Buddhism and Stoicism: Comparing and Contrasting Philosopher Epictetus, the creator of Stoicism, and Prince Siddhartha Gautama, the creator of Buddhism, share similar beliefs and morals despite having different views on what makes our planet work. Stoicism revolves around the belief of treating things that our in our lives as if they were borrowed. Buddhism also shares the same belief, but in a different context. According to Buddhism, the desires that we have in life are the cause of our suffering, and we must remember that we produce nothing but dissatisfaction by clinging on to such materialistic and temporary items. In order to reach the state of enlightenment, Stoicism and Buddhism stress the importance of being enslaved by our belongings
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Buddhists have a big concentration on the Four Noble Truths which states that desire is the cause of suffering. In the first noble truth, all is suffering, this means that no matter how happy one is in life, it doesn't last forever. There’s always going to be a downfall when something doesn't go specifically as planned. Us humans set goals in life, if they're met then the joy and prosperity last for a short amount of time then follows with suffering once we get tired of the present. If those goals were never met then we feel a sense of emptiness or an “I could have done better” perspective towards life. Attachment and desire won’t allow people to live the good life because the meaning and purpose will eventually fade away. But the solution to eliminate desire is to follow the Eightfold Path which states to respect others with love and truthfulness while having an understanding of the world as it is, which leads to reaching Nirvana. Stoics believe in not seeking passion and to treat things in life as if you want the events in life to happen even if one didn’t so that one won’t be unhappy at the end and isn't affected as much. Being indifferent from passion and pain is one of the key principles for Stoicism. Although Stoics have a different solution to eliminating desire by reason, they share common ideals that passion leads to suffering and vice. Such that not allowing ourselves to be controlled by pleasure or pain and to have a mindset that we don’t control events helps us overcome destructive
Buddhists have a big concentration on the Four Noble Truths which states that desire is the cause of suffering. In the first noble truth, all is suffering, this means that no matter how happy one is in life, it doesn't last forever. There’s always going to be a downfall when something doesn't go specifically as planned. Us humans set goals in life, if they're met then the joy and prosperity last for a short amount of time then follows with suffering once we get tired of the present. If those goals were never met then we feel a sense of emptiness or an “I could have done better” perspective towards life. Attachment and desire won’t allow people to live the good life because the meaning and purpose will eventually fade away. But the solution to eliminate desire is to follow the Eightfold Path which states to respect others with love and truthfulness while having an understanding of the world as it is, which leads to reaching Nirvana. Stoics believe in not seeking passion and to treat things in life as if you want the events in life to happen even if one didn’t so that one won’t be unhappy at the end and isn't affected as much. Being indifferent from passion and pain is one of the key principles for Stoicism. Although Stoics have a different solution to eliminating desire by reason, they share common ideals that passion leads to suffering and vice. Such that not allowing ourselves to be controlled by pleasure or pain and to have a mindset that we don’t control events helps us overcome destructive