home to gather disciples to follow Him because He already knew the true path to heaven. Him and his disciples then traveled the world to tell everyone about God and His ability to save people. Even though both Buddha and Jesus lived similar lives on Earth, their deaths drastically differ. Buddha died a natural death and remained dead forever. Jesus, however, died a cruel death on the cross and still managed to come back to life and ascend to heaven. Buddha’s teachings brought glorification to himself and his discoveries while Jesus’ teachings glorified his heavenly Father. Buddha taught his followers that they must completely detach themselves from the world.
Buddha believed, “Because we and the world are imperfect, impermanent, and not separate, we are forever ‘clinging’ to things, each other, and ourselves, in a mistaken effort at permanence (Introduction to Buddhism). Christians believe they must be “in the world but not of the world.” Christians believe a person must not stay completely detached from the world because in order to tell others the good news of Jesus Christ they must remain close to sinners. Even though Christians believe this, they also believe sin is the reason that the world is imperfect. Buddhists also believe the world is imperfect and by doing good things they can achieve nirvana, their idea of heaven. Although Christians believe people should do things and obey the Ten Commandments, they believe that the only way to get to heaven is to have faith in Jesus
Christ. Buddhists and Christians not only disagree about how a person gets to heaven or nirvana but they also disagree about life after death. Buddhists believe in a process of rebirth or “moving from one’s old body at death to a new body at birth” (Introduction to Buddhism). A person will continue to go through multiple stages of rebirth until they get rid of all their earthly desires. When they have no more earthly desires, they will achieve nirvana and be known as a saint. Christians also believe that when a person dies they become a saint, but unlike Buddhists, they believe people are given one life with an eternal soul. Buddhists also believe people do not actually have souls, so when they finally achieve nirvana they lose both their body and their soul. On the other hand, Christians believe when they die and go to heaven their soul goes with them to heaven but their physical body is left on Earth. Even though Jesus and Buddha lived similar lives on Earth, the principles they taught are drastically different. Both Buddha and Jesus lived on Earth and traveled the world teaching their principles. Buddha taught that in order to achieve nirvana people must do good works while Jesus taught that the only way to heaven is through faith in Him. These are the main differences between Buddhists and Christians beliefs.