Buddhism vs Christian Worldview - Research Paper Example

?Buddhism INTRODUCTION In Christianity worldview, the concept of rebirth means regeneration of the human soul. The concept of rebirth is possible only when the person has strong connection with Jesus Christ as per the belief in the New Testimonials. The western believe of the people about rebirth is that the soul travels from one physical body and gets incarnated as another human being in their ‘life after death’. However, believes of non-Christian worldviews, such as that of Buddhism is that the soul of the people can transmigrate from one form of life to another depending on the Karma. Correspondingly, the teachings of Jesus and Buddhism can be observed to differ dramatically on their perspective towards rebirth. For instance, where Christian worldview advocates that salvation and rebirth is possible through the divine nature of the individual as it was in the case of Jesus Himself, in Buddhism, believes argue that salvation and rebirth is a cycle of life which is judged by the Karma of the individual and is not restricted to the spiritual holiness of the soul. To be precise, in Buddhism, the deeds of the person during his life cycle, decides the form of his/her birth as a human or else. However, in Christianity, the philosophical claim propounds that the way to salvation is through Him. Again, principles in Buddhism showed the way to Nirvana and asked the followers to find their own path to attain a life after death. The Christian worldview thus believes that rebirth is possible by following the doctrines of Bible, and the human soul gets birth as only human; but, Buddhism states that rebirth means ‘life after death’, which depends on the Karma of the individuals, where the individuals can take birth as anything in accordance with their deeds (Zukeran, “Reincarnation and Christianity”). THESIS STATEMENT This paper hereby intends to elaborate on the similarities and dissimilarities between the Christian worldview of rebirth and the Buddhism worldview of the same. CHRISTIAN PERSCEPTIVE ON REBIRTH The Christian worldview to rebirth differs as per the verses in the Old Testament and the New Testament. As per the Old Testament, the Christian worldview discredits the idea of reincarnation or rebirth. Hence, the idea of transmigration of soul was claimed as fable by the follower of old testimonial. On the other hand, the new testimonial followers believed that rebirth is possible only when following the path of Jesus Christ. The concept of rebirth, as per the Christian worldview, thus happens through miracle, which was only possible by Jesus Christ as He was the ‘son of the God’. Reincarnation of soul from one body to another is only possible only when the individual have a strong believe on Christ’s principles and by such means get His blessings on the soul. The path to rebirth, according to Christianity, is determined through the life of the people as per the new vision on reincarnation. The philosophical claim of Christianity thus propounds that a strong belief of the individuals on the principles of Christ will help them in attaining rebirth. Hence, Christian worldview, the concept of rebirth revolves around the strength of the belief one has about the existence of God (Hodson 1-6). BUDDHISM PERSCEPTIVE ON REBIRTH The Buddhism perspective on rebirth demonstrates change in continuity of life from one individual to other. According to the perspective of Buddhism, the karma of an individual helps to attain enlightenment which represents purity of life. In case, a person or an individual does not attain Nirvana, the death cycle continues and the soul gets rebirth in the form of “Asura,” “Hungry Ghost,” “Human life” and “Animals” (Buddha Dharma Education, “Fundamentals of Buddhism”). According to the teachings of Buddha, rebirth depends on Karma of the person that denotes his/her acts and deeds. Also, Buddhist believes that death is the end of physical body, but the spirit seeks out for new life and body. The rebirth of an individual is the cause and effect of his/her positive along with negative aspects that performed in life. In relation to worldview perspective of Buddhism relating to rebirth, life does not end and it transmigrates from one form to other depending on Karma. As per the Buddhism perspective, it can be viewed that rebirth of human being is duly considered to be quiet precious as it depends on Karma and Dharma of the individuals or the people. Accordingly, Buddhism perspective signifies that one should not fear death as this might lead towards rebirth, depending on past actions performed. It is worth mentioning that one might experience death by cleaning his/her on thoughts and not being attached to any materialistic aspect along with performing any good deed through following dharma. In this way, people will be able to attain Nirvana and can make themselves free from the vicious cycle of death and rebirth. The path of rebirth, according to the Buddhist perceptive, depends on Samsara or transmigration, which does not represent the transfer of soul but the transfer of feelings, impression and the Karma that continues (Tang, “Buddhist View on Death and Rebirth”). Hence, according to the Buddhism worldview, the concept of rebirth revolves around the Karma or actions perform by an individual. The cycle of death and rebirth is continuous until an individual or a person attains Nirvana or enlightenment through his/her actions that are performed during entire lifespan. COMPARISON AND CONTRADICTIONS The Christian and the Buddhist perspective of rebirth can be apparently viewed as quite different based upon their respective doctrines of believe. According to Christianity worldview perspective, rebirth is possible when persons or individuals follow the path or the guiding principles of Jesus Christ. As per the Old Testament, the idea of rebirth or transmigration of soul is fable. Moreover, the Christians believe that rebirth can happen in the form of miracle, which was only possible by Jesus Christ as He was regarded as the ‘Son of the God’. On the other hand, the Buddhist believes that death and rebirth is a vicious cycle and the Karma of an individual helps to define the birth. Buddha spread the teaching that he was not divine but just a human being (Oda 1-20). The followers of New Testament believe that rebirth is possible only when people strongly follow the path of Jesus Christ and their soul gets blessed by Him. According to Christianity worldview, it is believed that life is only one and human beings are appointed