Confucius and Gautama - Essay Example

Confucius & Gautama: Similarities and Differences Both Confucius and Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) were Asian philosophers, who lived in the 6th Century B.C. Their life quests to relieve life-long suffering of humanity, and it may be said that theyve found the solutions. Still, their ways to enlightening are rapidly different. The fact that Asian philosophy is different from the western one often leads to the conclusion that the different kinds of it are similar to each other. For example, we can see the same principles of worldview in both Confucianism and Buddhism, but still essentially the philosophies arent similar, because they emphasize on different things in their doctrines.

First of all, Confucian philosophy is based on the principles of decent way of life in order to create a strong and functioning state where people happily live together and respect each other. Thats why Confucian philosophy is engaged with obedience and mutual respectful treatment of citizens of a state. While Gautamas principles mostly talk about some abstract enlightenment people should try to attend throughout their lives and the process of ascension above everything material and temporal.

Still those who say that these philosophies are similar also right, because the ways that Confucius and Buddha propose to become good and descent are concerning obedience and respect, tranquility and personal growth. Even though Confucius and Gautama can frequently be considered as quite similar, still their philosophies are about different things. Confucius considers state as the highest priority for every citizen and human, when Buddha says that people should strive to the personal enlightenment and mental growth.