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Islam vs Buddism

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Islam vs Buddism
Buddhism vs Islam When presented with a question of terminology, many people will refer to a dictionary. But some people actually think about what a word means, how it was created, its origins and what it means in today world. This essay will explain the meanings of Buddhism and Islam, as well as the origin of the religions. In a small country south of Nepal, Siddhartha Gautama was born sometime between 566 BC and 553 BC. It is said that the child was born fully awake and could speak. He told his mother, Mahamaya, he had “come to free all mankind from suffering (Boeree).” Siddhartha could also stand and walk small distances, and lotus blossoms bloomed wherever he stepped. His mother died seven days after his birth.
Upon this event, King Shuddodana consulted a sooth-sayer, Asita, to read his sons future. Asita told the king that Siddhartha would be one of two things: he could become a great sage and savior of humanity or a great king, perhaps even an emperor (Life of Buddha). Shuddodana was determined to have his first son become king so he set out to protect the child from anything that might lead to him taking the religious pathway. Siddhartha was contained in one of three palaces to prevent him from

Feeney 2 experiencing the “commonplace.” He was not allowed to see the elderly, sick or dead. Only beauty and health surrounded Siddhartha (Silva-Vigier).
Siddhartha grew up a strong and handsome man. As a prince of warrior caste, he trained in the arts of war. The king arranged for three palaces to be filled with 4000 girls each. Siddhartha was to choose a girl from the palaces but none of these pleased him. He found here at the end of the ceremony, she had refused to go to receive her gift. Siddhartha was appreciative of her selflessness and immediately fell in love with her. He won the hand of the beautiful princess from a neighboring kingdom by beating all other competitors at a variety of games. They married when Siddhartha and the princess were


Cited: Boeree, George. “The Life of Siddhartha Gautama.” Webspace. 1999. Shippensburg University. Web. 2 Nov. 2011. Bril, Jenifer. “Muhammad.” PBS. 2005. Web. 3 Nov. 2011. Eden, Jonathan. “Buddhism: An Introduction.” PBS. 2011. Web. 3 Nov. 2011. Islam: Empire of Faith. Dir, and prod. Robert Gardner. Writ, Jonathan Grupper. Videocassete. Paramount Home Entertainment, 2005. Life of Buddha. Writ., dir., and prod. Martin Meissonnier. Videocassette. ARTE France Development, 2004. Silva-Vigier, Anil De. The Life of the Buddha. London: Phaidon Press LDT, 1955. Yahyn, Harun. Islam and Buddhism. Honk Kong: Truth Publishing, 2001.
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