THE PHENOMENON OF “SUFFERING” IN BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY: DHAMMAPADA AND ECCLESIAST, COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Christianity, namely the Dhammapada and the Book of Ecclesiastes. The thesis is put forward that both monuments share a common theme, the theme of suffering and the vanity of human life. The authorship and main ideas of these books are considered. Common points in the au-thors ' arguments about evil, ignorance and suffering are clarified. The understanding of what happiness is in both religious traditions is given. The author argues that both books raise eternal questions that concern every generation of mankind and often give similar answers, in the ab-sence of genetic connection, mutual influence and borrowing, since these monuments were cre-ated in two completely different civilizational centers of the Mediterranean and Indochina.