Throughout the years, religions have come together to bring about a new age of interfaith and interconnectedness. There are countless of examples where people have adopted two or more religions as there own, seeing and respecting the relationships and similarities between the two. In hand with this, people are now beginning to understand other religions and respect their practices. There is sort of a hybrid coming about of religions, where communities will pray with each other in a sort of collaboration of respects. However, this change in religion did not come about easily, it took much strife to bring about an interconnectedness that everyone is now a part of. Now that this interconnected and respect occurs in some areas, this can open up …show more content…
Though I do not perform either of these and have not myself, there seems to be a generally good outcome from people coming together and praying, and many people have found peace within themselves through more than one religion. Though D’costa seems to claim that interreligious prayer is only appropriate for certain situations, there should not be a problem a large group of people who feel like they belong to two religions getting together to pray. There should exist no stigma against people who feel compassion for two religions, especially if they are praying for the same goals like peace or justice. However, he is correct in his idea that people can easily misinterpret the intentions of multi-religious and interreligious prayer. Many people are against other religions, solely because a few people from said religion may be extremists. However, this is often a double-standard outlook, being that almost every religion has had some past wrongdoings, for example, the crusades for the Catholics, and the terrorists for Muslims. Therefore, though this stigma may exist, it is wrong in theory. There are many benefits from praying together with other religions in that people’s minds can be expanded, a greater understanding for all people can come about, and an inner peace can be found. Though there may be some clear disadvantages from interreligious prayer, if people whom preform …show more content…
To these individuals, Jesus and Buddha represent the idea of truth to them. One man, Paul Knitter, initially thought that Buddhism was immoral, but has grown to accept its ideas and incorporate them into his Christian ideals. This steams from the idea that we should tolerate other religions, admire them, and help promote the good they bring. There is a concept in Buddhism known as Zen, which is a skill that can enrich one’s own faith. Zen is prayer, and it brings a sort of gratitude and reverence in an individual. Another concept in Buddhism is the idea that everyone is suffering, but a way to relieve this is by decentering of the self, and becoming empty. This emptiness helps people gain life energy, and be closer to God. Additionally, being open allows one to receive love from God and then be able to act as a good member of their religion. Buddhism has the idea that nothing is an individual, and everyone is interconnected, and Christianity claims that it is through compassion and love that we are all connected. It is through this compassion and understanding of connectedness that people can grow to love all sentient beings. Furthermore, the meaning of being human is to wake up to, and open to, the spirit of God that is given to us, and this comes in the form of grace. It is
He also makes reference to the long history of religious intolerance and persecution within the Christian tradition, brought about by greed, mistrust, and ignorance. He emphasizes the need for continuous practice, prayer, meditation, mindfulness, and personal growth within individual religious traditions and cultures. We must make the spirit of the Buddha and the spirit of Christ part of our everyday lives. He explores the “Five Wonderful Percepts of Buddhism”: reverence for life, generosity, responsible sexual behavior, speaking and listening deeply, and ingesting only wholesome substances; comparing them to the teachings of Christ. These precepts are without a doubt, very similar to the principles thought by Christ and his apostles. Each precept or teaching works with the next, interconnecting and building upon each other toward the same goal to end suffering, bring about personal and worldly understanding, world peace, and spiritual
Living Buddha, Living Christ has taught me the true meaning of Buddhism, and it demonstrates what the path to true enlightenment is. The following concepts have stood out to me, and they are ones that I relate to on a more personal level. Buddhism has perceptions that are not always seen by everyone, but they are concepts that are important for our own happiness.
It is said that history is shaped by the lives of great men. Great men are leaders. They bring about change; they improve the lives of others; they introduce new ideas, models, and theories to society. Most of the world's religions were founded, developed, or discovered by great men. Two particular religions - Christianity and Buddhism - developed in different parts of the world, under different circumstances, and in different social atmospheres. But each religion is based upon the teachings of a great man. When one compares the life of Buddha with the life of Jesus, one finds that the two share many things in common. This essay aims to compare and contrast the lives of Buddha1 and Jesus in two key areas: conception and birth. In these two areas, one finds that the Buddha and Jesus share many similarities.
They have different lifestyle beliefs such as beliefs of praying, eating, and social limitations which restrict the fact that they can purely, peacefully coexist together in a diverse society. All of these religions have different beliefs of when and where they worship, such as Muslim people pray five times a day and their holy place is a Mosque. Christian people pray on Sundays at Church and the Jewish people pray Friday night to Saturday night and their holy building is a Synagogue. These religions have different ideas about when and where they pray that make them very different. Because these beliefs of when and where to pray are so different, it makes it very hard to think that these people will be able to totally respect and understand other religions without the need to be defensive or offensive to their own and other people’s religions. And therefore, the beliefs of praying make it so that these religions are separated even more so because of their praying habits ...
This paper is a comparison between two very different religions. Specifically Christianity and Buddhism. Coming from opposite sides of the globe these two religions could not be any farther apart in any aspect. I will discuss who Christ is for Christians and who Buddha is for Buddhists. I will also get into the aspects of charity, love, and compassion in both religions and I will be looking at the individual self and how christians see resurrection where the buddhists feel about the afterlife. One thing to keep in mind is that the two religions are very different but they seem to have a very similar underlying pattern. Both believe that there was a savior of their people, Buddha and Christ, and both believe that there is something good that happens to us when our time is done here on earth. This is a very generalized summarization but in order to go in to depth I need to explain the two religions more to fully convey this theory.
