Buddhism Vs. Confucianism

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Buddhism vs. Confucianism When thinking about two of the most influential people from the Eastern part of the world, the first thing that comes to mind is Buddha and Confucius. Two great minds from roughly the same time period is a rarity, but when you think about the impact that these two men had on the rest of the world, odds are we will never see it again. Off the top of my head when I compare Buddhism and Confucianism I think of the same concept. I feel as if they are almost the same thing, but when looking in depth into these beliefs they are very much different. Buddhism is a belief founded by Siddhartha Gautama, later to be known as Buddha. Buddhism focuses on many different aspects of the belief. There are many ‘parts’ to Buddhism and you have to know all of it to understand it. To start off, it is widely argued that Buddhism is not a religion. Some say the way we determine religion is wrong. Because Buddhism doesn’t believe in a central God it is not considered a religion. Others say that doesn’t have to do with what a religion is. Instead of arguing, let’s just call it a belief for now and let them decide later. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to put an end to suffering. “Both in the past and now, I set forth only this: suffering and the end of suffering.” (Keown 44). The three main sufferings the Buddha saw were old age, sickness and death. After meeting a monk who gave up everything to seek the end of suffering, Siddhartha decided this would also be his life path. Buddha defines suffering as people that live in a life of greed and ignorance. His solution is to cut yourself off from greed and ignorance and live a more natural and peaceful way of life. The extinction of desire is what Buddhists call nirvana. It means to ‘put out a flame’. In Buddhism the flame is desire and once you can rid yourself from all desires you will have reached
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