I've been asked on more than one occasion recently how Buddhism 'works'....what it's basic 'rules' (for want of a better word) are and how it's similar to Christianity.
I thought that the best place to start would be to explain the 5 basic precepts. These are the things I agreed to do when I made the decision to practice Buddhism.
To refrain from killing and harming living beings.
To refrain from stealing and taking that which is not yours.
To refrain from causing harm through sexual misconduct.
To refrain from false speech, harmful speech, gossip and slander.
To refrain from the misuse of intoxicants or sunstances such as drugs and alcohol that cause carelessness or loss of awareness.
These are the basics...without them my spiritual practice is a sham; meaningless. I can see many similarites between just these 5 thoughts and Christianity's basic teachings:
Do not commit murder (Exodus c20, v13)
Do not steal (Exodus c20, v15)
Do not commit adultery (Exodus c 20, v14)
Do not testify falsely against your neighbor (Exodus c20, v 16)
I hope that this clarifies things a little.
Next time I'll go into more depth, but I think this is a good start.