“All the worlds religions can be boiled down into two religions: [1]God is sovereign [2] Man is sovereign (man earns his salvation)” ~ Matchett-PI
“Except for Buddhism.” ~ TigersEye
Not so. Buddhism is a man-centered, works-based religion.
Man may earn his salvation (nirvana) by performing certain works. This may take him several re-births before he is able to get rid of his ignorance. As soon as he gets rid of his ignorance, he achieves salvation and no longer has to be re-born so as to have more time to work on reaching nervana.
Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama in the 6th century BC.
Nirvana is the natural result that accrues to one who lives a life of virtuous conduct and practise in accordance with the Noble Eightfold Path.
Rebirth in Buddhism is the doctrine that the consciousness of a person (as conventionally regarded), upon the death or dissolution of the aggregates (skandhas) which make up that person, becomes one of the contributing causes for the arising of a new group of skandhas which may again be conventionally considered a person or individual. The consciousness arising in the new person is neither identical to, nor different from, the old consciousness, but forms part of a causal continuum or stream with it. The basic cause for this persistent re-arising of personality is the abiding of consciousness in avidya (ignorance); when ignorance is uprooted, rebirth ceases. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebirth_(Buddhism)
Buddha’s last recorded words were “Decay is inherent in all component things! Work out your own salvation with diligence.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism
Nirvana is not salvation it is just a POV. In reality there is nothing to be “saved” from. It is ignorance of that that the practitioner is seeking to realize. Nirvana is not even considered the ultimate realization in Buddhism.