Compare and Contrast: Religon

Tara Medas

Religion 101

Presentation Paper

October 14, 2015

Buddhism, Heathenism Not so Different

As humans we do not and cannot live in isolation, we have to be aware of what other people in the world think and believe. What they ultimately believe in and what we believe in affects us completely. Comparing and Contrasting religions helps us to understand other people, and ultimately understand human nature.

Long before Christianity, the people of the time had their own religions. One of these was Asatru, also known as Heathenism. It means, roughly, "belief in the Gods" in Old Norse, the language of ancient Scandinavia.(2) Asatru is thousands of years old. There is no evidence of it's exact start. All that is known is that it is older than Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, other religions. It is believed that it as old as Egyptian religion. Asatru is believed to be over 40,000 years old. Asatru is also considered or called Norse Paganism. Most Vikings believed in this way of religion. Some of words and holidays we use today comes from the Heathen religion.

Buddhism is a younger religion, originating around 400 BCE and it is believed that Asatru had a hand in creating Buddhism. If you look closely to the meaning of Heathenism (Paganism) you can even say Buddhism is a Pagan religion and that the Dali-llama (Buddha) is a Heathen.

The first Buddha was a sheltered Prince who until he was 29 never before encountered death and when he became aware of it, he left his riches and began his journey. He known as Siddhartha Gotama (490-410 BCE) he went on this mission to find a way to stop his samsara the constant cycle of births, deaths, and rebirths. (1) After just six years of his journey, he learned yogic meditation but did not believe that the temporary states of the meditation could lead to enlightenment. He fasted till he was emaciated, but concluded that this method only intensified suffering, it did not release one from it....