Comparison of Buddhism and the Baptist Religions

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Buddhism versus Baptisms
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Buddhism is a religion based on faith, but it is not entirely based on the blind faith where the Buddhist follows everything proclaimed in its teachings. The Buddhists are highly religious and follow the rules, but most of them do not do anything they term as religious without questioning it.

This is according to the Kalama Sutta which states that the Buddhists should not do everything they read without questioning its value. It states that people should use their knowledge, ideas and reasoning to determine the validity of the teachings they have to follow. The religion describes faith as a blind belief in the existence of something they have no proof of its existence.

The Kalama Sutta records that all its believers can always belief in what they have a proof of its existence and know that its existence is a reality. The religion does not focus on the existence of things like heaven, hell, or miracles; instead, their belief is on the real things like the Pure Land. They have faith that it is the place where they can put into effect all the teachings in the Kalama Sutta.

The Zen of faith is also a part of this resistance to believing blindly in everything that one comes across. The Zen of faith does not encourage the belief in supernatural things. It bases its arguments on four principal fundamentals that include faith, doubt, declaration, and vitality. Doubt and faith enable the Buddhists to lead a life where they are open hearted and open minded (Keown, 2009).

The situation enables them to evaluate and analyze things that come in their lives. These faith and doubt, when combined, make the Buddhist’s heart soften to the different circumstances instead of making them resentful and bitter.

The Baptist religion, on the other hand, believes in faith and do not question the things in the Holy Bible. Even though, the faith and beliefs vary from one church to the other in the Baptist religion, all of them have their foundations laid on the faith in the Bible. The Baptist religion also known as the “orthodox” religion shares common beliefs based on faith.

Among the things that they strongly believe in is the existence of a supernatural being they call God and his son Jesus Christ. The Baptism religion also believes in the existence of the Virgin Mary who gave birth to the only son of God, Jesus Christ. The religion stresses the need to live a life free from any sinful actions that can compromise the faith of a Christian.

Unlike the Buddhists who do not believe in miracles, the Baptists believe in the existence of miracles in their lives. The religion also stresses the importance of the vicarious atoning of those who manage to live a holy life while they are still on Earth (Mullins,1935). The Christians also believe in death, resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Doomsday.

They also have faith that salvation is the key that can guarantee a person that he/she will attain eternal live, God’s Kingdom is close to the trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The Baptist religion supports all these beliefs with verses from the Holy Bible.

The name BAPTIST which stands for Biblical authority, Autonomy in the church, Priesthood that serves those who have faith in the church, Two ordinances, Individual freedom of the soul, Separation of Church and State and Two offices of the church. These are parts of the four freedoms which are the freedom of the soul, the church, the Bible and religion.

The Wat Preah Keo is in the heart of Angkor Wat, which also means, the town of many temples. It is Cambodia and one can easily locate it. The Temple has many features that welcome the visitors into the Temple. It has a site where they have a collection of large images of Buddha, and a place where they give a lesson to anyone who does not know about the history of religion.

The Temple has three resident monks who teach those interested in the religion anything they want to know. The monks are available all day and night, hence, makes the place available to anyone at any time. The entrance to the Temple has a map that shows the visitors the different parts of the Temple and explains briefly what each part serves.

As this is not enough to guide the visitors and the Buddhists who come to pray in this Temple, there are members of the nearby community who act as a guide around the Temple. All this is a part of their religion which states that every Buddhist must be welcomed to visitors and should be hospitable.

The Wat has many structures enclosed in it that serve different purposes. The chaidei, constructed in the shape of a bell or conical is a place where they keep the vestiges of Buddha. The other structure in the Temple is the vihan which is the place where the members of the Temple assemble for prayers. The vihan also serves as a meeting room for the monks and the other members.

The Mondop or the Mandapa is an open structure in the Temple that is usually square in shape and does not have any enclosures on either ends. The structure has four arches that have a pyramid enclosed at the top. This room contains the physical objects that the Buddhist’s worship that include spiritual items and writings (Keown, 2009).

The other structures found in the Temple are the Sala and the Ubosoth. The Sala is a secluded place where the members of the Temple and the monks or visitors go for recreational activates. It has equipments that keep the occupants of the Temple, and the visitors relaxed. The Ubosoth, on the other hand, refers to the holiest prayers take place.

The other name for the Ubosoth is the ‘ordination hall’ because its other purpose is to serve as a place where the monks get ordained. This structure is similar to the Vihara, but the only difference between the two is the presence of the eight cornerstones situated at the corners of the Ubosoth.

The eight cornerstones serve as a deterrent to the devils. The other difference between the two structures is the decorations that the Ubosoth has. It has more decorations than the Vihara and looks livelier as compared to the Vihara.

The bibliotheca serves as a library where the holy Buddhist scriptures reside. The other structures found in the Temple include the drum tower, the bell tower and the multipurpose hall where the monks and other people in the Temple go to read and make references to the scriptures.

