Buddhism Afterlife Beliefs

The Buddhist concept of the afterlife differs from Catholic religion.

What is Buddhism?

Buddhism stems from the techniques of Gautama Buddha, who for years immersed himself in ascetic practices. He researched and practiced different techniques of meditation with various teachers of religion. Buddha was never satisfied with the meditations he was performing and was offered a dish of rice from a girl; being well mannered he decided to accept it. In that exact moment, Buddha realised that physical austerities were and are not the way to achieve liberation of the mind and body. From then on Buddha encouraged people to live a life of balance and named this ‘The Middle Way’. That same night Buddha sat underneath a Bodhi tree and meditated until it

According to Catholic religion, the understanding of the afterlife is that history is directed towards salvation. Catholics believe that they are bonded in their own sinfulness in servitude to death, but God became incarnate in Jesus and broke the bondage, allowing saviour to everyone who believes in God. Religion says that God gifts us with salvation, it is not considered a payment for good deeds and actions.

Catholics relate salvation and atonement to each other. Atonement is the way that God is to come and forgive all of human sinfulness. Theories have been acknowledged in the past regarding how atonement will happen. The two most famous theories come from Origen (185-254) and St Anselm (1033-1109). St Anselm wrote the substitution theory. Humans owe God a perfect life although they cannot do this because of their sins. Jesus lived a perfect life, this means that he did not owe anything else to God, but instead he freely accepted death. Jesus created a surplus of honor and loyalty, so much that he created a repayment to God everything that mankind could not. Origen says atonement should be viewed as a ransom, the people trusted that mankind were in bondage with Satan, credible to death due to their sins. Because it was Jesus was the only person to live a perfect life without sinning, he owed satan nothing but decided to suffer from death, ransoming all of humanity’s souls by breaking Satan’s claim to own

It is said that heaven is more of a place than a ‘state of mind’ through the quote in the Bible “13 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14) This displays the idea of heaven being a place referring to it’s gates and the ‘road’ to Heaven. Nirvana is referred to a state of complete nothingness. Buddha’s saying is “Nirvana is the ultimate happiness.” Nirvana is not an object the one acquires by wanting and then pursuing, rather it is the state of being, completely without wanting it.

In a survey conducted of one hundred and twelve year eleven and twelve students 57% followed Catholic religion whilst only 48% believed in Heaven. 31% of the students answered no to whether they believed in Heaven, their reasoning being they believed in other religion’s afterlife such as buddhism or hinduism or their view on the afterlife was an “eternal sleep.”

Conclusion:

Although Buddhism and Catholicism have many similarities they also have many differences. Under the concern of afterlife, Buddhists believe in Nirvana which is a state, only to be achieved by those who do not desire it. Catholics believe in Heaven, a place where pure souls are