| Founder | Gautama Buddha (born as Prince Siddhartha) | Founded by those who broke away from the original teachings of the Buddha or those who make unnecessary adjustments to the teachings, during the Third Buddhist Council. |
| Place of origin | Nepal, India | China |
| Goal of religion | To attain enlightenment and be released from the cycle of rebirth and death, thus attaining Nirvana. | To gain enlightenment |
| Place of worship | Monasteries, nunneries, pagodas and temples. | Pagoda, Temple. |
| Practices | Practices of the Threefold Training: Morality, Concentration, and Wisdom. | Regularly visit temple to meditate & to make offerings to the Buddha and donations to monks/nuns. |
| Status of women | No gender bias in Buddhism. In the Discourse related to householders, named 'Tein-gala-wada', certain duties and obligations were mentioned and applied to specific gender i.e. duties of a husband to a wife and vice versa, by the Buddha. | Women can become nuns. |
| Life after death | Until one has not attained Nirvana, he or she will be reborn into any of the 31 planes of existence over and over again, due to his/her karma. | Multiple births, ultimate Nirvana |
| Human Nature | Ordinary human beings possess greed, anger, delusion, igorance, cravings, etc. and they were compared by the Buddha as 'the fools' and 'the blind'. (Ordinary human beings mean those who haven't walked or are not walking the Eightfold Path.) | Man's desire for material things leads to suffering. |
| View of the Buddha | Founder of Buddhism or the Four Noble Truths | Central figure of Zen. believed to exist in another realm and to be able to help humans. Although not heavily relied on in Zen, mostly the practitioner relies on himself or herself. |
| Literal Meaning | Buddhists mean those who follow the teachings of the Buddha | zen is the japanese translation of the chinese word "chan" which is the chinese word for "dhyana" which is the sanskrit word for the pali word "jhana" which means "meditation". |
| Use of statues and pictures | Common | As a symbolic reminder, which can be found in sculptures, arts, and architecture. |
| Clergy | Monks and Nuns, who unitedly and exactly follow the teachings of the Buddha under the name 'Sangha'. | monks, nuns. |
| Belief | The Buddha was the teacher to show us the four noble truths and the eightfold path (the path to nirvana or the way to enlightenment). | follow Gautama Buddha and believe that he exists in a spiritual form and can answer prayers and help people. enlightenment is mostly up to the practitioner to attain. this is how it is in the mahayana texts which are opposite the original teachings |
| Means of salvation | Buddhism has nothing to do with "salvation". The only goal in Buddhism is to attain Nirvana. To do this, we should let go of our desires, cravings and attachments, and try to dispel our ignorance | seeks enlightenment |
| Views on other religion | Buddhism does not condemn any of other religions . | no conflict with practicing other religions. |
| Marriage | Seen as a social convention and mainly a personal and individual concern, not a religious duty. Advice in the Discourses are on how to maintain a happy and harmonious marriage. Faithfulness and monogamy was encouraged. | not specified in the sutras, likely varies greatly depending on which school of zen and in which country. |
| God's role in salvation | No God or gods. Salvation is not related to Buddhism at all. The Buddha also told us to depend on our own to attain nirvana (by practising the Threefold Training or the Eightfold Path). | Zen does not specify any Supreme Being Who Is the Creator of the universe. |
| Religious Law | The Buddha's teachings, the Dharma. | Dharma |
| Confessing sins | Not a part of (Theravada) Buddhism. The Buddha told us that we should strive hard ourselves to dismiss the bad deeds we have already done (except for certain bad deeds, e.g., matricide, etc.) and also showed us the way to do so. | Not discussed |
| Concept of Deity | Instead of deities, Devas or celestial beings are accepted as those suffering in the samsara. | believes in "Buddhas" which are immortal and exist in infinite numbers and have nearly every attribute usually given to deities of all religions. opposite what is taught in the oldest teachings (pali canon) validated by later mahayana texts. |
| About | Following the teachings of the Buddha | Zen follows myriad teachings that have accrued over millenia, many of which are attributed to the buddha in a retrograde fashion since he was dead when they were written. they also highly regard later zen teachers writings. |
| Identity of Jesus | Not relevant to Buddhism | N/A. |
| Religion which atheists may still be adherents of | Buddhists deny the existence of a God or gods. So Buddhism is not a religion, but the teachings of the Buddha. | Yes. |
| Belief of God | Buddhism does not believe in a Creator God. | believes in "buddhas" that can live forever and influence man kind in ways similar to the abilities attributed to "god(s)". this information comes from the late mahayana sutras and is opposite the oldest, original teachings (pali canon). |
| View of other Abrahamic religions | Being a Dharmic religion, Buddhism has no relative view of Abrahamic religions. | Zen is a Dharmic religion. Not an Abrahamic religion, and sees no contradiction in following more than one religion. |
| Authority of Pope | Absolutely irrelevant to Buddhism | N/A. |
| Status of Muhammad | Not relevant to Buddhism. | N/A. |
| Use of statues | Used often. | Common |
| Promised Holy one. | Meitreya | The Buddha known as Meitreya. |
| imams identified as | Buddhists never think of people from other religions. | N/A. |
| Three Jewels | The Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, which are the only precious refuges in the whole universe. | buddha, dharma, sangha |
| Resurrection of Jesus | N/A | N/A. |