Buddhism

toc Logan Stevens =Main points=
 * Buddhist deities
 * What they control, characteristics, relations with humans
 * Greek Gods
 * What they control, characteristics, relations with humans
 * Similarities between them
 * Differences between them

=Buddhist Deities= Buddhistdeities are very powerful and there are many of them and there are many different kinds of Buddhism so there are a lot of different assumptions for each deity.

Shinje [[image:Shinje.gif width="187" height="260"]]
Shinje is a Tibetan Buddhist deity and he is the lord of the dead. Shinje was supposedly the very first mortal to die on Earth and therefore was made the lord of the dead. The way he had died was that one day he was meditating in a cave so close to reaching enlightenment and was very excited. On that day there were two men who had just stolen a cow and were running away to make sure that they wouldn't be caught and decided to hideout in that very cave that Shinje was in. They were about to slaughter the cow so they took out the knife and right before they did they saw Shinje in the corner meditating andinstead cut Shinje's headoff.Shinje was said to be so angry that he took the head of the cow and stuck it on his head thinking it was his.He than got his revenge on the two cattle thieves by killing them. From then on he was announced the lord of the dead. It is said that he is tall and blue still with the cows head on and he is surrounded by wisdom flames. It is also said that he goes around stomping on human crops and also humans collecting there souls for himself with his helpers.

[[image:Vairocana-Mandala-CS5-Zentralmandala.jpg width="160" height="151" caption="Vairocana in the middle of the mandala"]] **Vairocana**
Vairocana is also a Tibetan Buddhist deity. Vairocana is white and is in the center of the mandala. There are four others who surround him who have the colors of blue, green, red, and yellow. Vairocana is the supreme Buddha and has the wisdom of shunyata or emptiness. It is said that if you meditate on or focus on Vairocana he can relinquish all ignorance from you. Some people also call him the great solar buddha. = **Greek Gods** = Greek gods are very powerful just like the Buddhist deities and each of these gods controls a special thing, has special characteristics, and has different relations with humans.

Zeus
Zeus is the head of the olympians and has two younger brothers named Poseidon and Hades. Zeus controls the sky and can make it a nice clear day or make it rain hundreds of gallons of water with lightning and thunder. Zeus is an unpredictable person for you never know if he will go into a fit of rage or will just be calm and relaxed. Zeus is also very strong just like his brothers and his sacred animal is the eagle. His relation with humans is that he likes to play with them and thinks of them as little play toys for him to mess with. Sometimes the gods will disguise themselves as humans and go down to Earth. One thing is that the gods need humans for it is said that the humans belief in the gods makes them stronger and because of that belief they were able to take down the Titans.

Poseidon[[image:Poseidon-greek-mythology-687130_927_933.jpg width="80" height="76"]]
Poseidon is the brother of Zeus and Hades. Poseidon controls the seas and oceans of the world. He determines wether the sea or ocean will be nice and calm or destructive and out of control. Poseidon is very imposing. He is also strong just like his two brothers. He has a bad temper and he is considered the moody god. Unlike Zeus he has two sacred animals instead of one and those two animals are horses and dolphins. Poseidon has a trident which he rules the waters with and can communicate with the amphibians.

Hades[[image:hades width="109" height="163"]]
Hades is the brother of Poseidon and Zeus. Hades lives underground in his gloomy, dark, silent kingdom of the dead. Hades controls the underworld and everyone who comes to the underworld. He has a helper who carries the dead on a boat over to the underworld. He has gloomy features and he is pretty gloomy too. He has a three headed dog named cerberus. Unlike Zeus and Poseidon, Hades has no sacred animal but has a sacred symbol which is his helmet of invisibility. Humans are scared to call him by his name so instead they call him a different name such as Polydectes. That is what Hades or Polydectes is like.

= **Similarities** = There are many similarities between the Greek gods and the Buddhist deities. One of these similarities is that they control almost the same thing. Zeus is the head olympian while Vairocana is the supreme buddha. As you can see they are the same position which is head of everyone else. Also Hades controls the underworld while Shinje is the lord of the dead. They both control the dead and there for have the same job. Another similarity is that that Shinje and the Greek gods like to cause the humans distress. The Greek gods thing of the humans as there play things and like to cause them trouble. Shinje likes to stomp on them and their crops. The last similarity about these very important religious gods is that they have some of the same characteristics. Shinje on one hand is gloomy ad doesn't like people and Hades is also gloomy and likes to be alone. These gods and deities may come from completely different religions but they are more the less the same. =Differences= Just like similarities there are also many differences between the gods and deities. One difference is that there is no water god for Tibetan Buddhism but there is for Greek mythology. For Greek mythology they have Poseidon but Tibetan Buddhism has no Poseidon. Other types of Buddhism such as Japanese Buddhism. Another difference is that none of the Greek gods and Buddhist deities have anything in common with characteristics except for Shinje and Hades. Vairocana is white and spiritual while Zeus is powerful and has a beard. As you can see they have nothing in common. Also the gods have some sacred symbol or animal which the deities do not have. One last difference is that in Greek mythology they are called gods and in Buddhism they are called deities. They are two completely different words but they have the same meaning as each other. Even though these religions may have some similarities they are still based on different things than each other.
 * = Greek Goods || Zeus || Hades ||= Poseidon ||
 * = Buddhist deities || Vairocana || Shinje ||= Nothing ||

=Bibliography= "Deities." www.buddhist-tourism.com. 28 April, 2011. www.buddhist-tourism.com/countries/tibet/deities/

"Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece." www.greek-gods.info. 1 May, 2011. www.greek-gods.info/greek-gods

"Vairocana." www.answers.com. 29 April, 2011. www.answers.com/Vairocana/

"Buddhas." www.buddhism.about.com. 4 May, 2011. www.buddhism.about.com

"Shinje." www.wikipedia.org. 6 May, 2011. www.wikipedia.org/Shinje/

"Vairocana." www.godchecker.com. 30 April, 2011. www.godchecker.com/Vairocana/

Hemenway,Priya The Tibetan Buddhism Deck: Buddhas, Deities, and Bodhisattvas New York: The book laboratory 2003 p. 71, 130, 131

Willson, Martin Brauen, Martin Deities of Tibetan Buddhism New York: Wisdom Publications 2000 p. 26, 27, 41