Buddhism vs. Islam?

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HabemusFrancis

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I have recently been studying comparitive religions and was surprised about my conclusions about Buddhism and Islam.

Although Islam is an Abrahamic faith, and acknowledges the prophets, Jesus etc. I find that Buddhism in many ways is closer in spirit to Catholocism.

Like Catholocism, Buddhism has its own “Saints” and many monks and nuns who wear unique and distnctive habits. Like Catholocism, Buddhism recognizes the passing,insubstantial nature of material goods, and the silliness and futility of valuing/clinging to them.

Buddhism explicitly teaches kindness,patience, and above all, peace with your fellow man however angry they may make you. There are many paralells with Catholocism, and the religion itself stresses shedding negative emotions/practices that make it hard to follow the Buddhas example. Though they don’t have God, they have an uncanny sense of and respect for
of the natural law.

I don’t believe Islam is a religion of violence or a "terrorist religion. Im sure many Muslims are able to live good lives with it. It just seems so very foreign to me as a Catholic.

It sounds all the right notes (The prophets, Mary/Jesus, good deeds heaven etc.) but they sound a bit offkey.

It seems an overly material religion, in that it is concernened largely with implentation of rules on living people (prayers 5 times daily, shariah law etc.)
 
I dont know about you but I have to acknowledge just a bad taste in my mouth for Islam given our histories. There is a lot more I like about Buddhism. Hinduism kind of wierd with Ganesha and some of those gods.
 
Theologically and philosophically Buddhism is all but completely foreign to Christianity. Buddhism depends on there being no soul and no individuality, and no deity in the Christian sense.
 
What kind of Buddhism? There’s different branches and schools of Buddhism just as there are in Christianity.
 
On a deeper philosophical level, Buddhism and Catholicism differ completely.
However, they still lead to somewhat similar conclusions in some things.

It should be noted the Catholic influence on Buddhism (in particular Tibetan I believe).

I do believe Islam also has its saints. Some would say it is very much a political ideology.
 
One of the key differences between Catholicism and Buddhism is dependence on another entity.
Christ says: “I have come to be the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness.”
Buddha says: " Be unto yourself your own light."
 
I never met a Muslim I had a problem with. I’m sure they exist in the sense I can see some idiot ones on YouTube, but day-to-day I met plenty of Muslims that are nothing like the media portrayal. Fundamentalist Protestants on the other hand…
 
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Have known several and we have been friends. My cardiologist is Sufi.
But I have very little interest in the religion. I read a bit about the origins and sects. And I read some Koran. Didn’t ring my bell at all.
 
Yes, I find Buddhism to be very…self-centered or egotistic, which is incredibly paradoxical as it denies that the self even is.
 
I went through a Buddhism kick for a while. Dated a Buddhist. It was fun for a while, it is very pretty, and it has it’s own built in explanations as to why things happen. In the end though, it was empty, at least for me.
 
The doctrine of “no-self” is very complex. It doesn’t deny the reality of self per say, but it denies that there is a constant, unchanging self.

There is a lot more to it than that, of course.
 
I’ve never heard of a Buddhist terrorist before - there’s comparative religion for you 🙂
 
Muslims are like pit bulls. They are never a problem until they are.
 
I had a Jesuit chaplain in the Navy who had had a really interesting life. He was American, but went to seminary in Austria. Before he was in the Navy he worked for the Vatican fas an investigator of miracles for beatification/canonization of saints. Before that, the Vatican sent him on an ecumenical exchange to a Buddhist monastery in Asia. I doubt there are any ecumenical exchanges with Islamic temples.
 
jfz178 said:
Muslims are like pit bulls. They are never a problem until they are.
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Not at all. The problem is fundamentalists regardless of their religion. If you want to argue there are more fundamentalist muslims then I’d probably agree. But there are bits of the bible you can cherry pick to make all the undesirable arguements they do. I love hearing maajid nawaz debate, he shows who fundamentalism is not an inevitable consequence of Islam.
 
I agree. My point, though, is that we have seen too many Muslims who are enjoying the benefits of western life and show no signs of being a problem and then all of a sudden, they decide they need to create their own special opportunity be martyrs.

I read an article on how they become radicalized and it has to do with personal guilt about not being more fundamentalist. I think every religion has some degree of the guilt trip thing going on, but that is the only one I can think of where the guilt trip necessitates violent action.
 
jfz178 said:
I agree. My point, though, is that we have seen too many Muslims who are enjoying the benefits of western life and show no signs of being a problem and then all of a sudden, they decide they need to create their own special opportunity be martyrs.
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Yeah but i could change the word ‘muslims’ to ‘marxists’ and ‘martyrs’ to ‘revolutionaries’ and what you said would still be true.
 
Yep, and I would keep my eye on them too. The big difference with those two groups is we know they are radicalized, by definition. With Muslims, things can be fine one minute and not the next.
 
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