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Comparative analysis of buddhism and christianity
Comparative analysis of buddhism and christianity
Comparative analysis of buddhism and christianity
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“As a man abandons worn-out clothes and acquires new ones, so when the body is worn out a new one is acquired by the Self, who lives within” -Bhagavad Gita. For centuries, humans have been perplexed with the concept of death and an afterlife. Death is inevitable to all creatures. Once we are deceased, does our soul become confined underground, or does it transcend to a divine world? In order to reach salvation and the afterlife, there are steps that we need to take. While the Bhagavad Gita and the Genesis do not directly address an afterlife, they both have higher beings, which imply a final resting place for the soul that can be achieved through sacrifice, prayer, and devotion.
Genesis, 2:7, states, “God breathed into him”. By analyzing and interpreting this text, one can say that man can be characterized into two parts, the flesh and the spirit. Throughout the Gita, the divinity of the soul is expressed in every chapter. Our soul is what transcends to another world and what dictates our afterlife. In Genesis 3:19 it states that “for dust you are and to dust you will return”, God is having a conversation with Adam and where he speaks about how we are dust and dust we will return
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Christianity and Hinduism believe that a judgment after death, determines your afterlife. Christianity has a God, Hinduism believes in the Brahman. Whether it is God or the Brahman, the way we behave on Earth will determine our destiny. Our soul will be liberated once we detach ourselves on the material and sinful world. Just in Christianity, if one remains attached to what this world offers, one will not enter the kingdom of God, in Hinduism; the soul will not reach its final
Afterlife myths explain what becomes of the soul after the body dies, as humans have a problem accepting the possibility that the soul becomes nothing.
Studies have shown that throughout the world, different cultures have similar and dissimilar views concerning a variety of topics. Of the most widely discussed topics, life and death are by far two of the most important and influential for any culture. The ancient Greek Homeric Hymn to Demeter and the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh are perfect examples of cultures views on life and the afterlife. In this paper, I will attempt to demonstrate the views of both cultures on life and death, as well prove how these views influenced the daily lives and beliefs of the people who followed these ideas. The afterlife has always intrigued and terrified human beings and as a result, has influenced even the earliest of texts.
The spirit within one is eternal, indestructible, and never changes. Because death is inevitable to all creatures, humans have been perplexed with the concept of death and an afterlife for centuries. Once we are deceased, does our soul become confined underground, or does it transcend to a divine world? According to different religious texts, there are different steps one must take in order to reach salvation and the afterlife. Although Genesis text and the Bhagavad Gita originate from two different religions that do not directly address an afterlife, they both speak of the soul and higher entities, which imply a final resting place for the soul that can be achieved through sacrifice, prayer, and devotion; this in return provides
The story of Arjuna and his conversation with Krishna, begins before the start of a war with Arjuna’s grandfather. In the Hindu faith Krishna is known as an avatar for the God Vishnu. Vishnu is the as their God/Creator all things. This conversation between the two, is told as an epic poem, known as “The Bhagavad-Gita”. In this poem, Krishna is presented to Arjuna as his charioteer. It is in this conversation that Krishna that he reveals who he is, and delivers onto Arjuna his 18 teachings, of the universe. The Bhagavad-Gita presents many ideas ranging from the true spirt of man, to the sacred duty (dharma) of the individual, society, and the universe. The aim of this paper is to examine these ideas. I’ll first discus Dharma, where it comes from, and how to obtain it. Then I will
Hinduism focuses on liberation from the realm of samsara, the cycle of rebirth and death, while Confucianism focuses on the Dao, the correct way to act for society, and ren, or benevolence. Both religions have religious texts that reflect these ideals, the Bhagavad-Gita belonging to Hinduism, and the Analects belonging to Confucianism. While these two texts originate from two distinct religions, the two have some similarities and differences. Both the Bhagavad-Gita and the Analects address the proper way for one to act; however, they differ when it comes to heaven and the main concern of each text. The main concern of the Bhagavad-Gita is a personal journey, achieving moksa through devotion to Brahman, and the main concern of the Analects is a communal journey, maintaining social propriety through the five relationships.
First let's examine more specifically the belief of afterlife and how it impacts internalized beliefs of the soul. When people think of death, there is a sense of depression and sadness of this idea of “the end” to their lives. This in turn, causes an imbalance in their internal milieu, leading to anxiety and fear of death. To keep the homeostasis of the internal milieu, there is another force that must counterbalance this fear, by replacing it with comfort. This comfort is founded on the belief in “eternity” of the soul in an afterlife. Whereby, life of the soul continues to live beyond the death of the physical body, thus relieving the anxiety of death, and bringing back the homeostasis of the internal mil...
