On the other hand, Gotama’s conversion supports James’s view. Gotama possessed a sound understanding of philosophy and the study of religion yet he was isolated from society by his father to prevent him from developing any discontent from the problems of the world (poverty, old age, sickness, war). His dissatisfaction with his princely lifestyle began when he journeyed outside his palace’s walls. Having not been previously exposed to the frailty of human existence, Gotama saw the imperfection in the world and began to question life. On the fourth excursion, Gotama saw a sadhu, a pious man who had deprived himself of all sensual and physical sustenance to seek truth. Gotama followed the sadhu’s example and left his lavish lifestyle to embark on six years of wandering as an ascetic, aiming to eliminate material distractions from his life so he could only be aware of spirituality as the fundamental reason for his existence. This was the first stage of his conversion. Whilst Gotama had acquired knowledge of his faith, he had not seen its application. After the experience, Gotama emulates the lifestyle that James describes and becomes enormously occupied with his religion to the extent that he leaves his family and opulent way of life.
Lewis Rambo and Charles Farhadian identified seven causal factors of conversion. Paul’s and Gotama’s conversions are perceived as being a consequence of several of these. It is clear encounter was a principal factor in the conversions as the vision of ‘the light from heaven that flashed about him’ in Paul’s conversion made him blind and forced him into a predicament beyond his control. Subsequently, Paul was placed in a crisis (another causal factor) and the sheer relief of regaining his sight lead him to convert. Another encounter was the miracle (a type of religious experience) where Tabitha rose from the dead, which reinforced Paul’s Christian faith. Encounter was also a causal factor in Gotama’s conversion since the mystical quality of meditating under a bodhi tree, recollecting the tranquillity of life allowed him to experience what Rudolph Otto may call the ‘numinous’ (something that is beyond the empirical or outside normal convention) and truth. The experience can be labelled as a mystical experience as Gotama sensed the underlying unity of everything between the individual person and the external world, but the unity was perceived in a negative way; he saw human existence as a perpetual struggle against earthly desire. Another way in which the accounts are similar is that Gotama was too undergoing a crisis. His ascetic lifestyle was not spiritually fulfilling and instead he lost focus on the spiritual aspect of life. Hence, Gotama assumes the doctrine of the middle way arguing that though materialism gives possessions too much value, the ascetic lifestyle causes too much pain that individuals lose sight of their aims. Gotama’s crisis of not having the ability to reach spiritual enlightenment forces him to seek it via meditation and eventually religious conversion.
A major similarity between the accounts is that they have a noetic quality (William James). Although it is possible to state that a conversion is not genuine unless the experience is noetic because if the experience is not felt to be absolutely real to the individual, then the person does not have any valid reason to convert. The physical reality of Paul’s and Gotama’s conversions is real enough for them to radically alter themselves. However, it is ambiguous whether Paul’s conversion was a voluntary decision or whether he was being controlled by an external force (the experience has a passive quality – William James). Paul was requested ‘to rise and enter the city’ where he ‘will be told what to do’. Rather than Paul willingly going to Damascus, he may have been ‘possessed’ by a supernatural figure that forces him to go. Conversely, Gotama’s conversion was based on free will and revulsion of his existing state.
Conversion experiences are generally describable because they relate an event which has life-changing consequences and so people base their reasoning for their change in lifestyle or shift in view on the interpretation of their conversion. Swinburne outlined five features of religious experience, one private feature being that the experience does not leave a person inarticulate and that he or she is able to explain the event and their emotions using everyday language. Paul’s and Gotama’s conversion are describable experiences; Paul has a version of his conversion recorded in Acts 22.1-21, ‘I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me’, and Gotama, after his conversion, sought to spread the enlightenment he had received (people now strive for nirvana).
A final similarity is that Paul and Gotama had interacted (interaction is a causal factor) with the religion they were converting into. It was easier for Gotama to interact with the religion as he was well-educated and studied philosophy; however, it was not the same religion that Gotama converted into. Buddhism was created due to Gotama’s conversion experience so any interaction with Buddhism before the conversion is perhaps impossible, yet it can also be argued that Gotama was interacting with what were the beginnings of the Buddhist tradition. Paul had interacted with Christianity through observing their lifestyle, through his persecution of them, through baptism, miracles and his communication with Anani’as. Paul and Gotama therefore learnt how to behave in their converted role.
Perhaps the most important difference between the conversions of Paul and Gotama is that they based on different traditions. However, both exemplify the effects of conversion in inspiring people to promote their newly founded beliefs.
