Philosophy

Religion, what is religion?   Religion is a way of life, a life style, it should

dictate how you live your life. However why follow a religious belief, to go to

heaven, avoid the condemnation to hell, to live forever? We in western society

consider ourselves a not so religious society, we say "I am Christian" or "I am

Jew" or "I am an Atheist I don't believe". Keep in mind religion is a life style, it

should dictate how you live your life. Sadly in western society, money and our

compulsive cravings for material objects dictate our life. We are far from the

highly evolved forms of religions of Hinduism and Buddhism over in the east.  

What are these religions? Buddhism is offshoot/reform of Hinduism. They

are looked at in the same way as Judaism and Christianity are looked at (very far

apart). Through this essay, I will prove - by using some of their differences as

similarities - that they are very much - if not essentially the same - alike.  

"As an off shoot of Hinduism, Buddhism accepted the notions of karma,

dharma, samsara, and moksha. It differed in its understanding ot these terms and

how to achieve spiritual liberation. As Buddhism spread through south and east

Asia, these differences became greater."  

Samsara, the "upholstered hell" , it is known in Hinduism as the endless

cycle of death and rebirth, and Moksha being the supreme enlightenment, the

realization of Atman the one's true self, and the liberation from samsara. Despite

the fact that Moksha means Something different in Buddhism, words are

meaningless but their meanings aren't. Explanation: "The ultimate goal of the

Buddhist path is release from the round of phenomenal existence with its inherent

suffering. To achieve this goal is to attain nirvana an enlightened state in which the

fires of greed, hatred, and ignorance have been quenched."   This is the essence of

both religions, freedom from the...