to die once. In contrast, Buddhism perspective upon the subject matter of rebirth strongly realizes that rebirth is a continuous process and the Karma or the actions perform by the people mainly decides their fate after death. The rebirth of a person or a human being in the form of ‘Human being’, ‘Asura’ or ‘Animal’ depends on the conduct of his/her own actions and not by following the path of the God. Moreover, relating to this aspect i.e. rebirth, the perceptions relating to Buddhism represents that the ultimate goal of every individual is to Nirvana or enlightenment through performing positive actions along with deeds. It is worth mentioning in this similar concern that in accordance with Christian worldview, salvation and rebirth are possible through concerning the divine nature of the individuals who follow the path or the guiding principles of Christ. On the other hand, Buddhism worldview states that salvation and rebirth are possible and are judged by the holiness of the soul and through Karma (Tang, “Buddhist View on Death and Rebirth”). The Karma and the Dharma that follow by the people in Buddhism helps them to reborn as a human being. In Buddhism, it is taught that there are various dimensions of existence, one of which is fortunate and the other is miserable depending on the life lead by the people. Whereas, in Christianity, it is strongly believed that life is only one and thus individuals are died once. This depicts that there does not exist any vicious cycle of death and rebirth is only possible when individuals possess strong believe upon the guiding principles of Christ and their soul is blessed by Him. Specially mentioning, in the Christianity viewpoint, reincarnation is possible only in human form and not in any other form. People who are blessed and are close to Christ who is regarded as the ‘Son of the God’ have the opportunity of rebirth as Human. It can be viewed that Buddhism perspective regarding rebirth has nothing to do with worship, but it depends on the actions along with the deeds that perform by the individuals or the people in their present life. The actions or the deeds that perform by the individuals eventually decide their fate of rebirth as a Human or an Animal (Schreiner, “Buddhism and Christianity - Compare & Contrast”). Buddhist worldview emphasizes attaining Nirvana or enlightenment which means to free oneself from death along with rebirth cycle through the conduct of positive and good actions in the society. On the other hand, Christianity perspective affirms that a strong and a better association with God will help people to go to heaven after death. Buddhism perspective believes that the desire of happiness is the cause of reincarnation, and in order to attain Nirvana or to stop the cycle of death and rebirth, one should let go all the desires. In contrast, Christianity worldview believes that people should have desire to follow the path of Christ and his principles in order to found a place in Heaven (Oda 1-20). In order to contrast between Christian and Buddhism worldwide perspective regarding the subject matter of rebirth, it can be affirmed that Buddhism believes human life has no purpose, rather the activities that perform by the individuals help them in attaining a rebirth in any form. The worldview perspective of Buddhism in relation to the subject matter of rebirth realizes that the continuity of death along with rebirth cycle depends on the life of the person rather on God. It is the Karma decides which decides the fortune or the fate of the people. On the other hand, Christianity perspective believed that the dedication of the people towards Christ and His principles help in deciding their future. The purpose of mankind as per Christianity is to know the supreme power and build a greater affiliation with Him. But Buddha believed that the purpose of Human is to lead a positive life and attain enlightenment. Christians had a strong viewpoint depicting that everything depends on the Christ and one must depend on Him for his/her life to be fruitful and get an opportunity to go to heaven (Hodson 1-6). Furthermore, according to Christian worldview perspective, life is only one and there is no vicious cycle of death and rebirth. This particular perspective of Christianity can be related with the facet of Reincarnation which is possible only for those people who are divine and have a strong connection with Christ as per the New Testaments. In accordance with the perspectives of Buddhism, life and death is a continuous process of rebirth which depends on the cause and action of people. The transmigration of soul can be of any form depending on the Karma or Dharma of the people throughout their life (Zukeran, “Reincarnation and Christianity”). CONCLUSION From the overall, it can be affirmed that the Christian and the Buddhist worldview perspective differs relating to the vital aspect of rebirth. As per the Christian doctrine, reincarnation is the transmigration of soul in human form depending on having strong connection with Christ. It has been viewed that Christianity believes in forming greater affiliation with Christ which would decide the fate of the individuals or the people whether they will find a place in hell or heaven. On the other hand, the Buddhist worldview perspective states that the death and rebirth is an endless process which continues till the time a person attains Nirvana or enlightenment. The Buddhist idea of rebirth depends on three concepts such as Karma, Samsara and Nirvana. The activities performed in life by the people that may be either positive or negative eventually helps them to attain rebirth. This significant idea of Buddhism seems to differ from that of Christian worldview perspective. Thus, based on the above discussion, it can be concluded that two different worldview perspectives i.e. Christian and Buddhism seem to differ concerning a particular issue of rebirth. Works Cited “Fundamentals of Buddhism.” Buddha Dharma Education. 2012. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Hodson, Geoffrey. “Reincarnation and Christianity.” The Theosophical Society in America (1967): 1-6. Print. Oda, Patsy. “Differences between Buddhism & Christianity.” Differences (2007): 1-20. Print. Schreiner, Todd. Buddhism and Christianity - Compare & Contrast. n.d. Web.16 Oct. 2013. Tang, Thich Nguyen. Buddhist View on Death and Rebirth. 1999. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Zukeran, Patrick. Buddhism: A Christian Perspective. 2001. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Read More