10 A Comparative Look At Buddhism, Islam, and Confucianism Throughout history, great civilizations and people have risen and fallen, and during their fleeting existence, religious activities have assumed important functions in those societies. Confucianism, Buddhism, and Islam, are three legacies left by great men, which still have a profound affect on society. Like with all human inventions, though, these three philosophies are all relative to each other : They are comparable in their simplicity of beliefs, the emphasis they placed on the role of women within their society, and the transformation into different sects in later years; but differ from each other in their emphasis in each field respectively. The basic doctrines of these three philosophies can be readily compared with each other. They each carry their tenets in a basic, simple format which is easy to understand and follow. Their beliefs also provide an ethical code encompassed within their beliefs, and each has an objective to attain through simple means. In Buddhism, the fundamental beliefs are to recognize life as cycle of birth and rebirth, and to overcome this cycle to attain Nirvana. The fundamental beliefs of Buddhism are contained in The Four Noble Truths, which are : 1. Life is suffering, 2. Suffering is caused by desire, 3. The way to end suffering is to end desire, 4. The way to end desire is to avoid the extremes of a life vulgar materialism and of self-torture, and to follow the Middle Path(Eightfold Path).1 Following the Middle Path, to Buddha is the way to overcome the painful cycle of life, and are relatively simple practices. They are thus: 1.Right understanding, or views: recognizing that material security does not bring peace of mind and that rituals do not erase the effects of pass acts; 2.Right motives: the quality of the drive behind the thinking and being free from carnal thirst, malevolence, cruelty, etc...; 3.Right speech: not indulging in cruel and...