Buddhism is a nontheistic religion, meaning that practitioners of the Buddhist religion do not recognize or worship a God. Instead, practicing Buddhists follow the teachings of a man named Siddhartha Gautama, who is more commonly known as Buddha. The term “Buddha” can be translated to mean “the awakened one”. Buddha’s followers recognize his as the enlightened teacher who would be able to help them let go of human wants, desires and ignorance to the goal of reaching a state of nirvana. The two different major branches of Buddhism are ...
In today’s world, there are various religions that are worshipped by millions of devout followers every year. Of these religions, two of these include Buddhism and Christianity, which have dated back for thousands of years. According to. Experiencing the World 's Religions and The World’s Wisdom: Sacred Texts of the World’s Religions, both Buddhism and Christianity originated through a single enlightened leader and were known as each religion’s teachers: Buddha and Jesus Christ. Both of these prophets became what shaped their respective religions and had a large influence on being bringers of hope to the world and proclaiming peace among the nations.
...e & cooperation ” ReligiousTolerance.org 7 Oct. 2007: Onatrio Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Web. 22 Oct. 2011.
Buddhism is a philosophy of life, it was started by Siddhartha Gotma , who is more commonly known as Buddha. Buddha isn’t god to them however he is well respected for passing down knowledge of how to find true happiness. The Buddhists major aim in life is to find enlightenment (true happiness).Buddhist monks live by a strict moral code, in which they are given food, they live a life structured around the teachings of Buddha.
Throughout history it is evident that many religions have been tried, tested, and, for some, radically changed. Many religions have gone through periods of time in which the way they were run or enforced underwent changes in practice and leadership. In many cases disagreements and differing outlooks among members of certain religions were to blame for these changes. Christianity and Islam are two examples of religions that have experienced changes over the course of their existence. While these religions seem to have little in common at first glance, both have strikingly similar pasts that consist of radical splits due to disagreements among members of the Christian and Islamic churches, resulting in new branches within each religion.
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. Buddhists do not believe in a Supreme Being, God or Creator, though many Buddhists today worship the Buddha - the central figure of Buddhism - and his teachings. They view him as someone with a universal spirit, an essence that can be attained by everyone rather than only a higher deity that rules over the world (Brown). Especially in Mahayana Buddhism, the concept of the Buddha nature is fundamental (“Pure Land”).... ...
Buddhism is centered upon the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha, whereas Christianity is centered on the Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ. Buddhism is a nontheistic religion, i.e., it does not believe in a supreme creator being God. Christianity is a monotheistic religion and believes that Christ Is the Son Of God. In Christianity, they believe in Jesus. Christianity is monotheistic because they only believe in one God, unlike Buddhism whom believes in several Gods. First and foremost, I will start by looking at the various similarities between Buddhism and Christianity. Both religions are based on the golden rule which concerns individual wellbeing as well as the interests of other people. Both Lord Buddha and Jesus Christ taught their disciples about the welfare of all human beings. They encouraged their followers to do good to others the same way they would like others do unto them. Jesus and Buddha preached the importance of social values and ethics. Both Buddha and Jesus rejected and highly condemned excessive asceticism and emphasized on self-liberation. Both Buddhism and Christianity doctrines lay emphasis on equal love for all human beings. According to Buddhism, this love should be extended to human beings as well as other living things. Similarly, Christian doctrines are based on the principle of loving a neighbor as much as one loves him/herself. This special kind of love, usually referred to as Agape by Christians, begins at individual levels and should be extended to all people, including friends and enemies. Both Buddhism and Christianity entail worships that involve use of rosaries, incense and performance of rituals among other spiritual practices. Buddhists and Christians worship through personal confessions, monasticism, bowing before holy images and mediations. Often, bells are rung to indicate transitions within prayer
Religious syncretism is a blending of two or more religious beliefs or practices into a new system, or the merging into a new religious tradition of beliefs from different traditions. This can occur for many reasons, but happens quite frequently in areas where multiple religions exist nearby to each other and are active in the culture. When a culture is conquered, the conquerors bring their religious beliefs with them, but do not succeed in entirely wiping out the old beliefs or practices as they are too engrained. Certain religious followers see syncretism as a betrayal of their pure truth. They feel by adding an incompatible belief ruins and changes the original concept and practice of the original religion, thus rendering it no longer true.
Before setting into the concepts of Buddhism that were the most intriguing, I think it is noteworthy about the creation of it. The Buddha was not a remarkable man in the beginning. He was a privileged boy who was to be a warrior. He ran off and starved under a tree in order to find a solution on how to end suffering. The Buddha voluntarily starved himself to near death until he was able to reach that point in his life of enlightenment. The Buddha did not go around curing people of their diseases and miraculasing turning elements into another. He led a simple life traveling around teaching others on how to reach the enlightment as well. The Dharma was not a book about his life rather than simply his teachings. This is very different from the idea of Jesus within the Christian religion. My point of view is coming from a very biased position I must ass because I do not support the Christian religion as much. The Holy Bible first differs from the Dharma because it is a book of stories as well as the teaching of Jesus. Jesus is a man held in high regard for he was able to cure the sick of their aliments and turn water into wine. He died...
Buddhism and Christianity are different religions. Both have numerous similarities as well as differences that one might find really interesting to look at in details. These two religions have certain beliefs, values and traditions which are really compatible. On the other hand, some of these values, beliefs and traditional practices are quite contradicting and conflicting. This makes the study of these two religions an inevitable and pleasurable task. Theology historians have raised adequate concerns and issues relating to connections between Buddhism and Christianity. They claim that there is strong comparability between the characters of Jesus and Buddha, especially their lives and teachings.