Buddhism and Catholicism Case

Buddhism and Catholicism are two quite different religions; both religions worship different Gods, have different origins, and different central beliefs, and celebrate different festivals, which are held on different days.

Founder's experience of the Sacred

Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama was born in 563 BCE, and passed away in 483 BCE, and was the founder of Buddhism. (Facts on File- World Religions Online) Siddhartha was born in Northern India, at that time known as a small Kingdom called Sakyas. The Buddha was born to a royal family, Siddhartha's mother, Maya died while giving birth to him, his sister, whom his father had later on married after Maya's death raised Siddhartha. He was an only child, but had lots of cousins. According to the legends, the prince (Siddhartha) lived a life of luxury and comfort, had the best education, food, and was granted everything he desired. However, he did not have the freedom of leaving the royal property. His curiosity persuaded his charioteer to take him out on the streets, there he was shocked by the poverty and misery he was witnessing and decided to make a change, by seeking to truth on his own. On the night his son was born, Siddhartha bid his farewells and went on his journey to discover, learn, and preach. During his journey, he meditated for forty days in a forest, and after his meditation, he understood the reality and truth about nature, and became the Buddha. Jesus Christ, the son of God was born in 4 BCE, and died in 30 CE, he is the founder of Christianity. There are two versions about the birth of Jesus in the bible, one from the Gospel of Matthew, the other from the Gospel of Luke. The most common version would be Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary in a manger, the birth of Jesus brought magi visiting him bearing gifts. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, in the Jordan Rover, from there on he began his special mission to preach and heal. Roman governor Pontius Pilate executed Jesus by crucifixion. Jesus was crucified on Friday, the Sunday morning after his death, Jesus resurrected.

Central Belief

"Imagine a religion created to deal with crooked limbs, sickness, aging and even death." (Buddhism plus disability: one "step" closer to Nirvana) Buddhism strongly believes in Karma, bad deeds will be punished, however one may attempt to change his/her fate by doing good to "balance" out the bad deeds. Buddhism also consists of meditating, to find inner peace. "There's nothing very mysterious about meditation; it consists of sitting quietly and watching the mind" (Clark W. Buddhism and the spiritually changed) Meditation can calm one's inner self, achieve inner peace to accept the reality and to understand more about self and the world around. There is no "devil" in Buddhism, however, there is suffering. Buddhism believes that