Buddhism vs. Judaism Essay

Two of the most earliest religions are Buddhism and Judaism. Buddhism and Judaism were started in different years and places and also have different beliefs. Buddhism was started in 560 B.C.E, in Nepal by Siddhartha Gautama who later came to be known as the â€Å"Buddha†, or the â€Å"Awakened one.† Buddhism doesn’t believe in a God and are just followers of Siddhartha Gautama. Siddhartha got his followers from his father’s kingdom and later called the religion Buddhism. A growing number of schools of philosophy taught this new way of thinking. Buddha went around India spreading Buddhism and his followers followed his lead and spread the word of religion too. Buddhism is spread by word of mouth, personal contact with a person who practices the religion, not TV commercials, or newspaper ads, or the internet. Buddhism is a focuse on a philosophy of life. The word Buddha means The Enlightened One. In Buddhism they’re reborn from a previous life until they reach the state of nirvana which is the extinction of all desire and release from suffering. A person practicing the Buddhist religion is striving to bring forth his or her Buddha nature so that he or she will always be in that world. Once a person is Enlightened or a Buddha, then they strive to bring as many other people to that state as possible through whatever peaceful means they can with wisdom and forethought. Being enlightened is supposed to be a very peaceful state of mind to be in. Although persecutions can be great when a person becomes a Buddha because beginning a Buddhist practice is easy, but continuing is difficult. If you’re successfully practicing devils and demons will try to knock you off of your path, this is how you will know you’re practicing the religion correctly. On the other hand Judaism was started in 2000 B.C.E, led by Abraham in the Mesopotamian region. Judaism believed in a God named Yahweh and their holy book the Torah. The main difference is that Judaism is a strictly monotheistic faith meaning the belief in only one God.