Comparative Essay
Kyle Licht
Christianity and Buddhism contain similar beliefs and rules, but also share some major points of difference. Circa 500 BCE, a prince named Siddhartha Gautma sat under a tree discovering peace and Buddhism. The religion in which everyone is socially equivalent. On the other hand, Jesus invented Christianity which revolves around respecting your God, yourself and others. To better understand how Buddhism and Christianity are similar, you should compare the Eightfold Path and the 10 Commandments.
Buddhism and Christianity both share similar concepts, such as their God(s) and morals. E.G., Buddhism and Christianity believe in one or several omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Gods. Ergo, they are extremely loyal and respectful to that God or those Gods. In Buddhism, they believe in Buddha and some other Hindu Gods. In Christianity, they believe in Jesus (whom is practically God). Christianity is monotheistic because they only believe in one God, unlike Buddhism whom believes in several Gods. However, both of the Gods that they believe in were once mortals. Buddha was Siddhartha Gautma, until is changed his name to Buddha. Jesus once was mortal and when he died and rose, he was seen as God. People called Jesus the Messiah, which meant savior, which is like how Siddhartha was known as Buddha. Each savior had their own teachings also. Jesus' teachings were known as the Gospels while Buddha's teachings were known as Tripitaka.
Correspondingly, the two religions believe in similar books and ways of life. Each religion has a set of codes and moral guidelines. The set of guidelines that Buddhism follows is the Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path tells people how they should act and things that would replenish their souls. It consists of things like respecting life, freeing yourself of evil, be considerate to one another, and controlling your thoughts. Likewise, the 10 Commandments tell followers how to act and behave. This consists of very similar things such as: thou shall not kill, commit bribery or adultery, to respect neighbors and things very similar to Buddhism. Aside from a set of guidelines, they also have a book of how their religion runs. Buddhism has, once again mentioned, Tripitaka as Christianity has the Bible. Each book explains what the religion is all about and its contents. Vitally, the religions both believe that all people shall be equal. Things like the Caste system and ranking is thrown out because no one differs positionally. In Buddhism, your main goal is to reach Nirvana. To do this, you will have to follow the Four Noble Truths and fulfill your Dharma and Karma. The Four Noble Truths are the four truths about your life and your Dharma is the duties that you have to fulfill to reach Nirvana. Karma is 'Good makes good and evil makes evil', saying when you do good things, good things happen, vice versa. In Christianity, to reach Heaven, you have to follow the 10 Commandments, which is a lot easier than Buddhism; albeit not following the 10 Commandments could cost you your immortal soul. So both things are very important and shouldn't be taken for granite. In summary, each religion has a certain point to reach during their lifetime. To get eternal peace, you will have to follow rules and make right choices.
For better understanding of Buddhism and Christianity's similarities, the 10 Commandments and the Eightfold Path are great examples to compare. Buddha was the founder of Buddhism because he discovered true peace meditating under a sacred tree. However, Jesus was the founder of Christianity. The religions are both revolved around equality between peers and also respecting God, yourself, and others. Christianity and Buddhism are extremely similar religions judged on their records, beliefs in God and the moral guidelines.