by Steve Heinen

Created on: March 07, 2007   Last Updated: April 04, 2010

Buddhism has many differences from "conventional" religions. Zen Buddhism will be the focus here as it is a generalized version of the teachings of the Buddha, without specifically adhering to any one sect.

A crucial difference being that most common religion is deistic (belief in god or gods). The basic belief behind deism as a general idea is that all human beings are put here by some other being or beings for some purpose. Zen Buddhism does not subscribe to this idea at all. There is no almighty, omnipotent being who will guide us or punish us if we do not adhere to his/her rules and regulations. Instead the idea is that by doing good to our fellow man and all sentient beings for that matter, will come back to us through karma. In simpler terms this is the idea that being compassionate to those around us will be it's own reward.

The Buddha himself is not revered as a god or being who is supernatural in any way, but a person like anyone else who has found the end of his path. The end of this path is enlightenment, the way in which to see reality as it truly exists, without being clouded or confused by our own views and emotions. The word Buddha, translated means literally the enlightened one.

The use of symbols and statues of the Buddha is also common to most sects of Buddhism. While sharing similarities to the symbolism of other religions these are not meant to be worshipped as some other symbols of traditional religion are. Instead they are used as reminders and ways to eventually look past these very symbols themselves to the underlying truth that they represent, eventually rendering the symbols and statues as pale reflections of the truths they represent.

The final way that I chose to show differences, while there are enough to fill a book, is in the lack of prayer in the traditional sense. While many of the sects currently in existence in Buddhism does use prayer, it differs in certain specific ways from the usual idea that many have when the hear the word "pray". The first way which I touched on earlier is that there is no outside force that is being prayed to per se, but instead is a way to focus each individual's mind to see that peace, serenity and mindfullness all exist within ourselves. We just have to learn ways to find this focus and clarity. The primary tool for this is meditation. Meditation uses breathing, koans (questions without simple answers), and visualization as ways to remove distractions from the mind and focus it on the reality that surrounds us every moment of our lives.

Inspired by and incorporating the ideas from:
The Three Pillars of Zen by Philip Kapleau
The Complete Idiots Guide to Zen Living by Gary McClain, Ph.D. and Eve Adamson, MFA

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