Islam and Buddihsm

ISLAM AND BUDDIHSM

There are three main broad religious in the world which are: Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. Christianity is the most common religion all over the world. Here, I am going to discuss about the Buddhism and Islam.

Buddhism is one of the leading world religions in terms of followers, geographical distribution, and socio-cultural influence. Though it is mostly known as an “Eastern” religion, it is becoming increasingly popular and influential in the Western world. It is an autonomous world religion in its own right, though it also resembles Hinduism in that both teach Karma which involves cause-and-effect ethic, Maya involving the illusory nature of the world, and Samsara which entails the cycle of reincarnation. The main believe in Buddhism is that the ultimate goal in life is to achieve enlightenment.

They believe that Siddhartha Gautama, who lived about 2,500 years ago in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, experienced a deep realization about life and became enlightened while meditating under a both tree. He became “the Buddha" and his main teachings were that all human beings contain the seed of enlightenment, which is a deep understanding about life that can be achieved in a single lifetime.

Islam was founded in 622 by Mohamed, who was a prophet of Medina. It’s a faith believed that it was taught by early prophets such as Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Noah and Jesus. Islamists believe that Mohammed was the last prophet and that his role was to formalize and clarify the faith and purify it by removing believes which had been added before as an error. The two sacred books of Islam are the Qur’an which contains the words of Allah who is “the true God” as given to the prophet Mohammed, and the second is Hadith, which is a combination of Mohammed’s sayings. Muhammad taught the same message of Islam just as the previous prophets and messengers which was to direct all worship to God alone and none else and to obey His commandments where by the followers of the previous prophets went astray.

Since Buddhism is not a religion but rather a faith that focuses on personal spiritual development. Buddhists look for a deep insight into the true nature of life and do not offer worship to any gods or deities.

Buddhism began in Northern India by Siddhartha Gautama who was known as Buddha, during the 6th century BC, after he got enlightened and assumed the name Lord Buddha meaning one who has awakened. Buddhism is a way of practice and spiritual growth leading to Insight into the true nature of reality. Some Buddhist practices such as meditation are ways of transforming oneself so as to achieve the qualities of awareness, kindness and wisdom. It is divided to the two wide categories of Theravada-small vessel and Mahayana-large vessel. Theravada is the monastic form which keeps ultimate enlightenment and nirvana for monk while Mahayana Buddhism