First of all, LET ME WISH ALL FOLLOWERS OF THE BUDDHIST FAITH: "Have a Happy, Serene WEsak Day" celebration, even with your Non-Buddhist fRiends. I normally spend weekends -- knotty BUMmer me would tease by sperring it as WICKEND 'Cos that's two days I invite my better-off fRiends to treat me, even at 5starred hotels, as I would be converted to Capitalism from my WEaKdays when I'm mostly Socialist.

Those who have been following Desi's writings for the past 11years will know by now I HARDLY, but sometimes heARTily, blog on RELIGION -- the latter on SPECIFIC issues related to HUMAN RIGHTS e.g. forced conversion of minors by parent/parents from one faith to another, controversial enough to hit the news headlines locally e.g INDIRA GANDHI case now before the courts.
I often tell my ER that if thou art a Buddhist, be a GOoD Buddhist, if thou art a MUslim, be a GOoD MUslim, and if thou follow the Christian faith, of whatever DENOMINATION, just be a GOoD Christian. "Don't ever try to CONvert your CONversationalists to thy faith, OK!"

For the benefit of newcomers here/hear, I spell GOoD thus because I define as any person being "good" is to "have the GOD in you." I also sometimes refer to my very close BUDS as mGf for myGOoDfRiend in the singular or plural. Once I did refer to KimQ as mGf and one reader knot into DDC commented innocently: "I didn't know Kim was a Girl...", and I corrected him later "G" stands for GOoD! Gotcha, unwitting Victm, it's funD yeah!

Todie my RUMINATION is to step out of the norms into an area IN have before said is ONE WHEN EVEN ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD. If I stepped on anyone's feet, I 'd sayd THERE IS NO ILL INTENTION, just voicing my INNERMOST THOUGHTS. If you don't like it, I have oft jested: "Get the Here out of Hell!"

IN my earlier INTRO, I had deliberately writ: ""Don't ever try to CONvert your CONversationalists to thy faith, OK!""

Let me narrate, for the first time, from my own experience:

I was methinks a freethinker until my father took us (me and siblings) one fine, or is it dark, day to a church to be "baptised". I was then 10years old. I think I did try my best to "practise" the main precepts or core values preached by the Pastor based on Jesus Christ's teachings, and of course, the BIBLE.

Let's cut to the chase, I'll forward to three decades later, ie the past 10 years I interacted with many Buddhist fRiends, a vety I have BTW mentioned here without full disclosure of their ID. (ID is for Identity la, WHY LA, so kaypoh have to aRsEk wan?)

Long story short, it's from one learned fRiend (digressing again, the "R" in caps is based on my inclination to warn that when it's dropped, that socalled buddy turned into a FIEND -- remeber, my writes relating to "The Enemy Within...or TROJAN HORSES"? ) who surprised me wit': "In Buddhism we believers don't go around CONVERTING followers of other religious faiths to Buddhism.

I authomatically responded: "That's the beautiful part of Buddhism -- You don't have a God/deity, so it's just a set of principles of elevated values that Buddha leaves as a LEGACY."

I have to admit today I'm a very LIBERAL Christian much influenced by the teachings of Buddha, especially when mGf pointed out that our mutual much esteemed scientist -- I deem as the greatest mind on Earth -- ALBERT EINSTEIN was much besotted by the Buddhist faith and had written quite a bit/byte on the subject.

I said "beautiful" because based on my exposure, some so-called wickedend preachers -- some still schoolgoing, NO JOKE! -- would be going round in residential gardens trying to CONvert people who are already of one Christian denomination INTO THEIR DENOMINATION (eg Protestant to Jehovah Witness.... )based on their claim that THEIRS IS THE RIGHT PATH TO SALVATION!

I had told off one Bunch of youngsters they were ill-equipped to teach others twice or three times their age. Yes, in English we are used to hearing from some elders: Don't teach Grandpa to suck eggs!

In Chinese, a more tasty idiom an elder would share: "I have eaten more salt than you have rice!" He might even add: Now don't waste your father's heart-earned money preaching, go back home and prepare for your Form 3 or Sec 5 EXAMS!

Now., may I stop my sharing, just repeat again (SIC...)one lust line/time2/dime3 FROM ABOVE, OK!?:

"Don't ever try to CONvert your CONversationalists to thy faith, OK!"

Chow,
which can mean
SeeYa later
or
Come,let's makan!

YL, Desi

************************************

DESIDERATA: For Self Education, for Desi is a believer in LIFE-LONG LEARNING, I googled "Wesak Day Buddhism, Christianity" and decided to C&P the first enrty sighted, to show I'm not picky, just randomly TO BE EDUCATED, and maybe some sharing with ER who are willing, OK!

