Comparing the Philosophy of Life in Christianity and Chinese Buddhism
Chinese Philosophy not only is the fruit of thinking of the Chinese nation, but also is the important component part of world culture. In Chinese philosophy, there are three main parts: Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Among them, Chinese Buddhism, which came from India, experienced a course of sinicization under the influence of Chinese traditional culture represented mainly by Confucianism and Taoism , so it keeps the general features of Buddhism ,and also formed its Chinese characteristics. The changes of Chinese Buddhism from "going out of this world " to "being in this world " and "building pure land in this world " fully manifested the humanistic spirit of Chinese culture. Both Chinese Buddhism and Western Christianity are religion, but in the realm of thoughts and culture, they are important symbols of Oriental and Western culture. This paper compares the two schools' philosophy of life, so as to explore the modern meaning and value from the mankind's common culture legacy.
There are many differences between Christianity and Buddhism, for instance: Christianity believes in that all things are created by God, while Buddhism denies the existence of the Creator ; Christianity holds that salvation will be obtained by faith, while Buddhism advocates to be free from world by wisdom . But fundamentally speaking , both Christianity and Buddhism (this paper mainly refers to Chinese Buddhism ) are philosophies to life. They answer the questions of where persons come from and go to , and inquire the nature of life. They demand people to do goodness and remove evils in actual life, so as to make life more meaningful. Both of there theoretical bases are ...
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...there is not any external master for man's fate. Although there is Amitabha faith in Buddhism, Which is "others-reliance", yet "other-reliance" is only a subsidiary cause and wouldn't play a decisive role.
Speaking in a certain sense, philosophy of life of Christianity and Buddhism are ethical philosophies. Both their philosophies of life encourage man to tend continuously towards goodness in this life (the ways to tending towards goodness or the standards of utmost goodness are the same "love and benevolent"), and guide man to the moral practice of life which tend towards utmost goodness, and furthermore, provide ultimate philosophical ground for that. As for the significance and roles to actual life, the Oriental and the Western philosophies of life reach the same goal by different routes, both worlds make human life more meaningful and this world a better one.
Yu, Han. “Memorial on Buddhism”. Making of the Modern World 12: Classical & Medieval Tradition. Trans. Richard F. Burton. Ed. Janet Smarr. La Jolla: University Readers, 2012. 111-112. Print.
The Great Pestilence that haunted Europe in Medieval times took out more than a third of its population. After diseased rats and fleas made their way to the ports of Messina, Sicily by ships the plague spread across Europe ever so quickly. People were falling ill and dying within days, and there was nothing anyone could do. Close friends became sick and delusional, and Europe’s people began to lose hope. Church goers lost faith in god, and others punished their selves for forgiveness. The Black Death also caused the fall of feudalism. With all of the serfs and peasants dying off, there were only few left to work fields and harvest crops. This meant higher payouts. Finally in the year 1350, the plague died off, but reappeared every few generations.
The Black Death is still known today as one of the worst disasters to ever sweep across Europe. Its effects were felt in almost every inch of Europe. The plague affected every aspect of Europe from its economy to its population. Most noticeably it knocked out about one-third of Europe’s entire population. It was absolutely devastating, some would consider it to be the worst outbreak ever and the few that do not, have no idea what it did to Europe.
The word “Ethics” has its root in the Greek word ‘ethos’, which means character, spirit and attitude of a group of people or culture. Ethics is defined in the Concise Oxford Dictionary as: a system of moral principles, by which human actions may be judged good or bad or right or wrong, and the rules of conduct recognized in respect of a particular class of human actions.
E.L. Skip Knox. (Unknown). The Middle Ages: The Black Death. [Online]. Boise State University. Available from: . [23 July 2008].
Throughout the history of humankind, man has always searched to find answers to the many existential questions. Numerous different religions and denominations have developed around the world over time. Though, most wonder about the origin and purpose of our existence. Buddhism was founded on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama about 2,600 years ago in India. After he had experienced that everyone was subject to “birth, sickness, death, and old age”, he tried to find a way to break from the cycle of rebirth (Bloom). Siddhartha Gautama experimented with a number of methods to find the cause of suffering which led him to what he called the Middle Way – a path between “licentiousness and extreme mortification” (Bloom). Once he achieved enlightenment, he turned into ‘the Buddha – the enlightened or awakened one’. Christianity is one of the largest and most prevailing religions of the world and largely based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians trust that Jesus was sent by God to save humanity. Therefore, the faith of the followers of the Christian belief is primarily based on the preaching of Jesus and later the spreading of those by his disciples. Although Buddhism and Christianity show several parallels, their three key differences are that Buddhists do not believe in one divine being, and have different views about both the purpose of life and the concept of afterlife.
