The Buddhist Four Noble Truths Of A Transcendental World

1934 Words4 Pages

While to an atheist, the promise of a transcendental world, full of hope and supremacy may seem unrealistic. But to a Christian or Buddhist, this is a vision that both these beliefs share through their religious and spiritual literature. The literature that surrounds these religions involves the steps or rules one must achieve in order to attain the reward of a transcendental world, these being the Buddhist Four Noble Truths to achieve Nirvana and the Christian Ten Commandments to reach Heaven. The hope of achieving an idealistic world is the epitome of enduring life’s obstacles. It is human nature to strive for a goal in order to receive a reward. For Christians and Buddhists, this reward is created in sacred text to inspire people that by dedicating yourself to doing good deeds that you will reach a paradise.
All religions have a way of retelling stories and reciting them to future generations which has a substantial impact for the believers within their faith. These stories can be written down and recorded in books which are given high authority and referred to as a Sacred Text of a religion. The dictionary refers to sacred texts as “writing that is venerated for the worship of a deity which embodies the laws and doctrines of a religion”. (Dictionary.com, 2014) Sacred texts can form the basis of a religion, instilling law and character into its people while other sacred texts are narratives of historical figures in the faith. (Dulcinea Media, Inc., 2014) The sacred text for Christianity is the Bible. Buddhism is guided by the Pali Canon or Tripitaka (Tipitaka).
Buddhism is a nontheistic religion based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama in the 5th Century BC. It has been argued whether or not Buddhism should be regarded a...

... middle of paper ...

...ive of the afterlife. Both religions have an ultimate goal that religious believes must follow in order to obtain a utopian world. Yet, to reach these goals, Christianity and Buddhism vary as they both explore different concepts that must be understood and achieved before reaching a utopian world.
Christians believe that one must obey the commandments w/o fail to reach heaven, Buddhists believe that a person who leads a good life, will be reborn into a good life.
Why do we do anything? For a reward? For recognition? Why do we not do bad things? (Conclusion)
Buddhist guidelines are not as strict and definite as Christian rules, both of these religions have a set of rules and guidelines that will help achieve a utopian goal whether it be Nirvana for Buddhists or Heaven for Christians because they are similar in such a way that an idyllic world is portrayed as an aim.

Open Document