Christianity views the soul as the permanent entity within oneself, which is judged by God. The purity of one’s soul decides whether it passes to heaven or hell. Christianity shares this basic belief with both Islam and Judaism which also say heaven or hell is the final resting place of the soul. The Eastern religion, Hinduism, preaches that Atman, or permanent soul, is in every being and is the embodiment of the ultimate divine, Brahman. Buddhism, on the other hand, believes in Anatman, or impermanent soul, because everything in the world ...
“And if death is the absence of sensation,..., it will be a wonderful gain… but if death is a journey to another place…(Doc 2). Death could be described as two things, which is that death is when you lose all sensation or feeling, or it might be the migration of your soul to another place. This explains how they have different believe in the afterlife. From the section of the Hindu epic poem the Mahabharata, It explain that sometimes life comes to an end, which we call it death. All creature will experience death through their life time.
Death has a great impact on people's lives in such a way that they learn to value life or even live it to the fullest. But what happens to us after we die? Many religions have answered this question for us according to their faiths. Buddhism is a religion where Buddhists believe in the concept of death and reincarnation or rebirth. On the other hand, Christians believe that after you die you go into a period of dormancy and until the second coming of Jesus will you be woken up and decided your fate whether you go to heaven or hell according to how you have lived your life. Christianity teaches salvation from sin through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Through Him, the gift of eternal life is also attained.
Christians, for example, believe that souls that have lived by the words of their God will exist eternally in heaven as divine beings themselves. This conception of an afterlife is generally what we people who are residents of the Unitied States hold to be true. For American culture has its roots in Europe and European culture was and is still influenced by Christian faiths. Similar to Christianity, the Hinduism also eases the fear of death by presenting a life after death. Disimilarities present themselves in the two faiths concerning exactly what kind of afterlife is lived. Believers of the Hindu faith expect to be reincarnated after their demise, either as an animal or human being depending on the manner in which their lives were carried out.
In the end, Christianity and Hinduism, two of the world’s largest religion, is both different and similar. Its difference in belief of a certain deity, scriptures of foundation, tolerance, life after death and moral conduct may distinguish the two religions. But in the end the two strive for a common goal. Both religions try to live a life of moral righteousness. Their goal is to follow one’s belief and to live as true as they can to its faith.
All human beings have an immortal soul (atma) which is part of God and is on a journey to reunite with Him (Mukti).
The Bhagavad-Gita teaches many things, and amongst these, morality and moral law are developed for the Hindu religion. What Krishna, the primary Hindu god, declares in this somewhat epic poem to be the "basis of good in this world" (stanza 3, pg. 620 of text) is for people to take action. Action, as he goes on to state, is within the very nature of our beings to do. Krishna even states that "without action you even fail to sustain your own body" (stanza 8, pg. 620 of text). Thus, Krishna feels that action is very important and key. To take this concept as a relation to ethics, Krishna tells Arjuna, the warrior he is talking to in this poem, that "Action imprisons the world unless it is done as sacrifice; freed from attachment, Arjuna, perform action as sacrifice!" (stanza 9, pg. 620 of text). Thus, Krishna is prescribing that, in order for an action to be considered good, the good that he already declared to be the basis of all good in the world, one must detach himself from the action being performed and perform the action sacrificially. The detachment aspect is incredibly important to Krishna, for he proclaims that in "performing action with detachment, one achieves supreme good" (stanza 19, pg 620 of text). By doing this, Krishna believes that the world is preserved, for other people will follow the warrior's actions and imitate them in their own lives. A leader, such as a warrior or king, "sets the standard for the world to follow" (stanza 21, pg. 621 of text), as Krishna says and thus must take whatever action is necessary for the world to not be destroyed, to set examples of goodness and right in his own actions. By separating himself from these actions, thus becoming detached, he can achieve this. Another main reason that Krishna feels detachment is necessary is this: "You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty." (Bhagavad-Gita 2.47). Thus, so long as one does not profit from his own actions, the action itself is good. And, this is Krishna's prescription for leading a life of morality and duty is the moral law to follow in order to achieve this.
Is the human soul mortal or immortal? With death does one fall into nothingness or does one survive death, passing into another way of existing? This is a question that has agitated thought for ages. There is something within all human beings that lives on forever. Even when death is upon us, the soul of a human being never dies. Thus, we arrive at the statement that the human soul is immortal. The purpose of this paper is to explain how the human soul is immortal through analyzing various philosophies.
I thought that, like many other religions, there was a desirable and undesirable place to go to after death. Hindus do not believe in a heaven or hell. They believe in rebirth and this happens depending on their karma. Karma is the computation of a person’s actions. An individual’s karma will decide on what they will be reincarnated as in their next life. Their goal in life is to become one with Brhaman and this happens when there is no more karma. There is no more rebirth and karma has equalized, meaning it has balanced. The person is immersed into Brahma and they are forever with the ultimate. An example of this is how a river flows into an ocean. This stage is called Moksha and that is the ultimate