Buddhism vs. Christianity - Essay Example

The life of Buddha, the founder of Buddhism started as Siddhartha, the boy who was born in the abundance of life. His father denied him the opportunities of confronting with the real trials and tribulations of life. But Buddha happened to witness certain sights, later referred as the Four Sights of Buddha, which made him realize the realities of life and it ultimately paved the way for Buddhism. It was at the request of his son Siddhartha, the king allowed him to visit the beautiful park outside the palace.

Though the father was precautious enough to wrap all the unpleasant sights from his son, some of them caught the sight of him. The sight of Old Age was the first one and it really haunted Siddhartha as it was his debut experience. The haggard state of an old man roused a number of questions in his mind and it provided him a hint about the hard realities of life. His realization that no one can prevent from being old has exerted significant influence in his later teachings. It is the second visit that enables him to encounter with the fearful state of sickness, like the sight of old age torments his mentally.

Afterwards, the sights of death and renunciation, the third and fourth respectively, also have the same effect on Siddhartha. This leads him to realize that there are two ways to solve the problems of life—one is to lead a pleasant life by totally ignoring all the problems of life and the other way is realizing that all these sufferings are the part of life and try to overcome these problems. Siddhartha selected the second as it was far better than the first and preached by giving up his luxurious life in the palace.

The birth of Jesus was just different from that of Buddha who took birth as a man 2000 years ago in the town of Bethlehem in the land of Israel. One of the notable similarities between the lives of Buddha and Jesus is that both lived a life of simplicity and showed others the real value of it. But a