Religion is an inevitable part of people’s lives. People believed in supernatural powers, gods and goddesses centuries ago; they believe in them now and will do it in the future. The history of world development has shown that humanity did not find the only religion which would correspond to the beliefs of people all over the world. Thus, there exist a lot of religions, each of which satisfies the worldviews of different people. Religions are different - every religion is unique; every religion has its God; every religion has its laws. It is evident that the strongest distinction can be found between religions from different parts of the world – the West and the East. One of the examples, which clearly represents it, is the difference between Buddhism and Christianity.

While talking about the history of Buddhism, the first name which comes to mind is Buddha. This religion began to develop as a sect – people were taught the principles of Buddhism by its creator Buddha and then followed his instructions. Actually, the real name of this person was Siddhartha Gautama, and what is interesting about this man is that he was not a deity. Nevertheless, he managed to develop his religion being a simple man. Although the history of Buddhism is associated with Buddha, scientists confirm that this religion traces back to more ancient times: the period of 2000-1000 B.C. and the sacred texts of the Rig Veda. One of the oldest sources, which were the basis of this religion, is the Upanishads. They combine beliefs, which are proclaimed in the Rig Veda and yogic culture, and express the thought that every creature of the Universe originates from one’s own mind. One more thing, which is confirmed by the Upanishads, is that a person’s soul has a tendency to rebirth. In his turn, Buddha “denied the existence of the soul. Instead, he incorporated and refined the psychological insights of the Upanishadic sages”. When Buddha began to teach people his religion, it became extremely popular and spread to numerous countries. Thus, this religion is popular in India, Sri Lanka, Southern Asia, China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, and even in the Western world.

The essence of Buddhism at the times of its creator lies in the study “to eliminate suffering, to find a cure for the pain of human existence”. Buddhism is a complicated religion that includes a lot of principles. First of all, there exist Triple Gems, which are the Buddha, the Dharma – the teachings of Buddha, and the Sangha – the community of Buddhist monks and nuns. The following principle of Buddhism is that it is divided into the three branches: Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. Through Theravada study, a person is supposed to reach nirvana. Mahayana school teaches people to postpone the time of their own nirvana in order to help others reach it. Vajrayana includes the characteristics of both schools and practices meditation as one of the most important parts of this religion. The next feature of Buddhism is that it is based on the Four Noble Truths. The first truth is that life is suffering and pain. The second truth confirms that people’s sufferings depend on people’s desires. The third truth says that release from pain is possible, and the fourth truth is about how to reach freedom and nirvana.

The second religion, which is chosen for comparison, is Christianity. This religion started out as a church. Nevertheless, it is essential to know that the word “church” has two meanings. The first one is “the building where Christians meet together to worship”. The second definition is “a group of Christians who worship in the same way”. While talking about the development of religion, it will be more appropriate to use the word “church” in its second meaning.

The person, who is associated with the birth of Christianity, is Jesus Christ. In comparison to Buddha, he is not an ordinary person. He is considered to be chosen by God in order to save humanity. The essence of this religion lies in the belief that all the descendants of Adam and Eve are sinners because the first people disobeyed God. According to the Bible, the sacred book of the Christian faith, people should live obeying the Ten Commandments. In contradiction to Buddhists, Christians do not believe in the rebirth of the soul. They think that a person dies only once, and, after death, his/her soul appears in heaven or hell.

Christianity, as a world religion, has several directions. The main directions are Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christianity. A lot of aspects of Christianity differ in these three directions. Institutional organization, marriage rules, rituals, art, and other aspects are among these differences.

During the development of these religions, there existed two views on them – gnostic and literalist. Thus, Gnostics understand the essence of religion through allegory, while Literalists understand it literally. In any case, every religion can be viewed from different directions, and there will always be adherents of gnostic or literalist views on any religion.

Despite the fact that Buddhism and Christianity refer to the most widespread religions all over the world, both of them met the resistance of humanity at different times. Christianity has been criticized for different reasons: idolatry, unnatural teachings, the Trinity, which contradicted the rules of monotheism, untruthful Bible stories, and others.

Buddhism has also been criticized. First of all, the most frequent question considering the religion of Buddhism is whether it is a religion at all. Some people confirm that this religion is not peaceful and can be even dangerous. Others say that practicing this religion negatively influenced their mood and general state.

Although both religions have been criticized, they still exist. In the course of time, their main principles did not change. Nevertheless, there appear new directions, which are based on these religions. For example, there developed such forms of Christianity as Liberal Christianity, Christian Existentialism, and others. On the other hand, modern life is so fast that it is almost impossible to practice religion as it was earlier. For instance, Buddha’s instructions considering different intoxications, which should not be used in people’s lives, gradually lose their strength because eating too much, using alcohol or drugs, and even watching TV and shopping are regarded as intoxications nowadays. Fortunately or unfortunately, humanity too much depends on these things at the present time. One more thing, which has influenced both religions, is the development of modern technologies. Thus, people can discuss the questions of religion just sitting at home and communicating through the Internet.

A strong influence on these religions took place in the past as well. Therefore, one can find there some of the Dionysian and Apollonian traditions. As Dionysian was considered the god of destruction and chaos, and Apollo was the god of reason and kindness, these beliefs can be found in the Christian religion and its Holy Scripture. Consequently, Christian God can be compared to Apollo, and Satan can be compared to Dionysian; angels and devils are also regarded as creatures obeying to the powers of good and evil. In its turn, Buddhism does not demonstrate such a tradition because it has no such creatures in its philosophy.

In conclusion, it is evident that these religions are absolutely different. Buddhism is based on the teachings of Buddha, who was a real person, while Christianity bases its beliefs on the example of the life of Jesus. The second difference is that Buddhism is a polytheistic religion, and Christianity is a monotheistic religion. Actually, every aspect of each of these religions is different – the goal of religion, its branches, places of worship, beliefs considering life after death, and so on. Nevertheless, these two religions are the most famous and popular all over the world, and people will choose them to follow their beliefs.