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Salvation in Buddhism

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How would you apply it to the Buddhist beliefs?

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Salvation is very much an idea from the Christian tradition. This solution applies the concept of salvation to the Buddhist beliefs.

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1. Salvation is very much an idea from the Christian tradition. How would you apply it to the Buddhist beliefs?

Buddhism developed in the sixth century B.C. For a Buddhist, salvation is reaching Nirvana. Nirvana is a transcendental, blissful, spiritual state of nothingness--you become a Buddha. Ignorance (as opposed to sin) is the human problem is overcome. It is about knowledge of how to overcome suffering. To reach Nirvana the Buddhist must follow the Noble Eightfold Path. The Noble Eightfold Path includes:

1. Right Understanding: accepting the Four Noble Truths (The existence of suffering; the cause of suffering; the end of suffering; and the end of pain.)

2. Right Resolve: renounce the pleasures of the body. Change your lifestyle so that you harm no living creatures and have kind thoughts for everyone.

3. Right Speech: do not gossip, lie or slander anyone.

4. Right Action: do not kill, steal or engage in an unlawful sexual act.

5. Right Occupation: avoid working at any job that could harm someone.

6. Right Effort: heroically work to eliminate evil from your life. Through your own effort develop good conduct and a clean mind.

7. Right Contemplation: make your self aware of your deeds, words and thoughts so that you can be free of desire and sorrow.

8. Right Meditation: train your mind to focus on a single object without wavering so as to develop a calm mind capable of concentration (http://www.evangelical.us/buddhism.html).

In other words, the person follows the Noble Eightfold Path by doing the above eight things. Thus, salvation is through what a Buddhist does. It is through human works, as opposed to Salvation through faith in Jesus as our Saviour (Christian view).

In this sense, Buddhism as a religion of salvation is not so much concerned with the question of heaven and hell (Christian view) as much as with the existential question of ...

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