The philosophy developed by Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) takes some ethical ideas from Buddhism, but those don’t affect the theory of the will (“life force”), which constitutes the essence of Schopenhauer’s work. John Vespasian explains that Buddhism was created by Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) in the sixth century before our era. Buddha was born into a Nepalese royal family, grew disillusioned with his aristocratic lifestyle, and began to search for the meaning of life. Some of his ethical views were taken over by Schopenhauer twenty-five centuries later. At age twenty-nine, Buddha embraced an ascetic lifestyle in which meditation and poverty played the central role. Buddha thought that asceticism would lead him to enlightenment. Buddhist tradition tells us that, after six years of asceticism, Buddha attained enlightenment, that is, he figured out that the best way to live is to pursue liberation from suffering. In the ensuing years, Buddha travelled through India to preach his ideas. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/differences-between-schopenhauer-and-buddhism/

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