Contrast Between Buddhism and Christianity

Buddhism is about removing desire, and causing yourself to not cause yourself or others suffering. It’s about “Empathy”. It’s about how your mind is not capable of understanding the outside world, and therefore, you are “Fire” as the famous sermon by Siddhartha goes. Everything is “Fire”, all things are rooted in your perception of them, including pain, relationships, joys. All things are tied back to your own perception and mental processes. It also has no belief about the afterlife, but rather views life as a cycle of reincarnations.

Christianity is about fulfilling your desire through seeking the Kingdom of Heaven. It’s about understanding the world’s suffering is arbitrary, and uncontrollable. That being good, you almost will have to suffer, but then you’re to find strength in God’s power and mercy, and joy in His Holy Covenant. It’s about accepting the outside world, and using faith to move “Mountains”, as in, accept reality for what it is, and shape your place in it by having the faith to endure and rely on God’s provision for your joy. It believes in reality… where Buddhism is focused on the interior world, Christianity is solely focused on the exterior world and your place in it. Its moral philosophy is strict, and prudent, and not about “Empathy” only, but also about repentance and turning away from sin; so Christianity is about discipline, so one has the tools to later find joy, and enter into the kingdom and not have sorrows. And of course Christianity centers around Heaven, and entering into the Kingdom.