Similarities Between Buddhism And Christianity

Buddhism is a religion with most of its followers based in Asia. Buddha is their leader and they often refer to him as the enlightened one. Christianity is a religion with most of its followers living in the United States and South America. Jesus is their leader and he is often referred to as the Son of God. Both Christianity and Buddhism began around two thousand years ago by one man teaching people his principles and beliefs. Buddha taught that in order to achieve nirvana a person must do good works and go through multiple cycles of rebirth. Jesus taught that if a person puts their faith in Him, when they die they will immediately go to heaven. Buddhists and Christian’s view of the afterlife are very different even though their leaders lived similar lives on Earth. Buddha was born in Nepal and left home at a young age to discover the meaning of life. Once he discovered the path to nirvana, he named it Dharma and traveled around the world teaching it. Similarly, Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem and left home at a young age. Jesus, however, left
Buddha believed, “Because we and the world are imperfect, impermanent, and not separate, we are forever ‘clinging’ to things, each other, and ourselves, in a mistaken effort at permanence (Introduction to Buddhism). Christians believe they must be “in the world but not of the world.” Christians believe a person must not stay completely detached from the world because in order to tell others the good news of Jesus Christ they must remain close to sinners. Even though Christians believe this, they also believe sin is the reason that the world is imperfect. Buddhists also believe the world is imperfect and by doing good things they can achieve nirvana, their idea of heaven. Although Christians believe people should do things and obey the Ten Commandments, they believe that the only way to get to heaven is to have faith in Jesus