Buddhism is among the most significant religions in the world. The religion originated from India with “Siddhartha Gautama” and spread across Asia over the next millennium and to the rest of the world (Fisher, 2016). Therefore, Buddhism is a faith founded by Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha. Many scholars consider Buddhism the major world religion because it has more than four hundred and seventy million followers (Fisher, 2016). However, the background and history of Buddhism are more prominent in Asia (East and Southeast Asia). Even though it has its roots in Asia, its influence proliferates in the west. However, many Buddhism ideas and philosophies are different compared to other faiths in the world, for example, their beliefs, holidays, and teachings.
Concerning the beliefs of the followers of Buddhism is that they don’t acknowledge one supreme deity or God. They don’t perceive their founder, the Buddha, as God, but instead, they view him as an extraordinary creature or being. Their primary focus is on achieving enlightenment, inner peace, and the “inner peace” (Fisher, 2016). When Buddhists reach this particular state, they have reached Nirvana. However, because the word Buddha means to enlighten, the followers believe that the enlightenment path is attained through morality utilization, wisdom, and meditation. This is why the followers of Buddhism meditate because they believe that meditation awakens the truth. They also embrace and believe in the karma concept that involves causes and effect laws and reincarnation. Additionally, they believe that the life of humans is that of suffering and that the ways to get enlightenment include mediation, physical and spiritual labor, and good behavior.
The basic Vital Buddhism teachings, thus Dharma, are categorized as the four-noble truth, the three universal truth, and the noble eightfold path. In addition, the teachings of Buddhism are contained in the central “Four Noble Truths” even though they leave much of the information unexplained. These teachings include the truth, and the suffering causes truth, “the end of suffering truth, and the truth of the end path leading to the end of suffering. The above four truths aim at liberating the Buddhism followers from suffering” (Fisher, 2016). The three universal truths include everything is changing and not permanent, the impermanence of everything makes life imperfect, thus leading to suffering. The self is unchanging and, therefore, not personal. However, in the Eightfold Path, Buddhism taught the followers that they could end suffering through following the eightfold path, just as described in the four-noble truth. This eightfold path teaches about ethics, wisdom achievement, and mental discipline, for example, proper thought, understanding, speech, action, and effort, among many other teachings.
Many Buddhism followers consider celebrating their holidays in a Buddhist form. Some of these holidays have both cultural and social features. However, they celebrate Vesak every year. Vesak is a celebration in commemoration of Buddha’s “birth, enlightenment, and death” (Fisher, 2016). They participate in Uposatha during every quarter of the moon, which gives their followers a chance to renew their commitments to the teachings of Buddhism (Fisher, 2016). They also have New year celebration of the Buddhist and many other several festivals in the year. However, the Vesak is an essential holiday celebrating in Buddhism. However, during Christmas, the “Bodhi day” as referred to by the Buddhists, they eat cookies shaped like a heart, which looks exactly like the leaves of a fig tree and rice, and they decorate trees with bright lights since Gautama got enlightenment under the Bodhi tree.
In conclusion, comparing my experience in Christianity to Buddhism, as Christians, we celebrate the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus; Buddhism celebrates the birth, enlightenment, and the death of Buddha. Even though we celebrate special people in both faiths, Jesus in Christianity resurrected, but in Buddhism, they celebrate his death and no resurrection. On the other hand, Buddhism followers do not believe in one god and view their founder Buddha as an extraordinary being and not god. On the contrary, I believe in one God, and I perceive him to be supernatural. I also view Jesus Christ as the son and the messenger of God and not just an extraordinary being like how Buddhism views Buddha. Additionally, the teachings or Christian dogma are guided by the commandments of God. They believe that by following God’s teachings and believing in him, they will inherit the kingdom of God. Unlike Christians, Buddhism followers believe that by following their teachings, they will evade suffering. Therefore, Buddhism focuses on enlightenment while Christianity focuses on the kingdom of God.
References
Fisher, M. (2016). Living religions (10th ed.). Pearson.
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