The bell tower and the drum tower serve as storerooms for bells and drums respectively. The other structures within the Temple vicinity, but not part of the Temple include the monks’ living quarters. These are not part of the Temple, and they are commonly referred to as monk cells.

Buddhism versus Baptisms

Devotion

The two religions have many things in common, but the two tend to differ when it comes to some of its beliefs and practices. The Buddhism religion is particularly keen of devotion of its members to not only the religion, but also to the other people. Devotion is a key practice, and this is evident in the day to day activities of the Buddhists which include bowing, reciting, giving offerings, gifts and pilgrimage.

This is according to their belief of such practices in the Pure Land. The Buddhists believe that they have to perform such practices as an act of loyalty to the Buddha Amitabha.

The practice is not common in the Baptism, because they believe that the most notable aspect of faith and devotion is leading a holy life with no sin. They do not believe in the bodily actions or offering of sacrifices as they believe that Jesus’ death and rising from the dead served as the ultimate sacrifice (Mullins, 1935).

Meditation

Meditation is another aspect of the Buddhism religion. This practice is a part of the Yoga practice which demands that the believer concentrates both on mind and body to the liberating mental process. The practice involves repenting for one’s misdeeds and trying to visualize a life free from evil deeds (Keown, 2009).

The meditation process is in the Brahminic texts that list the steps that a Buddhist should follow when he/she is meditating. The motive of going into meditation is an effort to achieve a Holy stance and maintain it during one’s life. This is similar to fasting and prayers in the Baptist religion. A Christian goes into fasting in order to repent for his/her sins and get closer to God through the Holy Spirit.

The three jewels and the trinity

The other belief in the Buddhist religion is the practice where young people in the religion take sanctuary in the Three Jewels. This serves as a basis of the person’s religious beliefs. The three jewels include the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. The three jewels are of considerable importance to the Buddhists because they serve as a sign of compassion, eternal and never ending or ever changing cores.

These three jewels are the same as the holy trinity in Christianity. Each of the three jewels represents a different part of the Buddhist religion, but there is no way that they can be separated. The existence of one jewel depends on the existence of the other. Buddha can be compared to God the Father as he presents himself as the holy one.

Dharma, on the other hand, is the one who guides the young generation from straying and offers a way for alienating their suffering and plays the same role as Jesus Christ (Mullins, 1935). Sangha is crucial as it provides a guide to the young Buddhist and gives them the necessary examples that relate to the teachings of the Kama Sutta.

The Sanskrit and the Ten Commandments

Buddhism has rules and moral codes that guide its believers and deters them from engaging in unruly behaviors. These are similar to the Ten Commandments in the Baptists religion. The Buddhists’ call the virtuous concepts the Sanskrit or refer it also as the Pāli. The Sanskrit divides these concepts into different classes depending on the level of morality that they are dealing with and those who the concepts affect.

It can either be the five concepts, the eight concepts or the ten concepts. Like the Ten Commandments, the Sanskrit aims at making the lives of its believers better and holy in order to attain eternity than when there are no rules to guide them.

However, the difference is in the grouping of these concepts because the Baptism religion does not divide the Ten Commandments according to the people who are to follow the commandments. This is not the case in Buddhism; each concept is for a particular group of people.

Therefore, one will found that monks have their own set of concepts that is different from those of the other believers. Baptism, on the other hand, does not make divide the Ten Commandments with regards as to whom will follow them; the Ten Commandments apply to everyone who believes in the religion (Keown, 2009).

The monastic life

The monks live a monastic life where they have no family; they do not get married and have kids. This is the same priesthood in some of the Baptist churches. Both the monks and the priest lead a holy life where their spiritual duties serve as a family, and they see the members of their religion as family. They act as mediators between the believers and the supernatural being.

The other similarity is that both religions believe in life after death. Buddhism does not state clearly that people will rise after Jesus Christ comes back to Earth as the Baptist do, but they believe that the dead come back to life as new born babies.

The difference between the two religions comes about when the Baptist religion talks about the second coming of Jesus Christ and the existence of Heaven. Though there is a similarity when it comes to where only the holy will go, they do not agree on the location of that place. Buddhism claims that the Pure Land is on Rarth while the Baptist religion claims that it is a place outside this world.

Conclusion

Buddhism and the Baptist religions have many things in common, but have their own differences. Buddhism is more concerned with the physical aspects of the religion that the spiritual aspects. This is not the case in Baptism because they concern themselves with the inner most details of the spiritual concepts of the religion. However, many things tend to link the two religions together including the trinity and the three jewels.

The main difference, however, comes about when it comes to the belief in faith. The Baptist religion bases all its values on the absolute faith they have in the Holy Bible. The Bible does not encourage them to question its scriptures. The Buddhists, on the other hand, do not believe in any thing blindly unless they have proof of its existence.

References

Keown, D. (2009). Buddhism: A Brief Insight. London: Sterling Publishing Company.

Mullins, Y. (1935). The Baptist faith: the axioms of religion: a new interpretation of the Baptist faith. Chicago: Sunday school Board of the SBC.

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