by Laura Lynn McCallum

Created on: April 07, 2009   Last Updated: April 09, 2009

In this paper I will attempt to compare and contrast the two works, "What the Buddha Taught", which is based on the Pali texts of Tipitaka, and the "Bhagavad-Gita-The Song of God" by beginning with Buddhism for the first and every other paragraph thereafter, then continuing with Bhagavad-Gita for the second and every other paragraph thereafter. I am hoping this will help maintain a clear understanding of the comparisons I am making to each work throughout the paper.

Buddhism is unique to every other religious belief because Buddha was a man who did not claim to be a God, nor a son of God. His teachings only claim is that man and only man can liberate himself through the impermanence of Dukkha and find ultimate happiness in his life. His own life on earth was said to be as a Buddha living a life of "par excellence." He was referred to as a Supreme Being. It is through his life experience and wisdom that he promises to show us the path to Nirvana.

The writings were originally done in Sanskrit, but they are what the Buddha taught and how the Buddha lived and why millions of people practice Buddhism today and millions more will tomorrow. Bhagavad-Gita is also translated from Sanskrit, but is a religious doctrine of prose and song. It speaks of God being in all things as Brahman and inside each of us as Atman. Arjuna is the student and Krishna is God in a form Arjuna can see and hear. Bhagavad-Gita is a spiritual guide that is meant to show the impossibilities of judging thy neighbor because each of us can be faced with choices that are very hard to make and would not be able to explain to someone else.

Still, it tries to show that as long as the choices you make are not based on greed, or evil and is a battle meant to be won for the good of mankind, then in the eyes of God, it is a battle worth fighting for. The Gita is an astonishing work that appeals to all religions and all cultures which is something that no other book can claim to be able to do. Many great men have used it as their spiritual guide, like Gandhi, and say that the there are passages within it to help man when he is struggling with difficulties in his life. The Gita teaches us about the Supreme Reality and tries to teach us how to break the chains of desire which bind us to our actions.

Buddhism teaches us about the five aggregates, the first aggregate of matter, the second of sensations, the third of perceptions, the fourth of mental formations and the fifth of consciousness. The first aggregate

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