In China, the citizens' inclination of Buddhism varied from that of other states. There was a plethora of mental outlooks on how Buddhism was changing the Chinese society as it expanded from India, where it was founded in the sixth century BCE. The responses are organized depending on their acceptance, rejection, or encouragement of a combination of Buddhism with other religions. These categories are illustrated by the following documents; the acceptance by documents two and five, the rejection by documents four, six, and three, and last, the encouragement by documents two, five, and three. Additional documentations that would be helpful in classifying the reactions of the Chinese people would be a testimony or statement of a Chinese woman, or group of women, and of peasants. These would be helpful as we'd be able to examine exactly how the Chinese were affected by Buddhism's grasp. We would be able to see how Buddhism affected their daily lives and what they thought about the sudden religion.
Buddhism is one of the prominent and influential religions and philosophies of the world. A basic tenet of Buddhism is that worldly desires and possessions cause all suffering. To absolve one’s self of necessities beyond basic human survival is one of the many plateaus that Buddhists strive to achieve. Furthermore, Buddhists free themselves from temptation via seclusion from society and attempt to allow nature to support them. They believe that Nirvana, the ascension to heaven, can be achieved by freeing oneself of earthly desires.
The study of Buddhism over the past century or so has resembled the encounter of the blind men and the elephant in many ways. Students of Buddhism have tended to fasten onto a small part of the tradition and assume their conclusions held true about the whole. Often the parts they have seized on have been a little like the elephant's tusks a striking, but unrepresentative, part of the whole animal. As a result, many erroneous and sweeping generalizations about Buddhism have been made, such as that it is 'negative', 'world-denying', 'pessimistic', and so forth.
China is a mystical land fills with it own tradition and cultures that stood in the test of time for more than 3 millennium and it have some the most richest period of history in our human existence. During those period of history, as it ruled by different Dynasties or Noble Houses that create some small significance overtime and eventually change China into an empire that currently is still dominant forces in our world today. One of the most important ideas that shape China’s society and government is through the teaching of Confucius, the teacher of human behavior and the moral and philosophical code of ethics. It is through his teaching that influence and shape the idea of Mandate of Heaven. The Mandate of Heaven create by the Chou Dynasty,
The term “ethics” discusses how one’s morality needs to take acknowledge that of the rest of the members of the group or community t...
Although Judaism and Confucianism appear to be on different realms of the religious spectrum, they have similar traditions deriving from dissimilar roots. The significance of family in Confucianism is strongly upheld by the filial piety rooted within all of the traditions and beliefs. Meanwhile, Judaism’s emphasis on God’s word as being the ultimate path for a righteous life is supported throughout the Jewish adherence to the special laws commanded by God. Whether the foundation of the religion is rooted from filial piety or God’s commandments, both Judaism and Confucianism reflect similar standards in family rituals, religious beliefs, and moral conduct.
Even though Taoism and many other folk religions have shaped the Chinese mind, Confucianism remains, by any historical measure, its chief mentor” (Novak 113). Therefore, since the two religions grew up together, there are similarities, such as their views on humans, attempting to find harmony in life and in nature, and serve as guides for their followers through self-cultivation and improvement techniques. Confucianism believes that their congregation should have human conduct over the idea of God in their lives, whereas Taoism is formed on the belief that its congregation should create a relationship with nature. This is pointed out by Smith in Experiencing the World’s Religions, “Confucius represents the classical, Lao Tzu the romantic; Confucius stresses social responsibility, Lao Tzu praises spontaneity and naturalness; Confucius focus is on the human, Lao Tzu’s on what transcends the human” (Smith 218).
First, Christianity and Buddhism’s fundamental view for Salvation will be briefly defined. Second and third, the life and teachings of Christ and Buddha will be respectively examined as their idea of salvation is significantly embedded within their scriptures. Lastly, the salvation that Christ compromises, and the salvation that Buddha teaches will be compared and evaluated.
Ethics is defined as a study that deals with what behavior is considered to be, good or bad. Ethics is about doing what is right for other people throughout society (Kraft). Ethical principles result from religions, philosophies, and cultural ideas. The world is changing and so is everything in it, judgments about what is ethically right and wrong are also changing. Ethical relativism is important within society, along with utilitarianism, deontology, virtue-based ethics, and ethical principles of healthcare.