Buddhism

I find myself unable to fully relate to Buddhism - it is a religion that was born separated from western influences. Much like the Japanese and Chinese languages are indescribably different than English, both in form and characters, Buddhism and Christianity have few, if any, common links. Being raised to worship the Holy Trinity and hope to get into heaven based on a virtuous life is much different than being raised to believe that one's soul carries on in a cycle of life, death, and rebirth until one's mind becomes fully cleared and enlightened, followed by eternal nothingness, bliss - nirvana.

Beyond that, the lives of Buddhists follow very different paths than what I was raised with. I suppose meditation can relate to prayer, as mantras could relate to hymns or spoken prayer. However, shaving the head and wearing identical orange robes - I am both amazed and impressed by Buddhists' willingness to surrender their individuality for the sake of their religion, even if it is not required.

The stories of the religions' "messiahs" could be similar, although only in life - both Jesus and Buddha lived virtuous lives, not power-hungry, simply preaching what they believed in to those who believed in them. Neither believed in a "toll" to achieve the final happiness (be it heaven or nirvana) and for me, those qualities are ideal for a true leader.