I chose two religious figures, Buddha and Jesus who had religious experiences and became well known as the founders of their religion. The reason I chose these two people is because Jesus is a well known figure of Christianity and I wanted to compare it to a religion that is more known in the Eastern culture, which is Buddhism. Jesus Christ was born to Joseph and Mary born in a manger and was first discovered by some wise men traveling through the dessert.His childhood consisted of growing in the town of Nazareth where he was baptized at the age of 30. Shortly after being baptized, Jesus was led into the dessert by God where he fasted for forty days.
While fasting, the devil tried to tempt Jesus 3 times, but he did not give in to temptation. When Jesus returned from the dessert he started preaching and teaching the ways of God to the people of Nazareth. “He started to perform miracles that included healings, exorcisms, walking on water, turning water into wine, and raising several people, from the dead.” (Wikipedia) He had 12 apostles which soon become his disciples and followers.They were told by Jesus to spread the word of God and to warn people of the ending of this world until everything remained perfect. Jesus and his followers traveled to Jerusalem during a Passover festival and they were greeted with great joy.
While there he made one of the kings unhappy, was betrayed by one of his disciples, and was arrested for blasphemy. After his arrest, his disciples went into hiding and Jesus was crucified. Siddhartha was a religious figure for Buddhism. When Siddhartha was young, his father hired a fortune teller to see what Siddhartha had in store for him in the future.Assuring his father that Siddhartha would either become a great ruler, or save humanity, his father, worried Siddhartha wouldn’t take his place as king, made sure he offered nothing but worldly possessions. His father sheltered him making sure Siddhartha never saw illness or death.
Unfortunately after some many years of being cooped up, Siddhartha demanded he go out side the castle, but before he did, his father made sure his guards get rid of anyone who was sick and dying. It was no use, some of his father’s guards missed some people and Siddhartha soon realized that people eventually get sick and die.“At the age of 29, Siddhartha came to realize that he could not be happy living as he had been. He had discovered suffering, and wanted more than anything to discover how one might overcome suffering.” (Boeree, George) He set forth to the forest, giving away his rich clothes, horse, and shaving his head. He started doing private practices with a group of five ascetics.
Together they practiced for 6 years and the ascetics were so astonished they soon become followers of Siddhartha. Siddhartha still wasn’t satisfied in the answers he was finding and soon began to give up food and water, almost reaching death.Realizing these extreme behaviors weren’t going to get him answers, he decided he needed a middle way between life’s luxuries and self-mortification. Siddhartha sat himself under a fig and said he would sit there until he could find the answers to human suffering.
He begins with meditating and concentration to clear his mind. Although “The Evil One” Mara tried to stop Siddhartha from achieving his goal, it was no use. “He began to see the universe as one and the great awakening had happened.” (Smith) Siddhartha had reach enlightenment and became Buddha.
Over time Buddha, started teaching the 5 ascetics on how one most become enlightened. He explained to them of the 4 Noble Truths and the Eightfold path. The 5 ascetics become the very first disciples and the beginning of the community of monks. Buddha lived on to be 80 years old and his disciplines, along with many other people, carry on the practices of Buddhism today. So after reading about the two different religions, it almost makes me wonder if they are even at all different. Buddha and Jesus both became founders of a world religion that is still practiced today.
They believed in different things, but both Siddhartha and Jesus accomplished great things. Siddhartha wanted to achieve enlightenment through meditation and prayer. Jesus went into the dessert and fasted for 40 days to better become one with God. After achieving their goals both of them went around the town and become teachers to help other people better understand true happiness. They encountered complications along the way, Buddha having Mara try and distract him and Jesus had the devil tempt him, but that didn’t stop them from believing in what they did.They wanted to change the world and make it a better place.
Even today both Buddhism and Christianity are still practiced through out the world. Christians celebrate holidays of Jesus’ birthday, death and resurrection. Buddhist pray and meditate for hours to achieve happiness. Although the religions are separate, in a way, all religions have a based concept of becoming one with God, whoever you believe in as God.References1.Smith, Huston.
The Illustrated World’s Religion: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions. Labyrinth Publishing Ltd © 1994 2.Wikipedia. May 11, 2008. http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Jesus 3.Dr. Boeree, George C. Life of Siddhartha Gautama.
© 1999. Sponsored by Shippensburg University. May 11, 2008. http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/siddhartha.html
