Sharing World Views: A Comparison of My Beliefs to Those of Buddhism

Taking a religion class or even learning about religion can be a daunting task. Many people are reluctant to pursue theological knowledge that is beyond their personal world view. Despite the typical reluctance to study other religions than one's own, it is an important subject to gain knowledge about. Religious studies help you to not only understand your own views and beliefs more fully, but also to understand the cultural and religious backgrounds of people you encounter.Learning about the teachings and philosophies of Buddhism caused me to ponder ideas that I had not previously considered. It also helped me to realize the similarities between most religions.

I have a somewhat unique view on religion. I am extremely reluctant to trust organized religion, and oppose the idea of people gaining power or influence through the use of religion. Upon studying Buddhism, I found this to be a similarity between my views and that of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism. He distrusted the Hindu scholars who charged great fees for the sharing of their religious knowledge, and otherwise exploited their religious power for personal gain. I found it to be interesting that religious corruption existed even so long ago. To offset the power of the Brahmin class, the Buddha made all religious texts available to the masses. In his time the lower classes did not have access to any of the Hindu texts, so they relied solely on the Brahmins to teach them about religion, and also to dictate what they are to do in their lives."Buddha preached a religion devoid of authority...He wanted to break the monopolistic grip of the Brahmins on religious teachings, and a good part of his reform consisted of no more than making generally accessible what had hitherto been the possession of a few" (Smith 94).