Introduction
Many world religions try to point people to deities that they can worship and pray to. People join religious groups for many different reasons including finding answers to existential questions, following family tradition, finding healing, and securing a future after death. There are two primary categories of religious groups which are mostly dependent on the regions where they are largely practiced including Eastern and Western. The major ones in the former are Asian-based wisdom traditions such as Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Hinduism. The latter, known as Abrahamic religions, originated from the Middle East and include Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. A comparison of two religious groups, one from the Eastern and the other from the Western may provide a glimpse of the different faith systems. Although some people perceive all religions as essentially the same, there are key distinctions between Christians and Buddhists regarding their rituals, soteriological beliefs, and afterlife beliefs.
The Difference Between Western and Eastern Religion
Rituals
Rituals are ceremonial activities that are associated with a specific tradition or religion. Christians have many rituals which they do for remembrance, worship, dedication, ordination, and cleansing among other things (Ziolkowski, 233). The rituals are often performed during fellowships and other holy days such as the Lord’s Day, Christmas, Pentecost, Easter, and the Lent period (Galondo). For example, during the Lent period Christians, especially Catholics go through a season of fasting where they abstain from meat. It is done to commemorate the period preceding the arrest, crucifixion, and death of Christ. They also celebrate the Lord’s supper during that season by breaking bread and wine which is symbolic of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Other rituals include gathering together and sharing gifts during the period and meeting with family members and friends for Thanksgiving. Other common rituals include speaking in tongues, praying, singing, and dancing for their God.
The Buddhists have rituals that help them maintain the pattern and the order that they want in life. One of the most famous rituals is meditation where a person takes a specific posture and remains silent as they discover their inner self or strength. They have statues that the people revere and use as objects of mediation (Galindo). The other ritual is the Mantras which involve continuous and repeated chanting while singing their scriptures. In some cases, they use string beads that help them to focus as they worship. Each of the rituals is meant to facilitate the practice of unbiased love towards all creations (Huang et al. 1). The other rituals that Buddhist engages in are aligned with some common developmental stages and include birth, wedding, and death ceremonies. The rituals at each of the developmental stages are done for different reasons and to ensure synchronicity with the planet.
Soteriological Beliefs
Soteriology is about the doctrines and beliefs that concern salvation for different religious groups. The story of the creation is relevant to understanding how the earth came to be, and redemption from the evils in the earth. In Christianity, God created the heavens and earth and placed man in the garden of Eden which was a perfect place for human nourishment and thriving (Galindo 06:00-06:40). However, man disobeyed God and was thrown out of the garden in a shameful state. They now had to suffer evil and strive for reconciliation with God. On the contrary, the Buddhists believe that everything is flax in a transitional state because nothing can stay the same (Galindo 10: 49-56). The focus is more on the process of development through the lens of pattern and perspective. Moreover, the Buddhists empathize that humans are one with the natural world such as the trees, earth, and other elements. Their salvation emanates from the ability to stay in a state of harmony with nature.
Faith is most evident in thinking about the faith that people have towards things that they are unable to control. For example, when illness and calamities strike the land the hope that the people bear determines their belief system. Eastern religions such as the Buddhist have a strong belief in magic as opposed to Christians who have faith that God can intervene in their circumstances (Kambullia 2). Buddhist believes that they have the strongest magic they use in solving life hurdles. Conversely, within Christianity, magic is unheard of and may even be grounds for thinking that a person has demonic powers. Instead of magic, they believe in miracles which are extraordinary occurrences that can only happen through the enabling power of God. Miracles are therefore said to communicate the will of God to intervene with the natural order to help the people. Interestingly, both magic and miracles are extraordinary events that have no scientific explanations.
After Life Beliefs
The two religions believe that man does not cease to exist after death. In other words, they believe that the body can die and decompose but the spirit and the soul of a man continue to exist. However, the two religions differ regarding the kind of life that people live after they die. In Christianity, the body is buried but the soul has to be judged depending on whether the person was justified for accepting Jesus Christ or lived in sin. The saints have a good place to live in paradise with God. A happy place in heaven where there is no suffering or tears. Conversely, the sinners are doomed to go to hell where they are eternally separated from God. They suffer and burn in Sulphur and there is no one to hear their cry because only Satan is in hell.
The Buddhists believe in the theory of reincarnation which I where people die but come in another form such as a butterfly or any other animal. The Buddhists believe that other spiritual forces can cause the death of a person. For example, “Sinhala Buddhists widely surmised that the death of a prominent and well-loved Sri Lankan Buddhist monk in 2003 was the result of the machinations of Christian fundamentalists” (Mahadev 426). The differences in beliefs surrounding death can be a cause of tension in regions like Sri Lanka where there are both Christians and Muslims. The Buddhist always strives to engage in deeds that will lead to good Karma.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Christians and Buddhists may identify as religious groups, but their faith in salvation, rituals, and perspective of life after death are primarily distinct. The Christians believe in God’s miraculous intervention to redeem them from life hurdles. On the contrary, Buddhist believes in the power of magic, which can alleviate human suffering. Both religions have several rituals to mark important events in their calendar. They both believe that physical death is not the end of humans though Buddhists think that people reincarnate, while Christians believe that they will resurrect on judgment day.
Works Cited
Galindo, Jay W. “What are Abrahamic Religions? Introduction to Western Religions: East vs. West, & the Creation Story.” YouTube. 2017, Web.
Galindo, Jay. “Buddhism Vs Christianity – Difference and Comparison | Diffen.” Diffen – Compare Anything. Diffen. Discern. Decide, Web.
Huang, Tsung-Ren, and Yi-Hao Wang. “Perceiving Self, Others, and Events Through a Religious Lens: Mahayana Buddhists vs. Christians.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 10, 2019.
Kambullia, Chalbamhumeer. “Eastern vs. Western Religions: What’s the Difference?” OSF, 2022.
Mahadev, Neena. “Karma and grace: Rivalrous reckonings of fortune and misfortune.” HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 9.2 (2019): 421-438
Yancy, George. “Eastern religions on death and the afterlife.” Tikkun, Web.
Ziolkowski, Eric. Religion and literature: History and method. BRILL, 2019.