they meditate and focus on a person’s wellness. Consequently, apart from the lack of belief in God, the Buddhist religion is just like other religions which seek salvation and peace. In many religions, the religious practices are made with the central belief that man is a victim to suffering hence we should always seek liberation. The Buddhist religions are also similar in that through meditation we can gain enlightenment and gain salvation from the sufferings of this world. In all religious, we also have morality as a central religious practice. This means that as a religious person everyone ought to be morally upright. Hence in whatever religion part of the religious practice is upholding virtues and being morally upright.
References
About Buddhism. (2007). History of Buddhism. Retrieved from http://www.aboutbuddhism.org
Diffen. (2017). Buddhism vs. Christianity. Retrieved from http://www.diffen.com
