The Buddha and St. Paul: Two Cult Start-ups, One Trick

“Sell the Cure After Inventing the Disease.”

By Bodhangkur

Let’s be blunt.

There are only two grand old salvation rackets in town:
Buddha’s “Everything is suffering” and Paul’s “Everyone is sinful.”
Different costumes, same choreography.
Same trick.

Let me spell out the scheme so even a distracted squirrel could follow it:

1. Pick a Negative. Make It Big.

Buddha picks pain.
Paul picks sin.

Not joy.
Not intelligence.
Not curiosity, creativity, or even basic mammalian competence.

No.
Choose the one corner of the human experience that stings,
hold it up to the light,
and shout:

“BEHOLD! THIS IS YOUR TRUE NATURE!”

Voilà: psychological capture in three seconds.

2. Blow It Up to Cosmic Size

Buddha:

“Everything that changes is suffering.” (SN 22.59)

Translation:
If your tea cools, you’re doomed.
If your joints creak, doomed.
If a cloud moves across the sky — existential catastrophe.

Paul:

“All have sinned.” (Romans 3:23)

Translation:
You’re guilty.
Your grandmother is guilty.
Your dog is probably guilty.
The baby sleeping in its crib? Totally guilty.

The trick is always the same:
Isolate one negative → Inflate → Universalise.

3. Announce the Universal Bankruptcy of the Human Condition

Buddha:
Existence = pain.

Paul:
Humanity = moral trash.

Once the negative is inflated beyond repair,
you’re psychologically softened up and ready for stage four.

4. Present the Exclusive Escape Route

(Conveniently offered by the same man who invented the crisis.)

Buddha:

“The stilling of all formations… Nibbāna.” (AN 3.32)

Meaning:
"Stop existing. It’s the only way out."

Paul:

“Eternal life in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:23)

Meaning:
"Join my cult or burn."

Same architecture:

· Only I diagnose the disease.

· Only my doctrine cures it.

· You owe me obedience.

Religion meets sales funnel.

5. The Hidden Price Tag

Buddha’s price:
Renounce the world, suppress desire, obey the monastic ideal,
because apparently your brain wanting anything is the root of all horror.

Paul’s price:
Submit, believe, obey, surrender moral autonomy, tithe, confess.

Both sell freedom by demanding submission.

Classic.

6. Enter Finn With Original Goodness (aka The Buzz Kill for Salvation Business Models)

Finn says:

· There is no original flaw.

· Every emergent is locally perfect (procedurally exact).

· Pain is just a feedback signal, not a cosmic accusation.

· Guilt is a cultural artefact, not an ontological infection.

· “Off” is not salvation; it’s nothing — and nothing is worth nothing.

In short:

Life is not broken.
You don’t need rescue.
Stop letting dead men tell you your aliveness is a mistake.

7. The Real Scam Exposed

Both Buddha and Paul performed the same psychological heist:

1. Redefine existence as a problem.

2. Convince people the problem is universal.

3. Offer escape from the problem.

4. Become indispensable.

That’s not enlightenment.
That’s not revelation.
That’s market capture and the ultimate insurance (and or protection) scam.

Buddha says, “Existence hurts, stop existing.”
Paul says, “Existence is sinful, be forgiven.”
Finn says, “Existence functions. Get on with it.”

Guess which one doesn’t need worship.

8. Final Thought for the Day

If someone tells you that the best thing you can do is:

· stop being (Buddha), or

· stop being yourself (Paul),

then listen carefully for the quiet hum beneath their words.

That hum is the sound of your autonomy (and wealth) being vacuumed into their system.

Finn’s advice?

Choose life. Pain is just its diagnostic tool.
Anyone selling you escape is selling you fear.

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