A Comparison of Christians and Buddhists

886 Words2 Pages

Christians Live for Today, Buddhists Live for Tomorrow

Death is perhaps the most difficult aspect of life humans are forced to deal with. In order to help us cope, we have implemented the grieving process--a series of events with the purpose of making death easier to deal with--into our lives. Not everyone handles death in the same fashion, and each culture has rituals characteristic to itself that may differ greatly from another culture's rituals. Christianity and Buddhism are two religions that have completely different grieving processes, and in a conversation with Ms. Sit-Sen Wong, a Buddhist from Malaysia, this idea was confirmed as a fact. Through life, Buddhists constantly prepare for death and the afterlife, while Christians, although concerned about that, focus on enjoying the present life as much as possible. Many factors have contributed to this deduction and all are based on the differences in the grieving process rituals between American Christians and Malaysian Buddhists.

Until someone close to us passes away, we forget just how important every minute is that we have. Life is short, therefore, it is necessary not to spend too much time on any one thing. The amount of time spent mourning in America is considerably less than that spent in Malaysia. For example, the funeral and burial, the final outward phases of grieving, takes place, on average, a week after the death of the individual. The Buddhists, however, pray for the soul of the individual every day for six entire weeks. While the Christian view is to grieve, but quickly continue with one's life, the Buddhists feel that they cannot continue until the prayer process is complete. While a Christian may continue to pr...

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... during the service, as the Buddhists focus entirely on prayer.

It is evident that the grieving process for Buddhists is far more structured than that for Christians. This is because the family and friends of the deceased are the main concern and the soul of the individual is not. The funeral service helps to reassure everyone that the soul is going to heaven, and that we will all meet again. There is much comfort found in this that allows Christians to carry on, focusing on this life to reserve their spots in heaven. The Buddhists, however, are certain that the soul will be reincarnated, so it is extremely important to ensure its safe journey. The focus is placed on prayer for the soul, as what one did in life makes little difference in the end. It is because of these factors that the Christians live for today, the Buddhists live for tomorrow.

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