From diffen.com:~~~~~

Buddhism vs. Christianity

Diffen › Philosophy › Religion › Christianity

Buddhism is centered upon the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha, whereas Christianity is centered on the Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ. Buddhism is a nontheistic religion, i.e., it does not believe in a supreme creator being a.k.a. God. Christianity is a monotheistic religion and believes that Christ Is the Son Of God.
Buddhism is an offshoot of Hinduism and is a Dharmic religion. Christianity is an offshoot of Judaism and is an Abrahamic religion.

Comparison chart

Buddhism versus Christianity comparison chart
	Buddhism	Christianity

Place of origin	Indian Subcontinent	Roman province of Judea.
Place of worship	Buddhist monasteries, temples, shrines.	Church, chapel, cathedral, basilica, home bible study, personal dwellings.
Practices	Practices of the Threefold Training: Virtue, Concentration, and Wisdom, a.k.a the Noble Eightfold Path.	Prayer, sacraments (some branches), worship in church, reading of the Bible, acts of charity, communion.
Use of statues and pictures	Common	In Catholic & Orthodox Churches.
Life after death	If nirvana isn't attained during life, the aggregates will be renewed into a completely different entity. Furthermore, if certain qualities are subdued, like perception, one's karma can cause any type of aggregation, like rocks, stars, or plants.	Eternity in Heaven or Hell, in some cases temporal Purgatory.
Belief of God	The idea of an omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent creator is rejected by Buddhists. The Buddha himself refuted the theistic argument that the universe was created by a self-conscious, personal God.	One God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Means of Salvation	Following the Noble Eightfold Path.	Through Christ's Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
Scriptures	Tripitaka - a vast canon composed of 3 sections: the Discourses, the Discipline and the Commentaries, and some early scriptures, such as the Gandhara texts.	The Holy Bible
Clergy	The Buddhist Sangha, composed of bhikkhus (male monks) and bhikkhunis (female monks). The sangha is supported by lay Buddhists.	Priests, bishops, ministers, monks, and nuns.
Followers	Buddhists	Christian (follwers of Christ)
Original Language(s)	Magadhiprakrit	Aramaic, Greek, and Latin.
Use of Statues	Used as meditation objects, and revered as they reflect the qualities of the Buddha.	Forbidden in Protestant denominations; icons are used in Catholic & Orthodox denominations.
Goal of Philosophy	To eliminate mental suffering.	Objective reality. Worship of God who created life, the universe, and is eternal. Christianity has its own philosophy, found in the the Bible. That philosophy is Salvation from sin, through the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
View of the Buddha	The highest teacher and the founder of Buddhism, the all-transcending sage.	N/A.
Founder	Gautama Buddha (born as Prince Siddhartha)	The Lord Jesus Christ.
Goal of religion	To attain enlightenment and be released from the cycle of rebirth and death, thus attaining Nirvana.	To love God and obey his commandments while creating a relationship with Jesus Christ and spreading the Gospel so that others may also be saved.
Authority of Dalai Lama	Dalai Lamas are tulkus of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. They are cultural figures and are independent of the doctrinal basis of Buddhism.	N/A.
Holy days/Official Holidays	Vesak day in which the birth, the awakening, and the parinirvana of the Buddha is celebrated.	The Lord's Day; Advent, Christmas; New Year, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, every day is dedicated to a Saint.
Symbols	The conch, endless knot, fish, lotus, parasol, vase, dharmachakra (Wheel of Dharma), and victory banner.	Cross, ichthys ("Jesus fish"), Mary and baby Jesus.
Literal Meaning	Buddhists are those who follow the teachings of the Buddha in order to become like the Buddha.	Follower Of Christ.
Human Nature	Ignorance, as all sentient beings. In the Buddhist texts, it is seen that when Gautama, after his awakening, was asked whether he was a normal human being, he replied, "No".	Man has inherited "original sin" from Adam. Mankind then is inherently evil and is in need of forgiveness of sin. By knowing right and wrong Christians choose their actions. Humans are a fallen, broken race in need of salvation and repair by God.
View of other Dharmic religions	Since the word Dharma means doctrine, law, way, teaching, or discipline, other Dharmas are rejected.	N/A
Marriage	It is not a religious duty to marry. Monks and nuns do not marry and are celibate. Advice in the Discourses on how to maintain a happy and harmonious marriage.	A Holy Sacrament.
Religious Law	The Dharma.	Has existed among Catholics in the form of canon law.
Status of Vedas	The Buddha rejected the 5 Vedas, according to the dialogues seen in the nikayas.	N/A.
Population	300-350 million.	Over a billion adherents worldwide.
Confessing sins	Sin is not a Buddhist concept.	Protestants confess straight to God, Catholic confess mortal sins to a Priest, and venial sins straight to God (Orthodox have similar practice) Anglicans confess to Priests but considered optional. God always forgives sins in Jesus.
Religion which atheists may still be adherents of	Yes.	No.
Geographical distribution and predominance	Theradava Buddhist countries, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Sri Lanka are the places of predominance of Buddhism. The Noble Truths are presently best heard in Myanmar only.	Europe, North and South America, and Australia and New Zealand.