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Originally Posted by niranjan  If you read my previous post, you can see that it is but a response to Jaej's claim that Jesus, because he declared himself to be God, should be considered different from Buddha.
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The beauty of Buddha's teachings is that he never said that one should depend on God or gods for ones salvation , or for leading a pure and good life.
Rather than depending on God, Buddha emphasised self-reliance, self-help and self-belief. Through this itself , he gives tremondous dignity and self-respect and self-esteem to the individual and helps him or her to stand up on their two legs independently , without the need for psychological crutches. And I believe this is something unique in the annals of world spirituality.
Also through his other teachings , he emphasises the importance of logic and reason, individuality , freedom of thought and mind, and the importance of loving oneself.
And also consider that great heart of his , that extended its love not only to all human beings, but to all animals and fellow creatures as well.
When a ritual was being conducted in ancient India where a goat was about to be sacrificed, Buddha came to the king who was conducting the ritual and asked him to spare the goat and sacrifice himself instead, and needless to say, the king was astonished by this statement of the Buddha.
It is because of Buddha's efforts that animal sacrifices came to an end in India.