“A Flowering of faith: Christianity and Buddhism” Essay

There are many similarities in the teachings of Jesus and Buddha. Most are discussed specifically in their sermons. With Christianity the sermon was called â€Å"Sermon on the Mount†. Jesus went up a mountainside and spoke to his disciples and the crowds of people. It stated the right ways for us to approach God and to deal with other people. This was a collection of sayings, the Gospel of Matthew, stated by Jesus himself. This sermon, which is located in the New Testament, is the longest teaching from Jesus. With Buddhism, Gautama Buddha was known as their spiritual leader. He was said to have â€Å"attained Nirvana† or to have achieved a state where suffering is eliminated through the abandonment of desires. When stated the term, desires, meaning the cause of suffering. There were many ways to differentiate the two sermons, but their similarities were much more. When dealing with the religions, both had separate commandments to abide by. Buddha’s, â€Å"The Noble Eightfold Path†, gave the religion eight rights to remember. Two of the rights in example were â€Å"Right Speech, avoidance of untruth, slander and swearing†, and â€Å"Right Contemplation, of the truth†. In Christianity, â€Å"The Ten Commandments†, was a list of the different rights to acknowledge. In example â€Å"Thou shalt have no other gods before me† and â€Å"Thou shalt not steal†. In the Sermon of the mount, Jesus also stated what he considered the perfect prayer this was called â€Å"The Lord’s Prayer†. This was simply what you should quote if ever you prayed. In the Sermon at Benares, Buddha listed what was called â€Å"The Four Noble Truths†. These were known as the important principles in Buddhism. The four truths are best understood, not as beliefs, but as categories of experience. They more so discussed what we call cause and effect, i.e. the truth about stress is suffering. When dealing with their similarities the main thing they had in common was the enormous faith in them through their disciples. In conclusion, like Jesus, The Buddha set out to teach nothing but good to his people. They both spoke about helping the sick, wisdom, and faith. Their disciples acknowledged them for guidance in life. Although they were two completely different religions, as said before their similarities remained close.